Our last full day in Europe finally arrived…I’m glad we finished it up in Barcelona…we are ending on an exotic and chaotic note.
The day started slow, as all days in Spain seem to start. John read on the balcony, I read on the couch…we are so over rushing out and accomplishing as much as possible. Bring on the leisure time! 
When we finally left the flat, we took the funicular and cable car to the top of Montjuïc. This hill holds a collection of museums, a fortress, a Spanish village, the Olympic grounds, and a huge cemetery set into the hillside. We declined admission to the fortress (meh, more castles) and opted for a walk around the walls.
We were on the Mediterranean side mostly, which provided views over the shipping terminals.
We strolled through the cactus lined paths until we ended up in a huge cemetery. The vault-filled walls stretched into the distance…it must be a huge place, as there are bus stops inside. We only wandered for a while, as we weren’t too keen on getting lost amongst the dead, especially on this arid desert hillside.
We struck off on a path that looked promising, however it quickly turned into and endless trek through parking lots and deserted roads. We were separated from the formal footpaths by an impenetrable cyclone fence. It took about 45 minutes to get back to civilization and we rejoined society somewhere around the Miro museum. Any other day, this would have been tempting, but we were thirsty, hungry and longing for the beach.
Back down the funicular and into our metro connection, beach towels at the ready, the L4 line threw a wrench into our plans. Access to the lovely neighborhood of Barceloneta was impossible, due to a malfunction on the line. We were spat out in the middle of the financial district, the Med nowhere in sight.
After some directionless walking, hoping to find a Mexican restaurant to fix our thirst (we gave up), we navigated our way to another metro and approached the beach from the opposite side of the city. We showed up a couple of hours behind schedule, but the sun was still shining and the beach never really closes.
It was very windy today, so the sea was choppy and full of surfers hoping to catch some waves. We planted ourselves in the wind, weighted down our towels and watched the surfers get tossed around in the water. John had been itching to swim since we stayed on the lake in Zürich, so he braved the chop and went in for a quick dip.
Afterwards we watched a 25ft sailboat fight the waves as it tried to enter the harbor. It struggled for about 20 minutes, being tossed around by the waves. It was alarmingly close to tipping over several times, and several smaller boats went out to help the crew. It finally found the harbor…I’m sure those folks were ready for a strong drink.
After packing up our beach nest, we walked out to the end of a concrete jetty. There were very clear signs instructing us not to do so, but there were tons of people out there and the waves were crashing around it in a rather exciting display. It was like standing in the splash zone at the bottom of the log-flume.
Damp and sandy, we took the metro back to the flat to prepare for tomorrow’s flight. As of now, we haven’t done shit…but we plan to pack up everything tonight and hit the pavement at 6:30am to go to the Aeropuerto.
Hopefully, our flight will not be delayed/re-routed due to Hurricane Arthur, and by this time tomorrow, we will be leaving JFK and heading to good ole BNA. I know some pups that are gonna get squozed and snorgled to pieces.
365 Days on the Road 