La Playa en Barcelona

I"m going to post the two portions of my trip as separate entries, so here's Barcelona!  After a very long day of traveling Sunday we made it to Christine's grandmother's house on the beach in Hospitalet de l'Infant.  On Monday Karen and I spent most of the day on the beach collecting rocks and water-coloring.  We also ate a real Paella Catelana, which was delicious.  On Tuesday we took the train into Barcelona to see the Sagrada Familia (Gaudi), the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe.  Christine and I also decided to go Park Guell (Gaudi), (even though we didn't really have much time) a fairy-tale like park with panoramic views of the city....the buildings look kind of like gingerbread houses and there are cave like structures....I have to admit that my impression is: the original Disney Land.  My camera died, so no pictures.  We had to climb so many stairs to get there but the views were worth it, even if we only got to be there for 15 minutes.  We also got to walk around Barcelona, and use the metro system which is muccch more extensive than the one we have in Rome.  We were searching for a good place to eat which was shockingly difficult to find....I even practiced my spanish by asking a few people where nearby restaurants were....eventually we found a little place where I tried another paella.  On Wednesday we borrowed Christine's grandmother's car to explore the spanish hill towns Tivissa and Llaberia.  They both had a sleepy ghostly aura about them, but the few people we ran across were warm and friendly despite the cold soggy weather.  We stopped by the bakery in Tivissa and bought cookies and honey.  We also stopped by the spring where everybody in the area get's their water.  On Thursday we got up early to begin or journey to Paris....Barcelona and Paris are not that far away from each other, but after a car ride, train ride, another train ride, bus ride, flight, bus ride, and metro ride, you wouldn't know it.  All in the name of saving money...