From the rain to the sun

---

Wherein I leave the rain for the sun

I awoke Friday morning to find it was *pouring* rain in Donostia. Thunder, lightening, the whole works; it was beautiful! Think Seattle rain mid-winter: it was coming down sideways, in buckets. I had planned to walk to the local bakery to grab some breakfast to eat on the train (they had some lovely whole wheat rolls Thursday). The bakery was still closed when I walked by, so I kept walking. Made it to the station with time to spare. The station store was open, but all they had were Panier and doughnuts - I grabbed a Panier.

The train was a few minutes late arriving to Donostia, and we were delayed on our way to Barcelona due to a train wreck. Thankfully, it was not a passenger train. A freight train had tipped over a car, it was covered in tarps and rail personnel when we went by. These combined to delay our arrival a couple hours. I had expected to arrive at 13:20 we arrived at 15:30.

As we journeyed toward Barcelona, the temperature kept climbing. It was 15C when we left Donostia, by the time we arrived Barcelona, it was 25c. Much better! One of my travel books went on and on about how horrible the Metro to Renfe (Spanish Rail) connection at Barcelona Sants station is; the other travel book went on and on about how wonderful and quick it is. I decided to listen to the later, and was pleased with my decision. 4 stops and about 10 minutes later, I was on Ramblas looking for my hotel. Could not have been easier.

Giggling waiter, cava and Arroz Negro con Sepia

After checking in, unpacking and hanging up all my damp clothing from the morning's adventure, I determined FOOD! was in order. Went for a lovely jaunt along Ramblas to see what all the fuss was about. I shall take some pictures tomorrow, as it lived up to its reputation. Utter chaos, it was amazing! I then walked back to a restaurant near my hotel, which I'd noticed earlier. I've been wanting to try cava (Spanish Champagne) and Squid ink Paella (Arroz con Negro); what a great combination! When the waiter poured my cava, she made a 'goong goong goong' sound, which made me giggle which made her giggle. Dinner was amazing, cava was phenomenal, and their desserts were divine. I had a tiramisu with coffee sauce, and need to go back and try the chocolate layer thing the man next to me was eating.

---