Impressions Day 2

Our apartment is quite nice and every wall has very interesting art work. The furniture and dishes are labeled IKEA and it all has that swedish clean-lined look about it. It is much larger than I had expected.

We started the day late, sleeping in and feeling lazy. After a light breakfast of coffee tea and fruit, we studied the maps and headed out. Our first challenge was the Metro system. We can cross that challenge off of our list....it was quite basic and important directions were in English. It was spotlessly clean, quick and efficient. Puts NY subways to shame ! The only drawback is not seeing where you're going. The buses would have avoided that but they looked very crowded and we read some warnings about them. There is a Turista double decker (open-air on the top) bus that stops all over the city at the top attractions and tomorrow we will use that to better view the sights.

Our main goal today was to head to the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral designed by Antonio Gaudi. ( I would try and link to it but all the sites come up in Spanish from either Google or Bing) He was an architect in the late 1800's who designed this as "a symbolic construct encompassing the entire story and scope of the Christian faith". I can never begin to explain it so if you have an interest, try Wikipedia. It was very
crowded and has been under continual construction since 1882. It is planned to be completed by 2026. Much of it is covered in sheeting and scaffolding and my pictures don't capture it well......There will be 12 of those large bell towers when complete ! We plan to return tomorrow and get better shots when , hopefully, the crowds have lessened......Paul was a bit wary of getting in the midst of it all (even the Metro gives warnings in English about the pickpockets) so we looked mostly from afar. I used my iPhone for some pictures but decided that I either need to use the camera or leave it behind....so look for more pics tomorrow.

After a bit more strolling , we felt the first signs of starvation set in. Our UNTOURS guide book recommended a place right near our apt as having the best Mexican food in Barcelona. It was a tiny place, tucked away on a small street. We had no reservation so they plied us with drinks while we waited briefly for a table.
We were laboring over the Spanish menu with our dictionary in hand when the lovely waitress came over and offered us the English version. I said we really needed to practice so we used one of each.
Paul ordered the tuna on guac with rice and I had enchiladas. Both were delicious. Interesting comparison between my portion of 3 small chicken enchiladas, a small side of refried beans and a light sauce with smattering of cheese, compared to the gluttonous portions we get at home.

My first impression of the population here was that they are all slender and today, that impression remained. I began my search for anyone even pudgy and failed . Most everyone was younger than us but there were a few elders around and they were slim as well. The families and the bicycles and the couples and the dogs were all out today. Audi, VW, Citroen and Hondas seem to be the cars of choice. Weather was sunny and about 60, nice enough but layers felt good.

And now I have to "watch" the Broncos on the computer play the Vikings. Buenos noches!.....