Wandered around down little cobblestone alleys in the Gothic Quarter and looked at wonderful neighborhoods with tree lined parks to sit in and little cafes and restaurants filled with delicious food. Headed over to Las Ramblas and wandered down the street, taking note of places that looked good for dinner once Wade arrived. Stopped to talk to a nice artist named Kenneth and watched him paint for a bit, but it was too crowded for me so I headed to the waterfront. I did not hear the van crash, just heard lots of sirens and saw the helicopters flying about, but having never been here, figured it was normal. Wade sent me a text saying he was on the bus, heading to the Plaza Catalunya dropoff point where we were suppose to meet. I headed back to the hotel for a quick second and the owner told me the news of the terrorist attack. I quickly texted Wade, but texts weren't going through. Tried to find out information, but it was limited and the city quickly shut down. Streets lined with police yelling and motioning to move out of areas quickly, with roadblocks continually moving as they hunted for the suspects. Wade and I were both wandering the city, frantically trying to find each other around road blocks and subway closures in an unfamiliar city knowing very little of the language. We finally met up about an hour later, which then turned into several hours of us walking around as our hotel was not far from the incident. Everyone was asked to stay inside (maybe she had also said that earlier when I left to find Wade, and she mentioned to him later that I was not a good listener). We showered and were told to find dinner close by. Most places were closed and the streets are eerily quiet except for sirens, but we find a little place around the corner that was open and had delicious tapas before going back to the hotel. But in positive news, we are both safe and together and the place we are staying, Brun Barcelona B&B is lovely on a quiet, tree-lined street with a little balcony to sit and people watch. And there is an adorable little old woman who lives across the street that waves at me and blows kisses when she waters her plants. She yells out "good morning" or "good night, see you tomorrow" in Spanish and I love it!
The next day we wake up early. I had booked tickets in advance to Sagrada Familia at 9:45 with tickets to the Passion Tower at 10am. That gave us plenty of time. Luckily, the subway was open again and we stopped on the way at this yummy bakery I had seen for breakfast. Security was very tight for the church. And the towers were closed for security reasons, which bummed me out as I have been looking forward to seeing it in person since studying Gaudi in college. 
But inside the church was still breathtakingly beautiful with the colors and light. We then walked over to Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau along a treelined street and saw an empanada store, of which maaayyyybbe I shoved four different types of empanadas in my face-hole. 
The hospital was beautiful inside, decked out in Catalan art nouveau. The detail was amazing, and fun for me to see in a familiar setting like a hospital. That night, we decided to head over to the Gracia neighborhood. There is a yearly festival I had read about called Festal Major de Gracia. Many of the streets in the neighborhood compete with each other to decorate best using only recycled materials. 
Each street had a different theme: The Little Prince, safari animals, caterpillars turning in to butterflies, King Kong, The Neverending Story, and many many others. We met up for a minute with a friend who was also visiting from Seattle. Supposedly, the festival was cancelled, but it was still quite busy and festive and with the decorations and people still selling food and drinks on the street. We wandered for hours and headed back to our B&B to grab late night tapas at a neighborhood outdoor plaza.The next day, we walked around out neighborhood, the Gothic Quarter, a bit, as Wade didn't get a chance to see it during the lockdown the night before.
There were several memorials set up for the victims of the terrorist attack along Las Ramblas, as well as displays of hope.Then we checked out the outdoor boqueria market and snacked on more food (of course), walked around adjoining neighborhoods and the San Antonio market. We bought a little house plant for the friendly old woman across the way from our B&B because she seems to live tending to her balcony garden every morning. 
Then we went to see the outside of Gaudi's La Pederera and Casa Battlo. I had a difficult time deciding if I had to go in either, but both were expensive with long lines to get in, so we skipped the inside tours. But it was interesting even to see the outside of the buildings! 
We then went to visit the Montjuic cemetery, which was a nice quiet walk around up a huge hill with views over the Olympic stadium and the city, as well as the harbor. After, we had wanted to see the free Magic fountain show of Montjuic, but it was cancelled all weekend due to security. 
Instead, we went to Parc de la Ciutadella fountain and people watched until sunset (which was not great that night due to cloud cover). There is a huge Roman style fountain in a huge park full of sculptures and art. Plenty of people enjoying the park, having picnics, eating, drinking, dancing. Spain's parks and outside spaces are so enjoyable, safe, and family-friendly! Something I wish we did better in Seattle. We headed through the park to the beach and had a really nice seafood paella dinner in Port Olympic.Sadly, it was our last full day in Barcelona. We got a later start than expected, as we saw our neighbor as she went out to water her plants and Wade showed her we bought her a new little plant. We met up on the street to exchange it. She is an adorable 94 year old named Delores (or Lola for short). She speaks Catalan, so communication is difficult. But she seemed tickled to get a new plant and immediately went to re-pot the plant and put it where we could see it from our balcony. Then we headed off. We tried to visit Park Guell first, but it was already sold out until 5:30pm.
We bought tickets for the evening, and then took the bus and a funicular up to Tibidabo. It started raining once we got to the top, but then there was a break with a little sun to enjoy the amazing views over the city. It is a kind of odd spot with a church at the very top with a huge Jesus statue which seems to be presiding over the amusement park below it. But worth it for the views.
Then we took the bus and subway to the Labyrinth Park of Horta, and ran around the labyrinth and explored the park, which was free on Sunday. Again with the fabulous Spain parks being wonderful places to relax and enjoy a day. 
We finally made it back to Gaudi's Park Guell. It was fun to see and I did love the details in everything from the columns to the tiles,but it was just too full of tourists for me to really fully enjoy it. On the way back from the bus to the hotel, we decided to wander the windy alleys of the Gothic Quarter again and we accidentally happened on the historic 4 Gats bar and restaurant. It was originally opened in 1897 and a popular meeting place for artists such as Picasso and Gaudi. 
It is now a beautifully restored building and I ate "the most badass patatas bravas" (as listed on the menu). And later, we spent the last of the evening taking a stroll and sitting and enjoying the boardwalk of Port Vell.
The morning we were leaving Barcelona, Lola waves and tells us to come downstairs. She motioned for us to come up to her apartment and buzzed us up. It was a beautiful place. She had wrapped a bottle of wine in ribbon to give us. We tried to chat a little using Google translate, but not sure how much was understood as it only translated to Spanish and not Catalan. Said out goodbyes and headed to the train station. We hopped on our train to a much smaller city to the north called Girona. 
Stored our larger backpacks at the train station and headed out to explore. Interesting town located on the Onyar River with lots of cute bridges to the old part of the city. One of the bridges, Pont de las Peuxateries, is red and designed by the person who did the Eiffel Tower. 
We wandered the narrow cobblestone streets with old stone walls through the Jewish Quarter. There is a partial high wall that you can walk, as it was a medieval walled city. Great views of the town and a nice shaded garden to relax out of the heat and sun. 
We walked around massive cathedral, which was apparently used at some point on the set of Game of Thrones. Grabbed a gelato in a park and then another delicious Iberico jamon and brie sandwich. We then grabbed the fast train a few minutes to Figueres. Not much to see here, but the Salvador Dali Museum and Theater. For a few days a week during a few months in the summer, they offer limited late night visiting hours, opening at 10pm. 
It was fabulous! The place is enormous and I learned a lot about Dali's range as he has done all sorts of work, even designing jewelry. With stuff in every corner, it is like walking in a huge, surreal dream for hours. It ends on a patio courtyard with a black and white movie showing old photographs of Dali and the creation of the museum over a glass of sparkling wine. Well worth the trip to see, and even the three hours of sleep we got before catching a bus back to Barcelona airport to Bilbao. The only bummer is our hotel room at Pirineos in Figueres was super nice and we only really spent a few hours sleeping in it.I am having a little difficulty with some of the tourists here. It is high season, so very crowded, which is to be expected. But lots of rudeness, pushing and shoving without so much as a "Pardon" or "Excuse Me." Tourists taking tons of selfies and posed shots of themselves laying on works of art while others wait to get a five second chance to see something. Or asking a mom to make her child stop playing nearby as it was ruining her photo shoot she was doing at Park Guell was a photo of herself at every possible angle. Just general unawareness of others around them. Kinda feel like it shouldn't have to be someone's full time job to tell tourists every few seconds to stop laying on a Gaudi statue. Or like last night in the Dali museum when a guard had to ask someone to PUT HIS SHOES ON, as walking around a museum is not proper. For. Real. There was a fair share of anti-tourism sentiment in Barcelona, and while I know I am part of the problem, I can sympathize with that sentiment based on some of the amateur-hour ridiculousness we have seen.
Now landed in Bilbao. Glad we had enough time planned between the bus and the plane, as there was a big police checkpoint to the departure area, taking it down to one lane. Heading to our hotel for the next few days here during a large festival called Semana Grande and join the celebration, as well as hopefully check out the Guggenheim museum (where I also hope shoes are not optional). We will continue to be safe and I will write again in a week or so.
Love,
Betsy
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