Barcelona

Greetings from Barcelona, where the break-neck-paced Schwester-Euro-Extravanza '06-'07 continues! Not even head colds and sore throats could keep us from seeing Barcelona in eight hours today.

The remainder of our time in Granada was delightful. We went out for tapas with folks from our hostel on Sunday night, which was a great way to see some of the Spanish nightlife. My, how I love Sangria. Monday we went on a walking tour which was not particularly exceptional, but was a good way to see more of the town and learn a little bit about its history. We spent the remainder of our afternoon eating churros with chocolate at a fabulous plaza-side cafe and we had a vegetarian-suitable lunch at a Moroccan tea house. It was one of the better meals we've had since we've been here and the tea was fantastic. After a little down time at the hostel we went out for a few tapas before catching our night train. It was my first time traveling via hotel train and it was a comfortable way to spend the night. We shared our compartment with a young woman from Chile and were able to carry on a little conversation with our broken Spanish and her patchy English.

Once we arrived, we found our hostel, took showers, dropped off our ever-growing backpacks, and hit the town. First stop was the all-organic restaurant our guidebook recommended, which proved disappointing. Next, we went to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's breathtaking cathedral-in-progress and the highlight of the day. I remember climbing the spiral stairs to the tops of the spires and being met with a view of the sun setting over the city when I visited here seven years ago and I was eager to return. It is still as moving as I found it last time. Rachel seemed to really enjoy it as well. Next, we visited a large market off of Las Ramblas where we found produce items that puzzled even my farmer sister. We spent hours wandering through the Gothic Neighborhood until we dragged our weary selves back to the hostel. We'll take it easy this evening and get to bed early in preparation for an early morning train to Carcassone, France tomorrow. Next stop after Carcassone is Cinque Terra, which is five small towns clinging to the Italian coast. I definitely can't complain.