Day 18: A city left unexplored

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Today when we left the mountains there was a snowstorm blowing in. We got going as soon as possible because driving down the mountain in the snow sounded like as much fun as driving up in the dark. However, the snow quickly turned to rain and vanished all together with the quick drop in altitude. We were able to stop in a small town between Prada and Olette for coffee. It was definitely the center of the town. People in there nursing their morning expresso shots while the lunch crowd was starting on their first pint. Several people simply popped in to ask if so and so had been around. Transport to the bus station was slick and when we got into Barcelona we rented a couple of lockers and headed to La Rambla and St. Josep Market. The street was packed with Black Friday sales going on and the Christmas season about to start up. My head was spinning with looking up at old buildings and brickwork, while my eyes wanted to window shop, my ears wanting to translate and also a large desire to people watch. We made it down to the pier and came back up darting off into the small alley ways that cars can't go up. Barcelona seemed to have the uptempo feel of a big city, but seemed more personable than London or Berlin. It has made a top spot on my places to go back and explore. The photo for today is of the French aqueduct from our trek down the mountain. EVERY SINGLE BRIDGE we saw during the week had arches. Whether it is more structurally sound or more appeasing to the eye, it was how every one was made. It reminded me of when my aunt Cindy had my grandpa do the brickwork around her fire and had initially wanted an arch. My grandpa talked her out of it because he said it took too much time cutting of the brick and making sure the arch was symmetrical.

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