The last day of Barcelona

Plaza de Espana

the bull fighting arena was converted to a mall

inside the mall

Plaza de Espana looking the other way

deserted streets of the Barri Gotic outside the synagogue

me in the tram up Montjuic No one else was in it not even a driver. Suddenly it took off

up through this tunnel

We climbed a long way through gardens

finally to the castle on top

our hotel way below

The bus ride down the hill went past the Olympic complex

Our hole in the wall lunch place near La Sagrada Familia. Very good

near where we found the tram

castle gardens

Xmas tree inside the arena mall

I hit publish when I meant to just save and then was too lazy to convert to draft. And as usual, all my photos, a mix of Steve's and mine, are out of order. 

We walked through the Plaza of the Sagrada Familia through their Christmas markets looking for lunch. Although I planned out our activities in advance, I didn't research  lunch stops all the time. We stopped in a promising place in off the main street. We had three different waitresses attending to us, all very friendly. The food was very good though I can't remember what we ate other than another version of crema catalan, a less rich crème brulee.

On to Montjuic, which is Jove's mountain, not Jewish mountain as I was led to believe. Three options to get there. There was a cable car that goes across the water whose landing was very close to our hotel but it was only one way and very expensive. A tram that doesn't operate in the winter but it turns out to be still running, or a bus that runs to the top between Plaza de Espana and the very top.

This tram was hard to find. I assumed it would be out in the open not at the end of a series of long deserted tunnels. There it was: two cars, doors open and no other passengers or even a driver. Steve was dubious whether we were even to be there but the doors snapped shut and the tram slowly began to move. It eventually came into the light and stopped. Turns out we were only half way there. We made the long climb through multiple sets of stairs in a pretty park. Did I say we had been on our feet for a long time already that day? Finally we arrived at the castle, a very old looking fort but surrounding it were plenty of viewing spots to see the water below. Steve loves high places to take photos.

We missed a lot of the sights in the mid section of the hill, pretty plazas, the Olympic park, the Joan Miro museum, which I had no intention of going in but it is in an interesting building. We did see these sights flash by on the bus ride down. The bus ended at the Plaza de Espana which had lots of interesting buildings that we were too tired to explore. The sun was setting. We went back to the center of town, Placa de Catalunya, for one last look at the Barri Gottic looking for the synagogue, which was hard to find. We stopped into a very friendly empanada shop (Thai coconut chicken empanadas, yum!) nearby. The owner went over backwards to help us find it, 2 minutes away. Then onto our bus which we caught on the very busy Via Laietana going by The Fun Factory with a huge moving dildo especially designed as the sign said to find the G spot. No need translate as everything was  in English. I did take a photo that captured the movement on my iPhone through the window. Fairly obscene. I will spare you.

Back at the W, into their fancy bar to claim our free cava . Not looking forward to going home. I could open up the news feed and get headlines

Ann Arbor to get another 7 inches of snow today.

Another 7 inches? What chaos awaits ?

We had a very leisurely brunch the next morning as our driver wasn't going to be there until 9 am. Lots of cava along with there many other taste treats. The driver, a very nice interesting man, was right on time. And for some reason, no traffic in our way to the airport so we had plenty of time to sample the many offerings at the duty free, lots of alcohol. Hopefully it would make me sleep.  And our friendly Brooklyn flight attendant kept bringing me wine. A miracle I could move. Meanwhile cold and snow all over the place in the Eastern US. We flew to Kennedy where we waited for hours and hours. Our plane was there but the flight crew was stuck in the snow elsewhere. Then we waited in line to be deiced  We arrived almost 3 hours late. Naomi picked us up as she had to work early in the morning and we would have Maya. Our huge driveway had more than a foot of snow though the neighborhood had carved a small area to park a car. Fun to unload the car trudging back and forth.

And on to the many challenges here