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Barcelona
When I tried to get another night at the hotel, the receptionist told me that there was some convention in Barcelona and all of the hotels would be full all weekend. I kinda thought that he was just saying that to get rid of us, but a taxi driver later that day confirmed the story. A bunch of doctors coming into town.
So we packed up our stuff once again. The car gets a little more disheveled every day. Not much to eat this morn. We found a box of banana granola bars from the French Super U that we were at the other day. We made it into Barcelona and parked at Garage Manhattan for about a buck and hour.
Gaudi Tour
Yai was interested in the Gaudi self-guided tour which many people take. I was impressed by this guy's work last time I was in Barcelona. I was sure, though, that the english word gaudy must have come from this Antoni Gaudi's wild use of colors and shapes. Anyway, we walked from the Sagrada Familia to Gaudi's Parc Guell. Like many geniuses, he got a little wacky one time and tried to build a whole neighborhood for rich people. Parc Guell is on the best in in Barcelona, looking over the sea. However, despite the liberal nature of the city, he couldn't find enough buyers to fill this development. It became a park instead.
Taxista
Next we took a taxi back toward the middle of town. I think we got ripped off on the taxi. The guy didn't turn on the meter, so we just went by the price that he told us. Afterward it seemed a little high. Oh well, it is not the first time I have been ripped off overseas. Anyway, he seemed nice to me. We chatted a bit about soccer and the doctor convention. He explained to me why Brazil is so strong in soccer, or at least his theory. He also predicted the top five teams for the World Cup with Spain coming in fifth. We'll see.
CafeInternet.Es
The driver did manage to get us right to the front door of the cafe that we were looking for. There was actually a wait for one of the 25 or so computers that would allow a lonely traveler to connect back home in search of news. After sipping drinks and eating bocadillos, we managed to spend about an hour catching up on life. Somehow traveling and living abroad is too easy with all of the stuff we have today.
Hostal Palermo
We were just wandering around near the tourist road of Las Ramblas when we decided to spend the night in Barcelona. We found a cheap room in a hostel just off the main drag. We went for paella for dinner and turned in for the night. After driving through the countryside, the excitement of the crowded city was both exhausting and mesmerizing. Tomorrow we will move on.
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