It was dead before lunch

Well, I slept like a baby who hadn´t slept in 30 hours....I was hoping to be up fairly early but I only woke up at 9 am because I heard someone else´s alarm go off down the hall - thanks! Maybe they do wake up calls here - rather be up at 7.

What a busy day! I can honestly say I haven´t walked as much in the last 2 weeks as I did today.
After a delicous breakfast consisting of an omelette bocadillo (quite tasty), I headed off to my old stomping grounds. First stop - my old apartment just off Plaça Espanya. It hadn´t changed a bit and Jess, I did check to see if Apu was still there and he wasn´t - but there was still a convenience store and maybe it was his son! Taking the subway to get there was easy - I still basically remembered where to go and which lines to take.

I walked up the many steps to the Museo Nacional d´Art de Catalunya and enjoyed the view for awhile, watching all the people coming and going and listening to some traditional Spanish guitar. One of the best views of the city in my opinion! There was a school group with the cutest kids there which were amusing to watch. They were filming some actors on the steps as I was arriving and asked me to wait a minute - I said, don´t you want me in your movie? Turns out it was a commercial for Suzuki, or Kawasaki, or one of those...
I toured the museum - for some reason in the 4 months I lived here I had never been in before! Don´t ask me why - I guess appreciate art a little more now than when I was 23. Bought some postcards of my favourite paintings.

Fall is here now though lots of trees are still green. The temp was 18-20 which is perfect for walking around. And that´s what I did all afternoon, mostly around the port, up La Rambla and around the narrow winding streets of Barri Gotic (the gothic quarter). Took a bizillion photos. Had lunch in Plaça Reial, one of my fav spots. Even managed to have the entire conversation with the waiter in Spanish. Woo hoo! (Not sure what woohoo would be in Spanish). Had to have the Menú del Dia which consists of 2 courses, a dessert and a glass of wine usually for under 10 euros.

A great day, though my feet are killing me! I took it a bit easy once they started to get sore because I know I´ll be doing a lot of walking the next 3 weeks.
I´m missing Brad´s company of course. We always have so much fun together when we travel. It´s just me and my thoughts... chatted with people around the city randomly but I haven´t really met anyone yet - it´s only been one day. The English people I talked to in my hostel weren´t that friendly - I´m hoping the only reason was the big piece of spinach between my front teeth... who knows? But I don´t really mind being alone - I enjoy my own company.

Tomorrow I´m hoping to do a lot more walking. I think I might even take the tourist bus just because it´s probably easiest and quickest to get to the places I want to see most.

(Pics might have to wait until Holland...)

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Part of trip: Europe Nov 2009

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