Barcelona - dia uno

We took the high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona.  It is such a civilized way to travel - smooth, quiet, spacious, etc.  The ride via train was approx 2 1/2 hours.  We went directly to the hotel to check in and get rid of luggage.  As soon as that was done, we were on our own for lunch ( the hotel was located in an area where there were many restaurants ).  A local overheard us debating where to eat and she encouraged us to go to a cooking school restaurant which we did.  No one spoke English there ( first time we encountered that ) and very little Spanish.  They speak Catalan in the region of Catulunya so our limited ability with Spanish didn't help ( think French and English in Canada ).  We muddled through it with a safe order of paella.  Food was delicious and fun experience to have students as waiters and cooks.

After lunch we tackled the Metro system.  It is clean and safe.  After much instruction from our leader Macarena ( yes, like the dance ), we got around easily and had no worries about getting separated.  Our destination was a glass fusing class which was fun even for an artistically challenged person like me.  The teachers were all excited about having a hand made souvenir to take back to their students/classroom.

From there we travelled to downtown.  Barcelona is a large and lively city with beautiful and varied architecture. Over half of us went on an amazing bike tour of the city.  It was a welcomed change after all the walking.  We have been averaging 19,000 steps a day.  The bike ride lasted two hours and we went from downtown to the Gothic area to the beach/Olympic park.  The beach area is beautiful and many of the ladies - not me - took their shoes off to wade in the Mediterranean Sea.  Quite adventurous given the temp was about 50.  This area was quite rundown before the 1992 Olympics.  Now it is a vibrant beach community for locals and tourists.

We headed back to downtown to return bikes and go to dinner.  At this point it was dark and we were riding without helmets or lights.  Things are looser in Spain.....  Barcelona does have an excellent bike trail lane on most roads so I felt safe even though it was darker than I would have liked.  When weren't on roads, we were on tiny alley ways. Definitely a highlight for me.