September 29, 2010

Today was the big strike. Woke up at 4:45 to the sounds of fireworks and a lot of noise. All the busses, taxis, trains, subways and a lot of airlines are not running today. Many of the stores and restaurants are closed and there are 3-4 police cars all over the place with sirens blaring. We have seen a few protestors, but mostly it is quiet. Went to the local museum this morning and had a nice lunch outside without any problems. When we tried to go for chocolate this afternoon near La Rambla, there were a lot of shops closed ( no chocolate) and more police cars. Our hotel is very quiet. We did go to a local market this AM which shut down while we were there. All that fresh fish, meat and produce going to waste. Luckily, it is only a 24 hour thing.

September 28' 2010

Hugely busy day today. There is supposed to be a general strike tomorrow. No one seems to know what that will mean. Thye suspect no taxis, no food service and no shopping. So we crammed everything in to today that we were supposed to see tomorrow - Gaudi apartment, Segura Familia church, the boqueria ( which looks a lot like the Reading Terminal Market in Philly)' the gothic quarter and the Picasso museum. One of the gals on the tour from Canada and I went shoe shopping this afternoon. No sandals in spite of the fact that you could wear them year round. Off to a classical guitar concert this evening. Most importantly, my luggage arrived!

September 26

Went to montserrat today. A beautiful monistary way up in the mountains. More later.

Had a fabulous day. The weather is great. Had tapas for lunch - tempura veggies (including temmpura avocado) and Catalan cured meats. The wine tasting was amazing, then more tapas (vegetarian pizza that had a strong curry flavor). More wine. Life is great. Can't figure out the photos yet.

Here in Barcelona with no luggage. Thank you American Airlines. Traveling light. Going to a wine festival this afternoon. Life is soooo tough.

Itinerary

Here is a link to the itinerary:  http://www.earthboundexpeditions.com/cms/htdocs

Welcome to my travel blog

We are going to Spain and Morocco on September 25 for 2 weeks on a tour through Earthbound Expeditions, a company we have used before when we went to Italy.  I am super excited.  One of my friends suggested I post a travel blog for my friends to see what we are up to.  Stay tuned.........