We left for Barcelona at 8:30 in the morning, this after our day from Hell (yes, that's the name). We first stopped at a place called Carcassonne, a medieval city in the south of France. It was a great place and amazingly beautiful.
It was a major placement for many wars of the past. of course it also had a beautiful cathedral. And like all things France, it seems, had been made into a tourist trap. But if you come to France, you really should try to get here.
We then went to an Abbey, where we saw where monks lived over the years. It was now privately owned and of no great interest to me.
We left for Narbonne, a city on the border of France and Spain. When we got there, I followed Tim. He went on the A9 (kind of a turnpike), and ended going the wrong way and did a U turn. I followed, and of course the ticket wehad just picked up did not want to work at the same gate we were now leaving. Tim was able to explain what was going on to the ticket person, and he then signaled me to follow. As I did, a bunch of siren type noises started and I had to back up. I told the person over the intercom that my situation was the same as the guy that just went through. They had no clue what I was talking about, and we sat there as cars started to back up behind us. I know the attendant was trying to say where we got on and we just said Narbonne , and here, and he kept saying, "No, where you got on." Finally he just got exasperated and lifted the gate for us.
The hotel was small with few amentities. But, that is how many European car hotels are. Just basic. When a motel makes Motel 6 look like a 5 star place, you know it is bad. We were givin no wash cloth and the towels were so thin that there was no possible way to dry yourself completely. But, it was a place to sleep.
We then traveled toward Spain. Once again the turnstiles on the pike got me. I saw Tim looking like he wanted me to go to another gate. As I did a van in front of me started backing up. The guy was in the wring type of gate, so I backed up and went to another gate. But then the turnstile would not accept our credit card, and there was no place for cash. I asked over the intercom what was happening, and I swear the same voice from the day before said ticket. I said I put the ticket in and he said tocket carte. I said I have no clue what you are talking about. He said TICKET!!!! I said WHAT????? And I then said, it won't take my ticket. He asked where I got on and I said Narbonne. Finally, it took my credit card and passed us through. (Julie, we need credit cards that are acceptable here. Some sort of chip needs to be in them).
We found our apartment after driving through a terrible amount of traffic. After settling in we attempted to go to the museum that was being seen with the students. As we walked through a plaza we saw 2 completely naked women walking towards us. They had no clothes and no hair except on the top of their heads. Deb, my wife, said their bodies were flawless. Of course I didn't look (LOL). Later we saw 2 naked men, and the students were a mixture of shocked, amused and embarrassed. I didn't acutally look for real this time!
We saw some great artists work, including Picasso, Miro, Gaudi and the Dali museum. What artistic masters, well accept Miro in my opinion, who did not impress me. Tim mentioned that he didn't think anythoing was art that he himself could do. That's how I felt about Miro's work. The other 3 were very impressive. No, that is not one of the naked girls we saw in Barcelona, its a art figure in the Miro exhibit with Tim and I.
We had our usual problems as well. Barcelona is a party town and they start early an then stop early. I mean it like this. The parties go on all night, each night it goes until 6:30 a.m. and then start again at 7:15 a.m. I guess the 45 minutes is for work, lol. We looked forward to rain last night and thought that the party in the alley would disperse early. Not the case. Instead of individual parties, they started to all sing and party together. It seemed like the rain causes them to all become friends.
We all went out to eat last night and saw the aftermath of a mugging. It was bad and only reinforced our desire to make sure the students understood that while this is a great learning opportunity and loads of fun, there are dangers they should be cognizant about.
As we left barcelona, we ran into a rain storm. It rained for the next 10 hours, between hard rain and very hard rain. Then we got lost (becoming a common theme).When we stopped at the Dali museum, I was forced to park about 1.5 miles away. Jenn stayed with me so we both had to walk to the dali museum in what semed to be monsoon conditions. I had one of those little Tote umbrellas that I may as well had as a drink decoration, because it didn't keep me dry at all. The rain swept water down the road so fast that at one point it knocked Jenn's flipflop off. It carried it swift down the hill, so I had to chase it to retrieve it, including running in the stream of water to catch it. By the time all I had dry was my sense of humor.
The entire trip home it continued to rain. I found out something interesting about French drivers as a group. When it rains and the hit a puddle, they slam on the brakes, No matter if they are going 30kmph or 130kmph, they slam them on. It made for a very exciting and profanity ridden drive home!
Two things I learned on the trip. Watch your wallet and we need a GPS for the cars!
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