BARCELONA

Tuesday, October 31st, 2000 (Halloween) Tossa de Mar, Spain

Made our own breakfast in the room with coffee and chocolate from the store in Belgium. Plus the rolls purchased last night. Tasted pretty good! In the car and off to Barcelona by 8:30 am. It is raining steady but not heavy. We’re going the coastal route and picking up the autoroute after Blanc. The silver lining to rain is less people and easier parking in Barcelona we’re hoping!

We arrived in Barcelona about 10 am. It had stopped raining before we entered town. The clear weather lasted till we left and then we had some light sprinkles on the way home. Even had some sunshine while we were in Barcelona. The books were right, the traffic is horrible! We found a parking garage near Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and then took a taxi to and from the Cathedral de Barcelona. The taxi was well worth the price!

Gaudi’s Cathedral will be the largest in Europe when completed, has been in process since 1882. It is extreme in style. We were able to go through the Museum which has lots of models of various parts and photo’s at different stages of construction. In the past several years the construction has accelerated and we may see the completion during our lifetime. We went up into the towers to see the views. You can take a lift up one tower and then walk the spiral staircase up another tower. The views are quite spectacular.

The old cathedral is located nearer to the coast and was originally based on the style of the sixth century. The interior was burned during the Spanish wars in 1930’s and so the wood altars are gone and the original structure shows much better. It is very large and has some beautiful altars. There were several of the statute actors outside, one was an angel! Another was a Roman Soldier and the gold lami sphinx which is done all over, and several others. But best, was the black man playing his guitar with very soul inspired Spanish music. Jim bought his CD. Then we found a Bar and bought some beer and light lunch that we really enjoyed.

Caught another taxi and found the parking garage. We were back on the autoroute by 1:30 pm. A fast and very good short visit to Barcelona.

Back to Tossa de Mar for rest, a walk up and around the old fort and a lovely dinner. No sign of Halloween activities here in Spain. BBC TV is showing a plane crash in Taiwan of a Singapore Airplane. There is a typhoon brewing which probably contributed to the crash. Weather looks like more rain tonight but Jim says the weather reports are showing clear tomorrow. We plan to spend the day tomorrow exploring Tossa de Mar after church as it is All Saints Day, an important holiday in Spain. Mass at the local church is at 9 am.

We ate our dinner in the restaurant downstairs that we'd eaten in on Monday. I had pizza and salad again and Jim tried something different. Beef! Walked to the car to get the books and maps since we've just discovered we have two more nights in Spain. Jim found an interesting town outside of Girona which is not too far away. We'll investigate that tomorrow. Washed my hair and Jim is now out for a walk to try to digest his big dinner that he ate tonight. We both need to cut wayyyyy back on the amount of food we're eating but it's hard when it's all sooooo good! I'm watching Star Trek in Spanish right now!