Un dia para los amantes, los ninos, y los perros

A day for lovers, children, and dogs -- and me! And a naked man strolling the length of the crowded beach, right here at the edge of Barcelona and the Mediterranean. Better than that were the sand sculptures, bigger-than-life-sized, 3 dimensional reclining buddhas, gargoyles, dice, and geometric objects.


Note the super huge solar panel in the distance.



This is probably not where the naked man lives.



Recall the person who covers him/herself in gray paint and acts like a robot or statue at public markets . . . along the Ramblas people have taken this to new heights. A man perched on a ladder, holding perfectly still as he balances a soccer ball on his forehead; another like a silver and black creature from a video game, 7 feet tall with wings and armor; 2 men on raised extra large trikes, dressed like keystone cops; another guy who was some sort of plant -- etc. They build stages and have props and it is all very impressive.

My Spanish is much better than last time I was here, allowing me to understand some of what people say. However, speaking aloud is a bit scary. I went to a bank to change money . . . at the first bank, they did not change money and sent me on. At the next, I asked "habla ingles?" and the man behind the desk got wide-eyed and panicky-looking. Which caused my brain to freeze solid, and I fled. However, at the third bank I pulled it together to say, "tengo dolares, quiero euros" and all went well. Although I did not realize people lounging in the red leather chairs along the wall were really in line, so they, one by one, moved in front of me until it was apparently my turn.

Grocery shopping is the most fun. There are bakeries on every block, bursting with baguettes and croissants and other things that make my pants tight just looking. And pharmacies marked with a green cross, fresh meat shops, fish shops, fruit and vege shops . . . everything looks so tempting. I also found a "supermercado" which is stocked very differently from my local Fred's. I went up and down every aisle twice before I located the soy sauce -- next to the flea sprays and other lethal looking cat care items, of course!

My most difficult quest, in getting set up, was to find the supplies for making coffee. I strolled at least 10 miles of densely packed blocks full of every kind of shop (and have the blisters to show it) and found only 2 that had any kind of coffee maker at all (french press, those Italian stove-top makers, or, preferably, just a filter holder with some filters that sits on top of a cup). In these 2 stores, the cheapest little stove-top number was almost $30, and at a Starbucks they had one of those small plastic french presses for $27. Oy. I did find a lovely little coffee/tea shop and bought some lovely ground Sumatra just in case. I knew I could resort to Kris's method of pouring hot water through a paper towel full of grounds. But, just blocks from my apartment, I ran across a Chinese shop full of goodies, from slippers to sheets to, yes, a French press!!! Just as cheap and plastic as the one at Starbucks, but only $4! As I write, I am enjoying a wonderful cuppa joe with my chocolate croissant. (which I can NOT buy every morning!)


This is our living room, with my bedroom in the background. Small but sweet.

Some graffiti outside the apartment.