Rambling on the Rambla

Tourist alert! Sottaks and Greenwoods on the Rambla

The girls getting their portrait done

Columbus slept here

You can take the girls out of the Caribbean but you can't tale the Caribbean out of the girls!

BARCELONA, Spain -- We finally made it to Gary and Karen's today after a scenic drive from the French coast. The kids immediately loved it here, largely because they got to re-unite with their friends Emma and Abby, but the energy and sites of the city are a dramatic change to what we have experienced so far on our European adventure.

Barcelona is a big city (4 million?), with lots to see and do, especially compared to our little Aix en Provence. It's world class by any definition.

Gary and Karen live in a very nice townhouse just outside the city, a short bus ride into the central part of Barcelona. The classic ancient architecture blends with the modern buildings here quite gracefully, and even though I am not a big architecture person, the Gothic buildings are quite impressive. The Spanish women aren't too hard on the eye either.


El Rambla is the main tourist thoroughfare that stretches for a couple miles through the center of the city, culminating at the port (where had dinner our first night here - tapas, of course). There are street vendors and performers and lots of exotic sits and smells. Even though it's very touristsy, it's still an eyeful and I must say the creativity of the street entertainers surpasses what we saw in NYC!

The girls particularly enjoyed getting their photos taken with various entertainers and performers, and even got their caricature done.