Buenos diás.
So we didn't get much sleep last night. We finally got to sleep at about 3am only to be up and out of the hotel by 9am. Our train to Barcelona left at 10am. I was able to sleep a little on the train as it was the most comfortable train I had ever been on. Alan was impressed by the amount of leg room he had. Leaving the hotel, we could tell that our jackets still smelled of smoke and gunpowder, remnants of our night of festivities.
The train to Barcelona rode right up the coast and it was beautiful. We passed by lots of orange groves. When we traveled closer to the coast, the water was turquoise green color and very clear. The coastline reminded me of the California coastline. It was rocky with scattered beaches and cliffs.
Barcelona is in Catalonia, a region of Spain in the northeast corner boardering France. They consider themselves their own country they wish to separate from Spain. They even speak their own dialect of spanish, catalan spanish. They have more catalonian pride than spanish pride. While on the train, the overhead speaker would speak spanish, then translate in catalonian. We arrived in Barcelona without a problem and made our way to our hostel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and rested before our evening started.
For dinner, I booked a flaminco show with tapas included. Tapas are huge here in Barcelona. The show was located in a small area called Poble Espanya. The area reminded me of Siena with its narrow streets and ancient look to the architecture. We didn't have much time to explore the area before our show stared. We were seated in front of the stage and the tapas started coming. We had bread with tomato spread, calamari, sautéed mushrooms, cheese, and much more! The show was great. Flaminco dancing seems to be a mix between tap dancing and riverdance but with much more intensity! Alan and I were commenting that their facial expressions looked like they were constipated. We saw three women and two men perform. We both thought that the first male performer was the best.
On our way back to the metro, we stopped to watch the Magical Fountain. It is a lighted and dancing fountain. Most of the songs the fountain "danced" to were pop culture tv/movie theme songs including Star Wars. It was comparable to the dancing fountain at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.
We were still sleep deprived so we called it an early night.
Adiós
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