The hour and a half flight passed quickly. The countryside from the air was really picturesque plus toward the end we flew over the Alps and looked down on magnificent snow capped mountains. I hate to admit we had a second breakfast, but we manned up. It was a typical German breakfast of cheese, salami, turkey, and bread with a small fruit salad on the side.

Sixteen hours after leaving home, we got to Barcelona. We were taken immediately with how beautiful the airport is. All done in aqua marine Plexiglas … huge, tasteful, sleek, and presumably designed to evoke the Mediterranean Sea. We were picked up by a lady tasked to do so and whisked away to our hotel, the Pullman Barcelona Skipper. Our room overlooks the pool, an enormous (bigger than big I tell ya) metal, mesh whale, and the sea.

To stay awake, make good use of our time, and because the room was not ready, we promptly bought a two-day, hop-on-hop-off city tour bus pass and headed for the closest bus stop. The day was beautiful and totally clear so perfect to sit on the top deck and listen to commentary on two of the three routes. (We’ll tackle the third route tomorrow.) This fine city of one and a half million deserves, hands down, the blue ribbon for funky, unique, interesting, and varied architecture. Google Gaudy and you’ll see  what I mean. Barcelona was founded by our old friends the Romans, so there are hints of their influence mixed in with the largest statue of  Christopher Columbus in the world, Olympic venues, a large subway system, bike paths, weird and wacky statues and fountains, large and small public parks and green spaces, cruise ship docks, handicap accessible public facilities, and modern art museums (think Picasso, the father of modern art, and native son Miro). Bottom line: you’ve got yourself a unique, alluring  combination.

We took a walk along the water and chose a place for dinner randomly. We were not alone; thousands of people were milling around on the beach, in the cafes, biking, just hanging out, and running. We’re looking forward to going to bed as soon as we can get ourselves there.