Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Pentecost

We walked around Barcelona all day yesterday confused as to why nothing was open. At first, in the morning, we concluded that the stores must not open until noon. Then, when we were out in the afternoon, we concluded that they were all closed for siesta until 4 p.m. After 4, we didn´t know what in the heck was going on. So we stopped at a tourist information booth and I asked why the stores were closed. It turns out it was a national holiday. I asked what holiday it was. The woman asked her friend what you call the holiday in English. She said, ¨Second Easter." After much thought and with the help of my guidebook, I concluded that it was Pentecost holiday (the day before had been Pentecost Sunday, and the guidebook said that Pentecost was a holiday). That explained why there were so many people on the Ramblas and also why there had been so much partying the night before.

Today we took a bus to the airport and picked up our car. We actually left it parked there, but it is now officially ours for the rest of our trip. It is very cute. Bill is so happy to have the car. He can´t wait to hit the road.

We ate tapas for lunch, and are about to head up to the Montjuic area, which is on the mountain. We want to take the funicular up to the top and see the city of Barcelona from up high.

As we prepare to leave Spain, here are a few random thoughts and observations:

· They have the smallest garbage trucks I´ve ever seen. I´m sure it´s because they have to drive down the narrowest streets I´ve ever seen.
· Today on the bus, I saw a businessman dressed in a suit and checking his paper calendar. I can´t remember the last time I saw a businessman or business woman use a paper calendar.
· Generally speaking, the men and women of Spain are GORGEOUS.
· There are very many scooters, but the drivers aren´t as nuts on them as they are in Italy.
· In general, the bathrooms in Spain (and most of Europe) are interesting. In the United States, it doesn´t matter where you go, you know that you flush the toilet by pressing down on a handle on the same side of each toilet. In Europe, you just never know what to expect when you use a toilet. There may be paper; there may not be paper (in Italy, most likely not). The flusher might be on top, on the side, on the floor; it may be something big that you press, or it may be something you pull. You may or may not have soap at the sinks, and you most likely won´t have paper towels. Apparently the Europeans don´t worry about washing their hands as much as we do.
· And on this general idea of Americans being more careful about everything, I´ve noticed that you are likely to see little kids sort of hanging out of baby strollers, whereas in the United States, babies will be securely buckled into their strollers.
· The food in Spain (from our limited experience) seems very salty. And I have never seen so much ham in my life.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

Glad to hear you are having a great time. I'm jealous!

Tom Hemmings

Anonymous said...

Hi Bill and Kris,

This is the first chance I have had to jump onto your blog. Nice work! I've read every word and I am so jealous of your fabulous time. Be well and love to you both. Jll