Barcelona in Bloom...

OK, so it's past the flower season, but boy has bustlin' Barcelona changed from when I was last here over twenty years ago. Streets that were dark, medieval, and a bit unsafe when I traipsed through them now are flocked with lots of tourists, and frankly, a lot of kinda down-market types. It looks like all the RyanAir and cheap flight folks are coming to Spain.

We got here by train. Saturday was a travel day and I spent most of the time looking out the window at the marvelous French countryside, vineyards, paysans, and everywhere good, fertile soil. It wasn't until we got to Narbonne that the terrain turned Mediterranean, growing gradually more rocky and light.

Barcelona's a bigger city than I remembered. We hiked up the stairs to the Palau Nacional and looked over the place. It has a Gherkin too! (That's that pickle-shaped high-rise done by Norman Foster.)

We paid homage to a greater architectural master in the morning with a visit to the reconstructed Mies ven der Rohe pavilion. It's elegant and simple and perfectly lovely with its gentle mix of green marble and travertine. Lots of architectural tourists from all over.

After that, a taxi ride across town to see the Sagrada Familia. They've done so much work since I've been here, almost finishing a nave of the cathedral. It looks marvelous. The ornaments of glittering stone fruit at the tops of the columns would have delighted Gaudi.

We haven't eaten anywhere special, just places we've found along the way. So far the food has lived up to that effort. Today I'll attempt to find something a bit more special. With that, I'm off to search the Web!