SPAIN-- A Day In Barcelona... Not Terribly Fun... Backpack Was Stolen!!! (July 4th)

 Yes, you heard me correctly! Only a few days hence, my phone was stolen in Genova, Italy... in fact, not even a full week later, this second theft occurred! This time, in a restaurant, where I entered to grab a "quick", healthy dinner. Get this, dear reader: the ironic name of the restaurant was "Honest Greens"!!! I am NOT joking!!! The place was packed... it took forever to order my food. I was starving--it was late, and I was getting shakey. My daypack was hidden in the shadows under my table, up against the wall...I got up to ask the server when my food was coming, and in that brief, 2 minute window, the thief saw his opportunity and grabbed it! I came back to the table and my backpack was gone... 

Really, really horrible!!! I was traumatized all over again!!! Diego came and met me there... I could only sob... 

At least my most important valuables were on me, in my fanny pack, thank God! But I lost about $300 worth of goods: A really expensive gortex rain jacket; a nice pair of jeans; a beautiful Columbian shirt; the backpack itself. 

And people think Mexico is too dangerous??!! Think again!!!

The day of touring--preceeding the theft-- was not so great, either. I signed on for the touristic "hop-on, hop-off" bus... but every time I "hopped off" to see a site, I was thwarted: every place was sold out! And worse: the famous Gaudi cathedral, for instance, was shrouded in cloth on one whole side, as well as had large, ugly cranes hovering over it...in short, it was getting a "make-over", so I couldn't even get a great photo of the exterior. I would have paid the (apparently) high fee to get inside...but because of the sell-out, I never even got the chance to find out how much it would have been!

Ditto, for the famed Gaudi park, with his surreal animal creations... I had wanted to see this even more than the cathedral! I had to console myself with climbing some steep stairs up above this park, where I at least got to admire some pretty expansive views of the city below. 

The beach was equally dismaying. It was unbelievably crowded with beachgoers... pretty much a solid wall of them! So, I had no inclination to remain there, either. 

So much for NOT a fun day in Barcelona! I DID at least manage to get some nice photos...both while walking, and from the tourist bus. 


It has to be the craziest-looking cathedral ever designed! This was the best photo I got... albeit, with the ugly crane in the shot. I have to wonder: Does our English word "gawdy" come from the works of this Spanish artist?! I sure wish I could have seen the interior... 


The bus did pass by a few other pretty churches...this was one of them.  



It WAS a lovely, clear day, so I had an impressive view of the city from the hills above it. 


Another Gaudi creation! This house was amazing. Unfortunately, since this was taken from the bus, there was no way to get a decent shot that did NOT include the ugly lightpost!

Barcelona's equivalent of the Arc de Triumphe... 


There WERE a lot of lovely, old-style buildings that we passed on the city tour... 


A rocket in the middle of the city, you say?!?! Not quite! This is a famous, iconic office building made of glass, that apparently changes colors, depending on the lighting... but I failed to see it at the time of day (afternoon) when the bus drove by it. 


Not sure what this was...but it was pretty! 


Ditto for this one... quite unusual! 


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