Barcelona

We were lucky to spend two days in Barcelona before our cruise. What a city! It was fun to try to use my Spanish but also very frustrating because Spanish in Spain is very different than Latin American Spanish/Mexican Spanish that I am learning with my teacher, Pablo. Things we enjoyed: walkability, culture, food, hotel, the Picasso museum. Things we did not enjoy: power outage at the hotel, graffiti everywhere.

We had some travel issues and mistakes leaving the airport but nothing too terrible, and it all worked out in the end. Instead of traveling from Bordeaux directly to Barcelona, we took a train back to Paris and then flew to Barcelona. At least I enjoyed some delicious chai teas during a variety of the travel days! When we got to the hotel in Barcelona, I stayed in and Mark went exploring and got some pizza. 

Our main day in Barcelona was filled with visiting the old Jewish sites including a synagogue. We enjoyed lunch, snacks, and juices from the amazing outdoor market, Mercado de la Boqueria; it reminded me of the one in Philadelphia (Reading Terminal). Of course we saw La Sagrada Familia which was definitely interesting. But the highlight of the day was dinner/drinks/dessert with Sam Simon. It was wonderful to reconnect and hear about his life in Barcelona.