Barcelona

Okay, I have been patiently waiting to use this song title from the show "Company" by Stephen Sondheim. We have arrived and it is another glorious day.

We loved our time share in Cambrils, but decided it was too far away from the action. So we left this morning and had a lovely breakfast in an outdoor cafe overlooking the sea right near our place. We are getting pretty good at ordering food and luckily I remembered huevos for eggs. I pointed to a picture of sunny side up and Jeff motioned for scrambled and we got exactly what we wanted.

We called a hotel and reserved a room and then set off. Jeff dropped me off at the hotel, Hotel Continental Palacete, and then he left for the airport to return the rental car. I unpacked and learned all about the hotel. We are in a great location just two blocks from the Placa de Catalunya which is the central square and main tourism office. The hotel is a former mansion built in the 1880's and looks like a mini Versailles. I'll attach a picture of the breakfast room with chandelier, mirrors and gold trim decorating the walls. Our room is comfy with enough storage space and a mini fridge and microwave. Best of all they have an all day buffet where you can get breakfast items and later salads and desserts. I just finished a frozen fake ice cream with chocolate sauce. And all the hot and cold drinks you want 24/7 without buying a soda card like on a cruise. Jeff just got back from the airport and we are sitting by an open window and relaxing with our free WiFi. Such a lovely place.

I ventured out to the tourism office to get us some tickets all by myself. I wasn't sure which way to turn, but got it right and had a nice walk. I arranged for a Gaudi tour tomorrow morning and got lots of information. Now we will take a siesta and then go out on the town later.

Just back from dinner and a pleasant stroll on the Ramblas. I thought the word came from the root ramble, but Jeff says it comes from the Arabic meaning stream where the sewerage ran through town. Ugh! Anyway we had a delightful dinner at a cozy, well decorated restaurant. I had a velvety mushroom soup with three fresh croutons made from sweet peppers and onions. My main course was a duck spring roll with a tiny salad. Jeff had a lamb shoulder that was a hunk 'o meat on the bone. He really enjoyed it. We rambled home and now we are playing/using our iPads and Jeff will read from his Kindle until we fall asleep. We are getting up early to take our Gaudi tour at 9.

The photos are Jeff in the fancy breakfast room and the main lobby with many steps. Spain has not heard about being handicapped accessible in public buildings.