Hola de Barcelona!

Hello everyone!

We are here in Barcelona, finally in a real room (we've slept on trains for the past two nights). We've had a chance to charge Rupert the laptop, so we thought we'd fill fill everyone in on the latest happenings...

Sadly, Rupert the laptop is having some issues. I think he may be on his last leg. I think the world travels just may have pushed him over the edge of long term functioning. He has been making some odd noises every so often, and the first few times I tried to turn him on, the screen was just black. I thought maybe the battery was so depleted that he just needed a good charge, but then once I got him turned on, he would either go to a black screen or just shutdown. Now the battery is somewhat charged, and he is no longer plugged into the wall, and he seems to be going a bit better. I'm leaving the details because I know Dad will look it up :) Anyhow, pray Ruppy makes a safe trip home so I can back up all of my photos! Duncan, luckily, still has a lot of his on his memory card, so if all else fails, we shall have some! (Okay, as I finished typing this, Rupert did the same thing, just a black screen, so I had to move to a computer in the lobby)...

I'm going to first talk about Paris.
I absolutely loved Paris. I never pictured myself a Parisian kind of girl, but I totally am. Once our train arrived, we strolled down the river for a little while. The weather was just grand- sunny, but not as hot as Florence. We got a good look at Notre Dame (from the outside) and made our way to the Louvre. Duncan wanted me to see how expansive the building was- which was mind-boggling. Then I decided that I couldn´t be that close to the darn thing without going in. So we bit the bullet and saw as much as we could in three hours. You need at least a week to see the whole museum correctly, but what an amazing treat it was to see all of these masterpieces I learned about in Art History! I was astonished and totally in love. Following the Louvre, we wandered through some parks with sculpture gardens, got a few good views of the tower and the arch, and just enjoyed the day. Now I wish that we had allotted more time for Paris, but just getting a little taste was enough to make me want to go back!

Now, here is Duncan to talk about the lovely Barcelona-- which, for the small bit we saw, was amazing.

Especially, in my mind, the famous cathedral put into motion by Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia. It is still being constructed, having been started over 100 years ago, but despite the cranes towering alongside the spires and the cobwebs of scaffolding hugging the inside, the sheer presence of the place was breathtaking. I stood in awe, mouth wide, at the overwhelming, naturalistic openness inside and the madness of the engineering it must take to construct such a peice of beautiful architecture. I told Whitney that, whatever it takes, we have to attend the first service held there after its completion, 30 years or so from now.

After that, we went to Gaudi Park, from where you get a sweeping view of the city, which is huge, and packed tight. We didn´t realize that the famous mosaic benches were just over the hill, so we will try and return there tomorrow morning, before we catch our train to Madrid.

After that, at Whitney´s bequest we headed to amble on the Ramble, a street full of vendors´ tents, street performers, and open-air tapas bars. Sadly, due to the tight limit on our budget, we were not able to enjoy some of Spain´s traditional fare, but if our money holds out until madrid we will blow it all there on tapas and Sangria! In the meantime, we decided to just hit up a McDonald´s, as all Whitney was really concerned with was eating outside. Yes, we came all the way to Barcelona for a Big Mac.

I have to brag about Whitney-- she ordered our train tickets entirely in Espanol, for which I was very proud of her. Me, however...

So, we ended the night sitting on the patio, with me drinking a 1 Euro beer from- get this- a vending machine, and just enjoying the weather. We are ready to be home, but are at the same time getting used to the traveller´s lifestyle.

Hope all are well, we miss and love you, and will see you Monday night!

Whitney, featuring Duncan