I had an odd conversation with a man in the steam-room at the Hilton in Birmingham, England. I know, what a great life I have. I swam first in the glass covered pool while prom kids fluttered by in dresses of every color. When he found out that we lived in Spain and I was visiting England for a writing class, he said, “So you guys must travel a lot.” I said, “No, hardly ever. We have only made two trips in Spain.” He kindly let that go without comment. We talked about other things, such as that this gym is his normal gym (lucky guy) and that he had two kids. I said we were going to China next and then added that yes, I guess we do travel a lot. Duh.
So here we are in Barcelona because everyone says you HAVE to see Barcelona. If it were up to me, I would stay home. I prefer to LIVE in a foreign country, not travel in it.
Here is the more Gaudi that the tour guide promised. This one does not have the characteristic tile work, like the one above, but they are worth seeing. Gaudi’s first commission was for a magnate of a tile company, and Gaudi liked it so much he stuck with it for the rest of his career, decorating with brilliantly colored tile mosaics, that is. The photos seem cartoonish, but the real thing is breath-taking.
The overlook was a lot more interesting with a guide to explain it. He pointed out the old part of town, the shipbuilder and the customs office. Now they are a quarter mile inland, because the shoreline has been built up and a beach added. It was all spiffed up for the olympics and both guides here and at the church credit the olympics with making Barcelona a world class tourist destination.
The present shipyard lies in the other direction. Shipping is and always has been the source of Barcelona’s wealth.
We stopped at the beach, but I was hungry and feeling pressured, so I forgot to take any pictures. It was crowded and had no waves, but we went because that was Wyatt’s top priority. With a private tour, the kids can have more say. I thought the tour would take the pressure off of me, but the pressure was almost unbearable anyway. Looking back, I can’t think why, but that’s how it always is.
Photo credit: http://brightsidetours.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DSC005802.jpg
The highlight was our guide and cool van. A guy on a scooter drove alongside and hollered, “Que furgonetta mas chula!” He thought it was awesome too.
We finished up at the chocolate museum. I’m thinking, “I can’t possibly send this picture out because I look ridiculous,” and you are thinking, “Who’s that cute guy?” and “Look at all that chocolate.” He is our guide, Joa. He set us up with a private class. The cute girl is our teacher.
You would be surprised how necessary the gear is. Winston had chocolate everywhere, including the hat.
Look through the window into the courtyard. The building used to be a monastery.
Troy has been tormenting the ladies at the embassy with descriptions of all-you-can-eat chocolate.
Her: How was your trip?
Him: Great. You have to go to the Chocolate museum.
Her: No, I can’t. It would be too dangerous.
Him: Bags of chocolate, bars of chocolate, a fountain of chocolate, spilling-down chocolate…top quality dark chocolate...
Her: OK! I’ll go.
Why does melted chocolate turn chalky even though I use a thermometer? Because you have to heat it to one temperature and then cool it to the working temperature, while mixing it.
And last of all, here we are filling truffles. Behind Wyatt’s head is the machine that keeps the chocolate at the proper temperature while mixing it. We took a break while the truffle filling cooled to go to the museum part of the chocolate museum. Our teacher explained the whole process. Cocoa pods are the size of a small papaya. I had no idea. Plus there were whole scenarios carved in chocolate from Legoland and Asterix. We left with plenty of chocolate for the rest of the trip. Maybe traveling isn’t so bad after all.
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