Tuesday – The PRADO!!! (July 17th)

Tuesday we woke up a tiny bit earlier, had an 8:00 a.m. wake up call because we had to pack and check out before leaving for the day’s activities. We had a nice American breakfast at a little place we had spied the day before (La Taberna de Benja’s) and by the time we left, the place was packed with locals. Another recommendation for future travelers. Then we hopped into a cab to head over to the Prado. They were much more efficient with the ticket and check-in process than the Palacio. The museum was a bit smaller than I expected but had multiple masterpiece paintings that I had studied in various art history courses. Of course a large portion of the collection focused on Spanish painters like Goya and Velazquez. In some ways this was good, because it was do-able to see the highlights of the collection in about 2 hours. That’s about my and Jamie’s limit (her attention span and my feet!).

We headed to lunch at another restaurant recommended by our airport friends, but in this case I think we went to the wrong location?!? The restaurant they recommended was Casa Parrondo - we ended up at Casa Parrondo III – I think there must be multiple locations for this restaurant; what we wanted were Tapas but there weren’t any on the menu. Instead we got a seafood dish that was like a fancy, expensive cioppino. It was good but we were a bit disappointed because we were in the mood for a nice light tapas meal

Then off to the airport. The hotel said “no worries, just arrive an hour before your flight” so we arrived 2 hours before, just in case. And thank goodness we did. Three terminals, two airlines and 4 gates later, we finally took off around 7:30 pm. Air Europa had cancelled our original flight, they re-booked us on Spanair and then their flight was delayed and changed gates multiple times. Hey, but the good news was that all our luggage was accepted weight wise (we came in at 58.5 Kilos with a total limit of 60 Kilos = 20 Kilos per person x 3 people). Success! (at packing) We arrived in Barcelona, drove in the taxi up Las Ramblas to our hotel. Dad and Nan were standing on their balcony, greeting us as we walked up to the hotel. We were glad to see them and heard stories about their previous days in Barcelona. Nan loved it, Dad thinks there are too many people. And at the airport, Nan fell victim to the worst that Barcelona has to offer – pick pocketing. She lost about $500 in cash, her driver’s license, cell phone and credit cards. There were 6 other victims in line in front of her at the police station at the airport…

And FINALLY we had Tapas! We walked to a place recommended by our hotel, Tapelas, where “the locals” eat. It’s just north of Placa Catalunya. We got very late start and were finally seated for dinner at 10:30 – Jamie had some sort of second wind while we were walking there, but then she crashed HARD at the restaurant, laying down and sleeping through the entire meal. Woke up in time to get ice cream on the way back to the hotel… come to think of it, it might have been a strategic move on her part (chuckle). This same night, we’re walking along to the Tapas place and we hear “Ann?” – of course, the small world that it is, Brad Jolson, a colleague of Ann’s from Fair Isaac was walking down the street. He has been on assignment in Tokyo – so it was absolutely one of those wild coincidences to see him in a place where neither of us lives. It’s always amazing to see folks we know in distant locales. Brad was with his wife Diana, they had been to a work meeting somewhere else in Europe and decided to extend their trip to Barcelona. SMALL WORLD!