I left there & ended up at Placa Reial which was really pretty. Then I was back at Las Ramblas. I think I forgot to mention that Prostitution is legal here but I never saw a prostitute just a couple of peep show places. I then headed down Passeig de Colom trying to find an actual beach. All the boats reminded me of our harbors at home. There were some really nice boats or so I thought until I came across this yacht. And then I saw this little bitty guy. I mean when is a boat too small to have it in the ocean? No way would I ever get in that thing because one small wave & you'd be done for or at least I would since I can't swim.
On my path to the beach I came across the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya. Colton & Gabe, I took some photos of some old guns, a cannon, rocket launcher, torpedo looking thing & of course a motorcycle for you to see. Dad, you got one of a ship. Time for another tangent. So most (not all) public restrooms here are crazy!!! There's one main entrance for the men & women to share (not the crazy part) but once you walk into the main part you see that the bathroom is indeed unisex with the stalls right next to each other. There are not separate sides. However, in their defense the walls & doors do go all the way to the ceiling & to the floor. Still strange if you ask me & if you got-to-go you got-to-go.
I continued on to find the beach & noticed these things on the ground & they were coming from this palm tree. Dad, aren't these dates? Anyway, I know where Kadafi is (is there a reward?) as the biggest yacht I've ever seen (including Arabic writing on the side) was docked pretty close to where I saw the possible dates. This thing would put any celebrity yachts you've seen on Perez or in US Weekly to shame. I really wanted to take a photo of it but decided just to be safe & not take the chance of someone on the yacht seeing me & them plucking me up to never be seen or heard from again so I didn't take one but it was ginormous.
I finally got to the beach & it was packed. The water was really clear and not too cold. It just felt really good after a long walk. So obviously because this is Europe there was some topless sunbathing but what I was surprised by is that everyone was in bikinis. I didn't see one Tankini or one piece bathing suit & trust me there were people who should've been in them. Colton & Gabe, there still weren't any shells so I picked you both another rock. There was a little restaurant right on the beach so I figured it was a good time & place to stop for lunch. You could see a group of sailboats (yes dad I got a photo of them for you) off in the distance it was really pretty.
I finished my lunch & headed for the Picasso Museum. There are all of these trees here that have this unusual bark but what was interesting is that I saw one that looked like a normal tree underneath with the weird bark covering it. Anyway, I finally made it to the Picasso Museum & got in line. I was eavesdropping on the two American couples in front of me & low and behold one of the couples was from Chicago (suburbs but still a little taste of home) & they were all very sweet. The museum was pretty remarkable. Then I headed to the Museu de la Xocolata. The ticket was a bar of chocolate but again with the dark chocolate people, really? They had recreations (in chocolate of course) of all different things including their trash, recycling & composting bins; see attached.
From there I headed back to the hotel so I could take the souvenir box to the post office. It wasn't that it was extremely heavy it was just an awkward shape for a short person so I hopped in a cab with map in hand. Good thing I did because he was still a bit confused when I showed him where I was & where I wanted to go & it was just three blocks away. Heavens!! But I got it there & it should (better be) on it's way. I have to say though that shipping internationally REALLY makes you appreciate those one-rate shipping boxes we have back in the states. With that done I set out for my last night of wandering around Barcelona & I picked up a few souvenirs I still needed. Earlier that morning I had heard some people talking about how beautiful the sunset was from our hotel's rooftop terrace so I wanted to be back in time for that.
Side note - the other day I happened to run across a store for the company of the SIM cards for the int'l phones Sophie had bought us & no one in the store spoke a lick of English but through my Spanglish I was able to load some minutes onto the card. Anyway, I headed back to my hotel to go enjoy the rooftop at sunset & call mom & dad. I wasn't sure they'd answer as I was sure the number would show up all crazy & they'd just think a telemarketer was calling. Sure enough dad answered & I said, "Hi" thinking he'd recognize my voice. Not so much. He acted all funny & then I either said hi again or dad it's me or something cause he figured it out then & then immediately yelled for mom to get on the phone; it was pretty cute & lead me to believe they actually missed me. Who knew but how could you blame them? But then I stood up with the phone on my shoulder so I could take a photo of the sunset & I accidentally hung up on them. Normally when we get disconnected it takes a couple of minutes for them to realize I'm not there anymore & hang up the phone (it does) but this time they were on top of it & had already hung up by the time I called back. So we got to catch up for a few minutes & then some lady speaking WAY too fast Spanish was on the line (I realize it was a recording) & alerted me (I assume this is what she was saying) that my pre-paid minutes were up. When she quit blabbing I heard dad say I think we lost her & then we said a fast goodbye as we didn't know now much time we had left. The sunset was beautiful & I was so glad I didn't miss the opportunity.
After the sun officially set I set off for my last dinner in Barcelona & there was no doubt as to where I was going....Taller de Tapas on Calle de Argenteria as it was the best food I'd had since I'd been there & ironically was my first dinner. The second best place was definitely Picnic where I'd had my first lunch but Taller was closer to my hotel & since it was dark & I was by myself I opted for the safer route. See mom I'm being smart about stuff. Anyway, I had those yummy peppers (again), grilled calamari (which was really good HOWEVER they way they do it leaves the insides kind of "mushy" & takes some getting used to), fried artichoke pieces (they slice the heart & a little bit of the leaves really really thin & then fry them-you almost don't even recognize them when they first arrive) & the standard bread with tomato & olive oil.
Then it was off to the hotel to pack which I pretty much have down to a science now & go to bed. In the morning it's off to Madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment