November 10th - 12th

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We had a travel day with very little to speak of, except saying our goodbyes to Butch. The apartment in Barcelona, the Raval area is just as it was described with rough edges on the outside and cozy and comfortable on the inside.

The next day we explored our area and tried to go to the beach. That means that we walked down the Rambla and through the big market and down the Rambla right to the docks. We hear from home that it is cold and keep telling ourselves that mid November is winter, but here it is warm. The sun shines on our shoulders, we're wearing t-shirts, we smile unconsciously, hard to believe it is winter. Walking these streets you have to look up. The architecture is breath taking. Yes Gaudi's work is everywhere and mind blowing, but so is a lot of the other buildings. There is mosaic, there is metal work forming the balconies that look like it came straight from an art gallery. There is stain glass and beautiful brick work. When you look down there are tiles that are printed/carved with designs rather than common plain brick or cobble stones. I truly did not understand how beautiful it would be here. Jacob finds the trees most different. He was expecting palms everywhere. We've turned to each other more than once to say, how much we like it here and that we would return. People seem happier here, warmer, very welcoming and that's the tourists as well as the locals. We went home, took a break and then went out walking again. This time we headed toward the magic fountain. this is a famous light, water and music show. I hadn't done the research though, and so we left without seeing it to find later that it only plays Friday and Saturday in the winter. We did get to see Barcelona and the sea as dusk hit from the heights. The sky turns all depths of pink and the lights of the city slowly turned on. It was light show enough for our first day. Then we found all that we needed for supper and breakfast at a few different market stores on our way home, there are stores every few meters on almost every street.

The next day we walked to the Park Guëll. This was a two hour fast walk, but well worth it. We have decided not to take the metro, but to walk everywhere, since the weather is so good and the architecture so incredible. Gaudi's park is a wonder. There is a walkway that has curled over arches modelled after the inside curl of a breaking wave. There is a set of columns that hold up an entire piazza. The piazza is encircled by benches covered in mosaic. Everything wraps around itself and then entrance buildings climb up with organic spires that come out of pure imagination. Each time we walk home, we take another route and this time we went back through the Gothic section of town. This is the old centre, so it has tiny winding streets with shops and restaurants. We arrived home exhausted and so full of incredible images that we thought we might explode.

Good Night and Sweet Dreams

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