Our 3 days touring Barcelona are beginning. What to do? Breakfast is first thing on the list. We make our plan over breakfast and strike out for the subway. A station is only about 200 yards away. Very convenient! The plan is to get a 2-day pass for the “Hop-On / Hop-Off Bus”, and see the city. After day one, we’ll adjust our plan, and use the bus for more specific sightseeing adventures. Day 3? Not sure yet.

We get to a central plaza “Espanya”, where several different “topless” buses come through, and get on the bus recommended by the hotel concierge. There are lots of great sites with wonderful buildings. The more we ride through town, the more we hear about Picasso, Miro, and Gaudi. To see Miro and Picasso, we’ll have to visit some museums, but Gaudi, the architect, is everywhere. His style is really crazy, and instantly obvious when observed. You’ll see what I’m talking about in the photos over the next 3 days.

Plaza Espanya

More Plaza Espanya! Lots of motorbikes.

The Olympic Flame from the Barcelona Olympics

Christopher Columbus statue, near the harbor.

Lots of rental bikes. They were everywhere in Barcelona.

We ultimately finished off all 3 routes of bus, and have seen a lot of the city. We got off a few times for snacks and eventually a meal. We got off the bus back at Plaza Espanya, and boarded the subway back to our hotel.

When we got to the room around 6:00, I don’t remember much, until I waked up around midnight. Barcelona is 6 hours behind Beijing, so midnight was 6:00 am in Beijing (getting up time). I was afraid I would be awake for the rest of the night, but surprisingly, I went back to sleep, and didn’t wake up until 4:30 am. Hooray for sleep exhaustion from the flights Monday and Tuesday.