Bonjour, Barcelona

Top pics from Barcelona... the writing one is an English "translation" of the Spanish caption... doesn't make any sense to me... last two are the guys I've been living with in Marseille.

Headed to Barcelona Tuesday by train. Took most of the day, got into a hostel along "La Rambla." The hostel had hot water problems (which worked out well, as you'll infer later), was stuffy when I shut the window and loud when I left it open (had a nice balcony, though); however, I paid for a single private room and got a double... which was good, since the one mattress didn't shield me from the metal bar on the bed, so two worked well. Meagre breakfasts there.

I walked most everywhere in Barcelona, despite the great metro system (like Paris's). Probably 7-10 miles per day. I did low and high estimates. Mainly, I explored, mapless. No wi-fi at the hostel, so it was pretty much just discovering the city unaided. I spent plenty of time along the ample beaches, getting a nice sunburn the first day (this is where you make the inference). The Picasso museum was good for learning about his development as an arist, but not many famous works (I realized that I'd seen them all elsewhere before...).

La Sagrada Familia is the most impressive Cathedral I've seen. Immense. None of my pictures turned out well... it's just too big and packed with sculptural architecture. I went up a metro-funicular to the mountain overlooking the city, then successfully avoided (for the second time this trip) another funicular to the castle (above). Great view from up there. Real-used castle. Cannons.

It was a fun, unstructured trip by myself, but a bit lonely. I'm glad I'll be with people I know the rest of the time in France. The next two weeks are camp. Looks like money is going to work out fine. Not sure if I'll be posting at camp.

Oh, we played some of those group games (involving running around the room and chairs) with the youth from church tonight, which, if you think they're awkward in English, try playing them in French!