Day seven. I can’t believe we’ve only been on tour for a week. It feels like eternity, and it’s hard to imagine a time when I wasn’t traveling on this bus or hanging out with this group.
We arrived in Barcelona yesterday after driving down from Beaujolais, stopping on the way at the Pont de Gard to see the Roman aqueducts and take photos. There was also a fire at the border between France and Spain, and lots of billowing clouds of smoke greeted our entrance into Spain.
The campsite we’re staying at just outside Barcelona is pretty cool. It’s right on the beach, and the bar serves (strong) sangria right out of the barrel, which has made for some, um, interesting times.
Today we toured Barcelona. In the morning, we had a quick bus tour, where we saw the Castell and the Segrada Familia – a famous church designed by Gaudi, who seems to be a local favourite. Then, we went to a leather shop that also sold Lladro figurines and pearls, and a bunch of people shopped. Then we had some free time to explore, so we spent a couple of hours on La Rambla, changing money and eating lunch. We saw the statue of Columbus before making our way back, stopping on the way to buy the fruit we’d seen earlier at La Boqueria. Mmm, strawberries.
Upon meeting back with the group, we went on a quick Gothic walking tour. Then, to an optional dinner and Flamenco dancing show. The dinner had tons of food and sangria drunk right out of an odd contraption that seemed designed to spill more than anything else, but was pretty cool anyway.
Overall, I haven’t been too impressed with Barcelona so far. Maybe I’m just spoiled from France, but Barcelona has been just okay so far, not “wow”, which is a bit of a letdown. Maybe it’s partly the weather. It’s hazy and smoggy and most of the city looks like it could be any North American city. We saw the Olympic Stadium this morning, which looks like the Big O with a football field instead of a baseball diamond. I wonder if they’re still paying for it.