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05/25/2002 Entry: "Habla usted inglés?"
Hola from beautiful Barcelona! Jen and I checked in to our hotel at 10:30 last night after a long day on the tracks. The hotel manager, Maria, took us to our charming room and told us all about the part of the city in view of our enclosed balcony. She pointed out the fast food place across the square, and mentioned a buffet a couple of doors down. With the bustle of the crowd on the distant pavement she also mentioned the gaping hole we could see, explaining that it would soon be a new hotel. We are very happy with our room - we have been choosing rooms based on recommendations in a travel book called Let´s Go, and we´re never too sure what we´re going to get! Click on the "more" link to read the rest of this post.
Since the last update we have spent some time at the incredible Chagall museum in Nice, we have attempted (unsuccessfully) to hobnob with the big snobs in Cannes, and we have gained a great overview of Barcelona. This city is absolutely nuts about one of it´s claims to fame - extensive architectural contributions from Antoni Gaudi. Today we bought bus passes to orient ourselves to this sprawling city, and we were able to check out some of Gaudi´s finer work. Tomorrow we will be taking on a smaller chunk of the city (the pedestrian boulevard of La Rambla) and trying to catch the F1 race from Monaco in a local bar. The keen observer will notice that we are substantially ahead of our rough schedule at this point. This is largely due to our less-than-7-hour stay in Athens and the military pace we set from Athens to Rome. With our extra time we have decided (on the advice of Spanish expert and Barrie Ontario native Angela Robertson) to make stops in Grenada and Seville instead of Madrid. Thanks Angela!
We are safe and sound, and we are having a great time. We look forward to doing an honest load of laundry, and eating fresh vegetables, and seeing all of you soon.
Nathan
Replies: 3 comments
Hello Young Folk:
I tried sending a message on Thursday nite and was congratulating you on the tour of Monaco. Awesome!!! You probably know the Leafs won in Carolina on Saturday nite (1-0) so it is now 3-2 Carolina in the series. Detroit is tied 2-2. Supposed to be a good week here in the mid 20's this week (finally) and there are still leaves coming out on trees! It was a miserable cold Victoria weekend on the 18th but great for working. I put in 19 hours at the house painting between Sunday p.m. and Friday nite this past week. Have the walls done upstairs except for the kitchen. Dana is arranging for window blinds, painting trim, painting wall plates etc, all white.
Weeds sprayed this week and Matt has to cut grass, but away this weekend.
Nana and Papa told us how pleased they were with your updates that Mom sent them. They thought you might be at the F1 race today but I told them that was earlier in the week!
Hope you caught part of the race. Also, Tracy finished 2nd behind Castroneves in the Indy 500 today.
We miss you both loads and are all very happy for you. Thanks for the wonderful updates. Stay safe and know we all think of you constsntly!!
Love Pa/David
Posted by david @ 05/26/2002 07:04 PM EST
Thanks for the update on Saturday. You are right on schedule and your "military pace" as you say is working out well! It does sound like you are having a great time --way better than my report card writing. Hope your weather is getting warmer. Love you both lots!
Posted by Linda Scott @ 05/26/2002 06:54 PM EST
Wow... It looks like you two are having the vacation of a lifetime! Your updates are quite interesting to read and they are very educational as well. I hope you're taking lots of pictures, because we'll expect to see proof of your travels once you get back! haha!
All the best and continued good fortune!
Todd
Posted by Todd Dow @ 05/26/2002 09:55 AM EST