Day 38-39: Barcelona

Thursday, October 18^th, our 38^th day in Europe, and our second in Barcelona, got started with a bang at Starbucks. We stopped by a pasteleria and picked up some churros and pasteries, then got two large (Venti) coffees and took them to the Placa Catalunya, the main plaza in town. (Yesterday we had breakfast at Duncan Coffee, which looks exactly light Duncan Doughnuts in the States; I guess that Doughnut would be unrecognized here. I had a chocolate cake with coconut sprinkles, along with a cinnamon cake doughnut; both of us had large coffees.)

While we were sitting in the Plaza Kathy struck up a conversation with a Filipino woman named Dena sitting next to us on the bench. She's come to Spain looking for a better life, and left her two children with a family member back in the Philippines. There she taught law at the university; here she's looking for any kind of work she can find. She feels that the sacrifice is worth it because there's a lot more opportunity in Spain and the EU than back home. Because the Philippines was once a Spanish colony, those who come to Spain can become citizens in only two years. We prayed with her for her situation and for her children (she showed us their photos), gave her some Bible promises, and then went off to do some Internet.

We spent about an hour at the EasyInternet Cafe over by the University, catching up on our email and the blog. Then, we went to have lunch across from the Catalan Concert Hall at La Dolca Herminia. Since we had to wait a half hour yesterday, today we wanted to make sure that we got there in plenty of time, so we showed up a half hour early. Rather than waiting around, we explored the old city around the concert hall, and then had a fine lunch. Like La Rita, La Dolca Herminia has a lunch special that draws a lot of locals (3 course meal for 8,40 including bread and beverage). I had the mixed Paella and Kathy had a Cordon Bleu type dish.

After lunch we decided to use our Metro pass and visit the mountain that overlooks the city named Tibidabo (which comes from the Latin words "to thee I shall give" spoken to Christ by the Devil when he showed him the kingdoms of the world during his temptation.) To get there we had to take a metro-like railway called FVG, and then we were supposed to switch to Barcelona's only remaining tram. We waited around for a little more than a half hour (along with an increasingly large crowd of other tourists). Finally, it was obvious that the tram wasn't running so we took a bus instead. The bus let us out pretty high up above the city, but to get to the top of the mountain we had to take a funicular (which wasn't covered by our Metro pass).

At the top, there are two churches, one on top of the other. The topmost church has a large statue of Christ, kind of like the one over Rio de Janiero in Brazil. Literally surrounding both churches is a large amusement part with roller coasters, Ferris wheels and other thrill rides, which is kind of surreal. It kind of makes the church look like "Jesus of the Roller Coaster".

When we came down from the mountain, we hopped on the Metro again and went out to Barcoleneta, the old port of Barcelona, along with the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we got to walk along the beach up to the Olympic port that was created for the 1992 (I think) Summer Olympics. There was actually a 3 or 4 foot wind swell running and about 20 surfers in the water; the funny thing is that they really weren't as good as the surfers we found in Munich in the middle of the city. I guess that the waves there are more consistent than the waves in Barcelona. One thing, though, the weather and ambiance are certainly nicer in Barcelona.

Down by the Olympic marina we saw the giant Frank Gehry fish sculpture, and then stopped by one of the restaurants lining the boardwalk for a romantic dinner. We shared a salad, some pasta, and chicken. It was really a great ending to the day. After dinner, we hunted down the closest metro stop, and then made our way through the crowds on Las Ramblas back to our hotel.

I left Kathy off at the hotel and I went down to the supermarket and picked up some fruit, bread, tomatoes, cheese and sliced meat for our breakfast in the morning. We've done Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, and tomorrow we'll try a little picnic.

Friday, our 39^th day, is also our last complete day in Barcelona. While Kathy showered, I ran down to Starbucks for coffee and we had our picnic overlooking the square from our balcony. After breakfast, we walked over to the port to see where our ship (the Norwegian Jewel) will leave from tomorrow. It was quite a walk, but we were able to talk to some of the Norwegian Cruise Line employees, and found out that we could actually start boarding tomorrow at 11:00 am (instead of 1:00 PM). We then found out about the Port bus, so we wouldn't have to carry our luggage all that way.

We spent the rest of the morning visiting the city history museum of Barcelona. This sounds kind of dry, but it's actually one of the most interesting sights in Barcelona. Underneath the palace where Christopher Columbus presented himself to Ferdnand and Isabella on his return to Spain, the museum as created an underground excavation. You can actually walk through the history of the city from about 4 BC, through the Roman, Visigoth and Middle ages periods, up to the present. Along with some of the restored digs, they have 3D computer simulations running on a screen showing how the site you're looking at has changed over the ages.

After the museum we had our last lunch in Barcelona at Les Qunze Nits on Placa Reial, sitting on the plaza, looking the first fountain and the first lampposts created in Barcelona by Gaudi. Kathy had chicken brochette and I had veal. A great last meal.

In the afternoon we were going to head up to Montjuic, the smaller mountain to the south of the city, where the Miro museum is located. When we went to get on the Metro, though, we found that our passes weren't for 72 hours but for 3 calendar days, so they had expired. Instead of going up to the mountain, we walked back to the beach, watched the surfers once again, and then headed home. After a little rest in our room, we walked over to the Internet Cafe, doing a little shopping on the way, and updated the blog one last time before we get on the boat for home.

Tomorrow morning, we'll head for home! Of course, it will take us a little time to get there. We'll be stopping at Nice, Florence, Rome, Corsica, Majorca Gibralter and Madiera before we finally set sail for Miami. Once on the boat, though, updating the blog might be a little bit tougher, so don't worry if you don't hear from us (unless there's a hurricane; then you can worry and pray!).

We're also taking a lot of pictures, but I've hit the limit on the free Flickr site I set up for the trip. When we get back, I'll post all of the pictures on my own site, along with some more details about our travels.