Barcelona day 3

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Thursday 4 September

Today was as much fun as you can have either standing still or walking for miles in a vibrant, dynamic city. We decided against any tours and just roamed the city. We started late after a few phone calls home and updating the blog at the Internet cafe across the road. The local fruit and fish market has become a favourite with freshly squeezed juices, bakeries, fish and fresh packaged fruit. We stopped here first to have a quick morning tea before walking down to the dock. We were hoping to get some idea of where to join the cruise ship. After quite a bit of walking we returned to the apartment none the wiser. We decided to make an effort to either ring the cruise people or go on the internet to find out where the cruise ship docked. The Internet won out with some information about where to go. Next we caught a taxi down to the correct docking area with the help of a very helpful English speaking taxi driver. Reassured that we would find our ship tomorrow we went to a shopping complex on the docks. Very ho hum with lots of skinny girls shops!

My quest to buy anything was looking very bleak. We walked back toward La Rambla through an area of the city that has amazing architecture and the Barcelona Cathedral. The cathedral was inspiring (pity we didn't have the camera) and is going through a major renovation costing a mozza. We came across lots of little squares with old buildings on every side and the occaisonal musical entertainment. You never know what you will see next. We made our way back to the square our apartment is in (Rambla Del ravel) and finally stopped for a well deserved cool drink.

By the way we did manage to find a few shoe shops and buy some sandles for Geoff and a pair of comfy espadrilles for Sue. For all you men out there ask a woman what these are. The drought is finally broken and I haven't lost the spending urge. Geoff was starting to get a little worried!

As we were sitting sipping our drinks this afternoon life teemed around us in high drama.... the police and ambulace service have a very high presence in the city that takes care of any issues almost as soon as they happen. Mind you, you can get very sick of the screeching noice they make. My theory is they just drive around all day and night making a good impression. They stopped across the road from us and searched a car and spoke to the driver. We had no idea why and they left after a while without anymore fanfare.

We love Barcelona and would spend more time here if we could.

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