Nothing like a Good Sweat

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So, I knew it was going to be hot in Barcelona. It was by far hotter in Morocco; however I can’t seem to stop sweating. Hmmmmm. I have been drinking more water than humanly possible.
The other night I was having troubles accessing wifi. Normally I wouldn’t get upset, but I wanted to arrange a private tour of Barcelona for my mom and I needed to send funds via pay pal for the deposit. I took a deep breath and went on the hotel’s public computer. What occurred is a freeze on my PayPal account for security breach. Urghhh. In the process, I meet an American woman who starts telling me the hotel’s wifi sucks and she was having major troubles. She then asks if I was alone. After telling her I was, she mentioned how her and her friends would be around having drinks. I joined her and her 3 girlfriends from childhood for tapas and drinks. All 4 women were 52 years old. They all looked as if they were in their 40’s. As they were from Pennsylvania, I wonder if their water is keeping them looking so young. One was a state senator, another was a professor and the other 2 woman worked at their own company doing something with the courts. Three out of the 4 were married. They take girl trips every few years. I thought it was fantastic! We had a very nice night. I shared a lot about my travels and learned a bit of these ladies histories. I never shared a meal with a senator, so it was interesting. She is on her 4th and last term and she simply fell into politics. I can only hope my friends and I take girl trips in the future!

During the daytime, I have been spending time with my new friend Nihal - the filmmaker. I met her the 1st night I arrived in Barcelona. We spent one day at the beach, followed by a feast of paella - one of the best paella yet! The other day we spent wondering around. We started at the Casa Batlló - one of the homes that Gaudi refurbished. It was interesting. To be honest, a bit expensive for what you actually got to see; however I haven’t seen anything else like it. We strolled through the Gothic District, and then hit the marina. The water, breeze, sailboats were beautiful! We continued our walk towards Barceloneta. The beach was super packed (made me happy with my hotel choice away from the madness as the beaches by me were much more delightful and chill). There were lots of bars and restaurants surrounding the area.

Overall, my time alone in Barcelona wasn’t lonely in the slightest. I met some really good and interesting people and had things to do every day. Besides my short time in Amsterdam, this was my 1st time alone since I left a month ago (as I had Betsy followed by my tour mates - Canadian Grandpa).

I am super lucky that things work out the way they do. My mom will be here in the morning. She said she is looking forward to relaxing. I don’t think she gets that we are about to embark on 4 different countries - Spain, Monaco, Italy, and Tunis (North Africa)! I am guilty of relaxing the past few days, so I can be prepared to see some really amazing sites over the next 10 days! I am sure we’ll work in some chill time!

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