(Fair warning: the pictures seem to be posted in opposite order to what happened. Go figure.)





Today started slowly. Josep had to get some paperwork from the local magistrate for his registration for college, so I took advantage of the free time to walk around his little town, Avinyo, and take some pictures. The oldest house in the town is about 500 years old, I'm told, and the town itself is a wonderful town of about 2,ooo, narrow winding streets, grandmothers on balconies (I didn't take pictures of them... I haven't been chased out of a town yet, and don't want to start today), people walking home with fresh bread... everything you'd dream of.

After clearing up the paperwork and taking my rental car back to the airport (unnecessary), we (Jaume, Josep, and I) made it to the university. However, since it was 2:00, the university offices were closed, according to Josep. I panicked that it was my fault, but he assured me that they'd re-open about 4.

Oh. That siesta thing. 2 hours for lunch in the afternoon. I could get used to that.

After lunch, Josep headed his way while Jaume and I went to tour of La Pedrara, an apartment building designed and build by Antoni Gaudi. Picture Dr. Seuss. Give him a hammer. You have Gaudi. The pictures of the chimneys on the rooftop should be some indication.

After meeting up with Josep, we strolled through some of the Old Town. Aptly named. Much of the original wall built by the Romans is still there. (Look for a picture of a stone wall. That'd be it!) But every time we turned a corner, there was another narrow street. As Jaume said, it's really easy to get lost in the maze of streets in that area.

We made it the cathedral Santa Maria del Mar by special request. I'm now reading "Cathedral of the Sea" which is set around the building of it; Jaume read it... of course, in its original Spanish. While I HATE people who take pictures in churches and at other religious spaces... well... guilty. I just needed to prove to myself someday that I was there.

All said and done, the three of us capped off the day with a dinner at a Basque-style restaurant. The shining characteristic of Basque style, apparently, is that one doesn't sit down. You stand, eat, and drink. We opted for sitting anyway, and gave sufficient amounts of stink-eye until a table cleared. (I trained Josep well!) The picture is of my food in Round One of eating. I apologize for not thinking of taking a picture BEFORE starting to eat.

How rude!