Our last Day Here in Barcelona!

GRIMACES: I forgot to mention that yesterday we logged the most kilometers on foot yet! We walked well over 20,000 steps (@15 kilometers) and then ... just as we were nearing one of the beaches ... my trusty Crocs broke! Yep. Broken shoe ... and ... we were no where near home.

GRINS: And so ... I was delighted that my hubby used his ingenuity to provide a temporary fix! He took the money clip he had bought earlier in the day and used it to hold me together until we could get to the Beach Store so I could get a pair of high-priced touristy 'Barcelona' flip flops to get around in for the rest of the evening! Never a dull moment when travelling ... 😃

GROANS: And ... the mayhem continued into the morning when I accidentally dumped an entire bottle of coarsely ground pepper all over my eggs and my croissant ... and ... the table!!!! I really like pepper ... but not the whole jar ... and certainly not with my cream cheese and jam! ☹

GASPS OF WONDER: Our first activity of the day was to take the gondola from the ocean to the mountain side of Montjuic! 

It was incredibly hot already so they had misting fans blowing into the lineups at 11:00am. I'm sure it was to make it more comfortable for patrons to wait in line ... otherwise they might lose business! 

And then we hiked up a ways so we continue to take another one right up to the top where the Castle is! It was lovely to see but the heat hurried our descent!

It's been exceedingly hot today! It was 33° when we came down from the gondola ... and ... it felt like 38° to me!! I was waving my sparkling multicolored fan very vigorously today!!

However ... the sights were just so darn beautiful on Castell de Montjuic! We took lots of pictures and have picked a few to share with you! And then ... after a nice lunch of tapas ... we thought we'd head out to Park Guell this afternoon.... but then ... something really special happened!!

GIFTS OF GARGANTUAN PROPORTIONS: I discovered through a post on Facebook that our very good friends ... Bart and Trudy (we stood up for each other at our weddings ... ours was over 40 years ago!) were also here in Barcelona!! We had not seen them for over 5 years!! And so ... we got to meet for a drink! And ... almost 4 hours later we were still laughing and reminiscing. It was hard to say goodbye. 

GRATITUDES: There is something so special about being with folks you have history with! There is an ease and an acceptance and a comfort that is so hard to describe!! We are so grateful for our chance to reconnect ... across the globe ... in this magical place!! 💛💛💛

And so ... our sightseeing here in Barcelona is done for now. And .. we may or may not get back here before we venture off to Portugal. But ... we are smitten with this place for sure!! And so ... the verdict is in! We are unanimously agreed that Barcelona takes #1 spot for our favorite city on this trip! 

And ... before we say goodnight... some trivia!

FUN FACTS: 
#1. Appently the locals frown upon people wearing beach type clothing on the streets in Barcelona. So ... you will not see such things. Even in this crippling heat, people are not scantily clad.👙

#2. We learned that motorcycles are the most popular form of transportation here in Barcelona! 

#3. We have not been awake after dark but we are hearing there are many great things to enjoy with the nightlife!

Unfortunately ... our nightlife involves doing laundry and getting packed up!! We hate to leave already ... but we will talk to you from Roses tomorrow. 

Sending love and hugs ... k&jRead more