Tuesday, June 30
Breakfast at Ciudad Condal, a Catalan Denny’s of sorts, nice Spanish omelets. Took the L1 subway to the train station to buy 3 tickets to Montserrat (€67.50). Wanted to buy the combination train & aeri (cable car) but the lady was gone. We got the train/funicular tickets, and then found we had missed our 9:36 train. It takes a while to get the tickets, figuring out what is needed – and interpreting the machines correctly, inserting proper change, etc. We waited an hour for the next train. Nice ride to Montserrat & an interesting place. Not a whole lot to do there, but it was a good day trip. Did not want to wait for an hour in line to see the Black Madonna. In the church plaza is a vortex. People stand in the center of the circle and raise their arms heavenward.
After returning to Barcelona, we walked along the Ramblas, observing the many living statues, some oddly gruesome, then walked a block away to a main shopping area for locals, paralleling the Ramblas. Bought some needed basic earrings at Claire’s while DH saw a couple of thieves bag up a rack of baseball caps and disappear into the crowd.
Stores are closed from about 2pm to 6 or 7pm. Restaurants (Cerveseria) stay open for dinner until 12 or 1am. Stamps can only be purchased at tobacco shops or the post office. Found an internet café (they’re all called that, although they’re not cafés). The internet: € .70 for 30 minutes; phone calls: € .18 a minute. Pedestrians cross at crosswalks 5-10 seconds before the light changes. You have to know what you’re doing, because cars don’t acknowledge any pedestrian right-of-way!
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