End of Barcelona Day

My goodness. What a work out. Mentally physically and on my sense of smell too. The smell here reminds me alot of teh smell in the city of Antananarivo in Madagascar. Sticking! Not sure what it was (and yes I found soap so it wasn't me) it seemed to be everywhere. Hmmm I walked to Las Ramlas like I said before and caught the Turist Bus. After my break at noon time I hit the metro again and went up (and up and up~ its so steep they have an excalator) to Park Guell. That place is really cool. Its the one Gaudi did with the curving mosaics all around. That place is huge too by the way. I mean, giant! And there is a ton of neat stuff to see around the park too. I saw the "runway" that Tyra Banks used in one of her seasons of Top Model! It was pretty neat, I can see why they used it.

I walked down the hill and caught up with the Red Route tourist bus and then changed to teh blue route so I could get myself down to the water. I should have just gone there. It was so nice and breezy and the beach isn't hard to reach. Though I wouldn't have been prepared for the beach. I wasn't sightseeing with my towel... by the way. I paid 2.2 Euro for a Coke. Can you believe that?! I thought I misunderstood him. I will be buying food from teh grocery store for sure. Stuff is insanely expensive here!! I think if I'm going to survive for 3-4 months I'll either need a job or to get some place cheaper!!

I saw the statue of Christopher Columbus! Pretty cool! And I went to the Maritime museum too. That was worth it!

I am going to have to learn basic spanish ( I kind of know it) but I can tell when I walk into a place that I am going to have to work at my questions more. I think Palma will be that way too. I hope Palma is not like Barcelona. Its just big and crowded here. I did give las Ramblas another try though and it was nicer the second time around. It is just a really wide walk way. Vendors were set up this time. At 9:30am they are not even open yet. Its weird.

I'm really finding this whole thing so interesting. very challenging too. In a good way. I mean, germs gross me out. And you can't even give it a second thought here because that is just the way it is. And people being in bubble...wow, lots of that. I think they are just as uncomfortable as I am so I don't worry about it too much. Also having no privacy is funny too. I had the dorm room to myself until this morning when I woke up and all the boys were sound asleep. At least they slept in clothes. Its just been funny. So far not what I expected. I honestly think I am just really hungry! I have a headache which is a product of either lack of coffee and/or not eating enough. I'm headed to the grocery store soon to buy food to eat. I will need to get off the caffeine addiction though. Too much trouble!

Lets see what else. The sun was out today but it was really hazy! Like Oakland CA hazy. It was pretty weird. Gray skies. I didn't pay the price to go up to Montjuic Castle because the views would have only been fair from there. You'll see what I mean when i download photos.

I am limited to 5 photos at a time. Those are really the highlights.

Tomorrow I catch my flight to Palma Mallorca. which means, Metro, Train, Plane, Bus, Walk. Wow! Going to be a busy morning!

Hopefully the next place has internet. If not then I'll have to find a place that does. I think Tony said a place called Corner Bar had free internet if you bought a drink. Hmmm...

Well I think I about got it all.

My new motto...just send money!

Karen

I think I may try to head east like I thought. Sounds like it is really much cheaper. Who knows though. So far the people I've met here have been on holiday and been strictly visiting this city so they haven't had good advice just yet. I think the summer is still getting into gear here so people aren't fully in travel mode yet. I'll keep you posted.