Today is my sister's birthday (happy birthday, Pat!) and the day I went to meet Mike at the airport. As you know, he missed his connection in New York Thursday evening, but not because of weather. There was a problem with a seat in first class (not one that anyone was sitting in) and they had to file reports and get someone to work on it. Then they had to de-ice the plane again and wait in line for take off. So by the time they arrived in New York, the doors of the plane to Barcelona were closed. He spent the next 24 hours hanging around the airport until the next Delta flight to Barcelona. Fortunately, he called our daughter-in-law, Lisa, who emailed me that he was coming a day late. So on Saturday I used public transportation to go meet him and made him use public transportation coming back. He is tired, of course, since in addition to normal jet lag, he spent an extra day traveling, but he is very happy to be somewhere there is no snow!
After we got him checked into the Residencia, I took him to the Boqueria (market) for a glass of fresh juice, (he had pina colada and I had black raspberry coconut). Then we hiked up the rest of the Rambla. I showed him the historical building of the University of Barcelona that I saw yesterday. Well, just the outside since it is closed on weekends. We stopped a the same sandwich shop that Lola and I stopped at for Iberian ham sandwiches and beer. Mike is interested in going to the Picasso Museum so we walked down that way so he could see where it is. We continued down to the old port and sat watching boats and sailboats and people. I believe the tourist season has started again or maybe just the nice weather brought everyone out. We walked back up the Rambla and saw probably 5 fake statue street performers. There were also guys who were trying to sell some obnoxious noise maker (one that they constantly demonstrate) and the usual shops and vendors along the way. There were lots of flower stands today too.
We walked back toward the hotel stopping at the church to check the time for tonight's service and going back to the room so Mike can rest a bit before we do anything else. After showering and changing clothes, he lies down for a while and is soon asleep. After he wakes up, we go out and try to decide what we will do for an evening meal after Mass. We check out a few places and then go to Mass. It is the same church I attended last week and this service is also in Spanish rather than Catalan. I like that because I at least have a chance of understanding in Spanish! Afterwards, we walk out and decide to stop at the grocery and just make sandwiches. We have fresh strawberries (which Mike says taste like summer strawberries), ham and cheese on a warm baguette of bread, olives, and chocolate for dessert. Mike is now lying on the bed thinking about brushing his teeth. I don't think he will be awake much longer. Tomorrow we leave the Residencia for a three day stay in an apartment where we will be joined on Monday evening by my brother Mike and his wife. My days in Barcelona are numbered!
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