Barcelona Pictures

I haven't loaded any pictures from Barcelona and, as we spent another day at the beach without much to report, today is a good day to load all of the pictures.  Before I get to the pictures, I'd like to share one interesting fact about Barcelona.  Reading signs and menus I was surprised at the spelling of some familiar words and at the number of words that were unfamiliar to me.  Then we ate at a restaurant that had three languages on the menu - one I didn't recognize, Spanish and English, with the one I didn't recognize in the prominent position and font.  I asked the waiter and he said that, by law, all communication must first be provided in Catalan, the local language.  That was new to me.

Now, the pictures...

The first set tells a story of frustration.  As I mentioned in a prior post, the cabin was small.  Thankfully, there was an overhead shelf where we could place our luggage.  I put the three largest pieces up there, and they were a tight fit.  On my first trip to the dining car, my niece tried without success to remove her luggage from the compartment.  She was using all her strength and even put one foot on the wall in her futile attempt to gain access to her belongings.  After retrieving me from the car, I simply face the other direction, pushed up, and pulled it easily out.  My niece was not amused.

This is how my kids were sleeping until they put the beds down.

One of the nice thing about Barcelona is there are parks everywhere.  Each beach has a jungle-gym for climbing, and every few blocks - at least near the beach - has a park.  We've made use of most of them.

My niece said she needs to GAIN fifteen pounds on this trip.  As evidenced by this time on the see-saw, we're doing our best to help her attain her goal.

When I was in High School, my mom's parents took a trip to Hawaii and brought me back a nylon cap.  The visor was flimsy and quickly damaged, so I cut it off and made it into a skull cap.  I never saw a store selling a similar hat, so it was always my unique fashion statement.  In college, on my final spring break, I lost it on a cruise ship.  In Spain, I finally found a close approximation.  I know, I look like a fisherman.

Everyone in the family has their special beach attire.  Because my son is able to crawl, curious about everything, and puts he can touch in his mouth, we brought a kiddie pool for him to sit in while at the beach.  Then we realized he is big enough to reach over the side and grab sand, that he then wants to put in his mouth.

A few pictures from our long walk to the aquarium.  You can see the blending of the old with the new.