Day two of our vacation got off to an early start. We were up and ready to leave the hotel by 9:30am. My friend Wally, being a smart aleck, asked on FB yesterday if the "rain in spain fell only on the plain." Well, looking at the sky I have a feeling we are going to discover that the rain in Spain also falls in the city.

We were actually shocked to discover that the breakfast, which was included in our stay, was actually a real breakfast. Usually in Europe breakfast in a hotel is just some bread, pastry, juice, coffee, etc. This was a full buffet with eggs (to order), 3 types of sausage, ham (which they call bacon), potatoes and all the cold stuff also. It also had lots of other international stuff; chopped cod, anchovies, liver, etc. They also make these donuts with about 1/4 inch of chocolate on the outside and filled with chocolate on the inside. The freekin' thing must have weighed about a 1/2 pound. I couldn't even eat it all.

We decided to buy tickets for the typical city tourist bus (you know, the double decker bus with the open top that exists in almost every major city) that does a loop to all the major spots. Barcelona's actually has 3 routes although, only two of them are major. It has a stop 1 1/2 blocks from the hotel and we take the Red route bus because it stops near the Picasso Museum.

On a side note, the Sagrada Familia church and Picasso Museum are the two things that I bought tickets to online from home. I was warned about the church having lines that could last as long as 3 hours to get in and, being a good Jew, there was no chance that I was going to wait that long to get into any church. It worked out great yesterday as the line was about 1 1/2 hours long to get in and it worked out great again today as the line for the Picasso Museum must have been about an hour long.

Back to the bus, as we get to the bus stop it begin to drizzle (Wally, the rain in spain may fall mainly in the plain but, it also falls in the city.) We start by staying inside the bus which is just fine with me because I like the air conditioning. They city is beautiful. Lots of great architecture, both old and new. They built a lot of stuff for various world events over the past 100 or so years and, recently, for the 1992 Olympics. The Art Museum is on a hill at the outskirts of the city and the front steps look over the entire city. You can even see the spires of the Sagrada Familia in the distance. I put some pictures on the photo page.

We walked around the area near the Picasso Museum. It's a tangle of small winding streets with shops and restaurants. The Museum itself is really good. It does a great job of tracing the life of Picasso and the development of his art. I even break the rules and took a picture that Beth and I laughed about was of Nicole and Delilah. I posted it on the photo page; Delilah is the white dog on the bottom. Before getting back on the bus we stop at a Tapas place for an al fresco lunch (I think that means that we sat outside in the heat; although it really isn't that hot today.) We have some olives, shrimp, chicken and grilled octopus. The food is pretty good. They also bring us some bread with light tomato sauce on it. When we get the bill I notice that we got charged for the bread (Pan.) I find out that it's their version of a tip. We didn't ask for it and we get charged for it. Strange but, I'll live. The total bill was 27 euros and the bread was 2.5 euros. If they didn't give us the bread I probably would have given a bigger tip; their loss I guess.

We next get off the bus at La Rambla. This is the major shopping area in Barcelona. It's really a series of blocks but, the main street is a wide thoroughfare will a single lane on each side and a wide pedestrian plaza in the middle. We walk down about 5 blocks (the whole thing must be about 15 blocks) and just take in the scenery. We notice two major things; first, is the street hustlers playing the shell game with the tourists. In the Barcelona version they give you the first 20 or 50 euros to pick which little box the ball is under (they don't use shells but, these small 2" x 2" boxes.) When you get it right you are expected to now bet your own money. Beth and I watch for a few minutes; I keep a hand on my wallet and Beth watches her purse. This Brooklyn boy is determined not to be a theft victim in Barcelona. We also notice that the same side hustlers are standing around the guys operating the game. When other people don't make bets they do. It's clearly a set-up to get people to play. The second thing we notice is a series of young men (in their 20's) who have these noise makers (like whistles) between their lips they they are making noise with and trying to sell to every tourist. They are standing about every 10 feet and the damn noise is incessant. That coupled with the tourists who actually buy the stupid things (which cost 3 for 2 euros) and it's virtually the only sound that you hear. Like a high whining, chirp like quack. Ugh, I can still hear it in my head.

By about 3pm we decided that we should head back to the hotel. We hop on the bus and are back at the hotel by about 3:30pm

It's now about 5:30pm. Beth took a nice nap and I listened to her snore. Turn about is fair play. As she wolk up the skies outside opened and it poured for about 20 minutes. Thunder and lightening. Serious stuff Wally. Do me a favor; don't ask about the weather anymore, your bad luck!!

We are going to go for dinner in the downtown area and then stop at the Barcelona Casino. Beth can find a Casino within 100 miles of anywhere. If I didn't know any better I would say she needs to get on a program.

Tomorrow we are going to try to see Gaudi's house and then be on the Cruise ship by mid-afternoon.

Hope everyone had a great day at home. We know that we did here.

We'll write soon. I'll try to get Beth to do tomorrow's blog.

Mark