Barcelona

Of course you know that things don't go as planned when it comes to traveling by airplane.  Just a few days ago Dena had to switch airports at the very last minute after she got a text alerting her that her flight to Boston was canceled.  We didn't get a text but when we got to the airport we learned that the first leg was going to be delayed enough that we would miss the next one.  So they rebooked us through Paris instead of JFK, leaving about an hour and a half later than originally scheduled.  Benjamin's flight was all fine.  The three of us sat around at Dulles doing what we would have been doing at home anyway -- Jon made phone calls, Benjamin worked on his school stuff, I knitted.

Our flight was uneventful but crowded-feeling.  We got to Paris at 7:30 local time, walked a long way to the next gate, had some croissants for breakfast even though it was very much the middle of the night for us, and finally got a good but brief nap on the plane to Barcelona.

Somehow Jon and Benjamin had never managed to close the loop on how and where we were going to meet and each of them had a slightly incorrect idea about arrival times.  They are the ones who make sure to have functioning phones so that is why I am naming names here.  Jon and I got our baggage and went to wait for Benjamin in a place that seemed pretty visible.  We waited to hear from him.  Nothing.  We waited some more.  I found out how to get information on whether he was actually on the flight from Frankfort (yes).  I found out that the Barcelona airport doesn't page anyone unless they are very young or very old.  I even talked my way back into the baggage area to see if he was waiting there.  After two hours of no news (this is a familiar and not good feeling, trying to find Benjamin in airports), I told Jon to send messages in every possible form, telling Benj the address of the hotel and then we were leaving.  At that point we got a text saying he was waiting for us at the gate where he thought we would be arriving soon.  Sigh. At least he was getting work done while he waited for us in comfortable ignorance.

We took the Metro, changing trains multiple times and walking down and up long hallways that reminded me of the London Tube.  Finally we came up above ground to bright blue skies, in a foreign city at last. The subway stop is about 50 feet from the hotel, on the famous pedestrian street called La Rambla (or sometimes Les Rambles or Las Ramblas).  Immediately this part of town reminds me of Florence and Paris and Naples with its mix of decorative architecture, big churches, wide squares, and people-filled streets.  Benjamin pointed out that the signs are in Catalan, which looks like French and Spanish put together. 

Looking left from our room onto Les Ramblas ...

Our hotel is also familiar feeling -- the doorway at street level is unremarkable and when you step inside you have to go up stairs immediately since the hotel is actually on upper floors.  And the room is just barely big enough for four single beds, even though we don't actually need four.  But the view is lovely -- we are looking out over Les Ramblas with its European street lamps and balconies and hundreds of people walking up and down.  I asked Benjamin what percentage he thought might be tourists and he said half.

... and looking right. A great room location.

We didn't get around to lunch until almost 4:00, when lots of restaurants were closing for the afternoon.  We found some good options at the Boqueria -- a large covered market that is almost all prepared foods, although I am sure people buy fresh produce and fish there too. Then we just wandered around looking at the neighborhood for a while.  When Jon and Benjamin paused in one of those narrow side streets at a little museum about local motorcycles, I took the opportunity to go back to the hotel and have a nap.  

When they wake up from their naps, it will be time to go out for dinner at the time of evening that people expect to eat here.  Since we are in some undetermined time zone, we can pretend this is what we do too.   There are plenty of choices.