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Gaudi view of Barcelona
The city from a square in Gaudi's Parc Guell What a big day. The good news is I got pickpocketed - but chronolgy rules, so first off to Parc Guell.
Two of Gaudi's passions were nature and ceramics. The vast Parc Guell is an expression of both. Natural beauty and Gaudi buildings, walls and ceramics. We spent hours walking and ogling and listening to music and watching various buskers. Willl and I saw lots of wild parakeets and other avian species.
After leaving the Parc, Marika decided she needed to do some serious shoe shopping so she and Kim went off and Marika picked and paid for with her own money (from Christmas) some silver sandals and a hair pin to match - it was the first time near this age that she radiated a feeling of being pretty and stylish - a heartwarming moment for Kim and I.
Did I mention gettiing pickpocketed? As Will and I boarded a subway a group of five well-dressed and very fit, healthy middle-class looking men and women in their early-mid twenties quickly surrounded me on the subway. It was interesting - they didn't touch me but acted as if they were in a heated argument between themselves and simply
blocked my path. Will was safely on and a few feet away. My reaction was instantaneous - I pushed hard to break through the circle and they moved out of the way. A few seconds later with a big smile one of them handed my wallet back to me. It was my fake Canada flag wallet with Monopoly money inside I keep in my back pocket in the hope of being pickpocketed. The guy gave Will a very nice and big smile and gave us both the thumbs up for the trick we played on them. Having met all sorts good and bad over the years I knew they were not violent and truly never felt fear or any sense of danger for Will. Their reaction to the fake wallet proved the point and they laughed. As we left the subway the had moved up a card and we heard a hub-bub and they had pickpocketd a guy as they left the subway car. A few Euro bills of big denominations fluttered to the floor and I picked them up and returned them to the Japanese tourist. Upon exiting the subway I saw them sizing up three guys standing talking
Deep in Kim's eyes
A woman performing Spanish dance reflected in Kim's sunglasses. to each other and I walked past one of them and I told them that they were about to be pickpocketed and just as they were looking over their shoulder two police officers were moving towards the pickpocketers - I said to them "pickpockets" but they obviously knew them. Will said he was a bit scared from the experience and I said that it would be weird if he wasn't and that it was a healthy response - a few minutes later he was fine.
When the girls joined us at the apartment they said at the same spot about 8 police had circled our group of pickpocketers.
After a siesta we headed out to pick up the tickets Kim had reserved for a dinner theatre event of live Flamenco. It wa really fun and the kids were spellbound - our table was maybe twelve feet from the stage so the proximity made the energy palpable.
After dinner we strolled the Passieg de Gracia and saw two of the lit up Gaudi mansions built in the early 1900s. Kim and I are finishing the day in our usual style with a glass of rioja and a game
of crib.
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Evan Thornton
non-member comment
So glad you got pickpocketed
What a great story; that made my day!