Atop a mountain

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Today at Starbucks, I am Shaw. I dont even know if thats a name. Especially when the guy went to hand out my drink, he did a double take and frowned. I just shrugged like, yeah I guess thats me. Shaw. So today, due to the flat footwear and heavy camera bag Ive been lugging, i decided to go full tourista tackey and wear my running shoes. Yes thats right, like a downtown business gal on her lunch break. Who wears their running shoes thru Europe, yeah, this guy right here. I was slightly embarrassed for myself but my ankles couldn't take it anymore and I knew I'd be hiking a lot.

First stop of the day, Montjuic. I take the funicular from Paral-lel station. From there you take the Cable car to the top where the castle is. The castle looks kinda like a fortress, high stone walls with a centre courtyard, and up top a great view of all of Barcelona and the shipping docks. I could see the scale of how big Sagrada Famillia is. Besides the noise of people and their footsteps on the gravel it was really quiet and serene. Easy to get lost in the background and wander around the grounds alone, in peace. great way to start the day.

After the castle I went back down. And walked around Montjuic park. There were some nice gardens with lotus flower ponds and picnic areas for families. Afterwards I walked down past the olympic area again, towards Poble espanyol. This was a village set up with spanish architecture and traditional spanish specialties. This reminded me slightly of stampede and indian village, where tourist come in, they pay their $15, to see real western life and indian life. They have the cool teepees and they sell all their wares and dress in feathers, and people are fascinated and some think, wow this is how they live! When we all know, ok, they live on the reservation but in houses and they wear the brand name clothes and live like you and me. And we dont dress cowboy with hats and chaps. We only break that out for the 10 days of stampede where we let loose and drink a lot of beer and lose our vocabulary solely from a form of alcohol poisoning.It seems slightly too made up, and the fact that they were hosting a music festival , half the area was closed. I would not have spent the €11 if i had known. I would have, however, liked to have gone to the music festival. They were playing some cool house music and the venue would have been cool for that. I kinda missed home and summer partying, but i have all of July and August for that. Friends, prepare!

The last of the day ended with the grande MNAC building and the fountains. This building was incredible, amazing, take your breath away. It reminds me of a building in Rome that had the same awe factor. i dont know if its because it was set so high up with this long staircase, or what, but it was amazing. i loved it. Words cant describe.

Well tomorrow is beach, and catching my last tidbits of Barcelona. I really enjoyed my stay and would definitely come back. Ill miss the church bells every hour( ok not that much but a little) my great apartment with satellite tv and a terrace, and I loved all the Gaudi I have seen and the gardens. I am excited for Nice though. Finally back in France and speaking french and being able to communicate and understand! Can you believe this will be my 4th time? I guess some habits are hard to break...

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