My internet connection is very spotty at this apartment so
even though I would have liked to review the website for the Universidad
Oberta, I can’t. Instead my husband, my brother and I go around the corner for
breakfast. The apartment includes the breakfast but since they have no room, we
have vouchers to go to a nearby bar (it is more a bar than a restaurant). There
we can get coffee, juice, and a croissant, donut or muffin (it’s not called a
muffin, but it’s like a muffin). My sister-in-law was enjoying catching up on
her sleep and so we took her breakfast back to the apartment. It was time for
me to go, so I walked to the metro, transferred to another line at the “Clot”
stop and then transferred to the tram line for the last leg of the journey
along the southern part of the Diagonal Avenue.
The building for the Universidad Oberta was a busy place,
but their offices were only on the second floor. Anna Zuniga came down to meet
me and then showed me around the technical processing area, pointed out the IT
services area and then showed me on her computer the website for the Universidad
Oberta. It is a totally online university that opened in the 1990s and they
have a well-developed website for their students. They use Open CourseWare for
their portal and include everything each student needs to succeed. At one point
I asked Anna what she thought about MOOCs—a recent proliferation of mostly free
online courses. She thinks they are a current fad that might be useful in some
cases. However, the support and quality of online courses offered by
institutions like Universidad Oberta make it unlikely that MOOCs will threaten
them.
I left Anna and returned to the apartment. The others had
walked to Passeig de Gracia and looked at the Gaudi houses. They arrived back
at the apartment a bit later and we set off in search of paella. We took the
metro to Barceloneta by the port and soon found a restaurant. We sat outside
and had the seafood paella from the menu del dia. This means you can pick an
appetizer, an entrée, a drink, and a dessert. We had sangria for four, shared
various appetizers, seafood paella for four (in one large pan) bread, and ice
cream for dessert. The waiter was impressed that we managed to finish the
paella!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering along the
beach, just enjoying the day and the scenery. We ended up at the bottom of the
Rambla and strolled along with a crowd of people. We saw living statues and
took a few pictures. At the top of the Rambla we stepped into the Triangle
shopping center and used the ATM, stocking up on Euros for the trip ahead. Then
we took what I assume will be the last metro ride of the trip and came out of
the metro with the Sagrada Familia church looming over us. It is quite a sight!
We arranged our transportation to the ship for the next day
and then spent the rest of the evening doing laundry and getting ready for the
cruise. We had CNN on, watching the sad scenes from the Boston Marathon and
wondering what demented person or group is responsible.
We emptied out our refrigerator so we had fruit, wine, beer,
cheese crackers and other miscellaneous items out on the terrace. Just another
lovely evening in Barcelona! Tomorrow we are on to Phase four of my trip: The
Cruise…
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