We're Back In Action!

Wow, two weeks in and we are operating at full speed. While we were recovering from whatever bug bit us, we watched several episodes of "House". We're now eating, sleeping regular hours and thinking clearly.....okay maybe not the thinking part. What would be the fun in that? But, the jet-lag has cleared and we're ready for some adventures. Jim's luggage is back with us....delivered the day after we arrived. We've eaten several times at El Velero (Jim will write about those) and L'Andana...two of our favorite places in Sitges. Yesterday we had a farewell lunch at L'Andana with Jerry and Joyce Glynn before they head back to the states today. Jer took Jim on a walk around town to point out some of his (Jer's) favorite shops. They got a chance to share and compare some of their 'best kept secret' sites.

On Wednesday we went into Barcelona for the first time this trip. It felt great to be back. The sun was shining and the air was crisp. We met with the agent at the rental agency and had a chance to see the apartment in Barceloneta we were considering for our March/April rental. Interesting, but not quite what we were hoping for....so the search continues. We scheduled an appointment for 7:00 pm to come back and see other available apartments.

We always like to see how much as changed and stayed the same (and check our internal compasses to see how much we remember). So after visiting the rental agency we headed toward the La Rambla. The artists and actors are still in place. The flower stalls and seed sellers looked like they were doing a lot of business. The Boqueria was pretty much the same bustling open air market it has always been. This poor guy looked like he was having a really bad day!

We walked around the Gothic quarter, checked out the status on the renovations of the old market in Born (no change, still boarded up) and walked to the Palau de la Musica to have lunch at Ichiban (Japanese/Argentinian restaurant). This is the only place I know of where one can choose their own fresh seafood (mussels, octopus, squid, salmon, clams, shrimp, etc.) to grill, have sushi, try many of the typical Catalan foods, order grilled meat (pork, chicken, beef, ribs, sausage), choose noodles, fried rice and/or spring rolls and create their own ice cream sundae for dessert. Needing to walk off that lunch, we headed toward El Corte Ingles (big department store) to look for the sales. Not seeing anything we couldn't live without, we continued our window shopping and wandered toward the information center. Maps, library locations, event calendars, and schedules.......good thing we brought the backpack along. The Irish pubs are also a good place to pick up information in English....as well as a place to sit and rest for a while.



Our legs were getting pretty weary and we still had some time to kill before our appointment so we ducked into the library in Barceloneta. Those library cards we have are priceless! Jim was able to use the internet and I looked at some of the titles of the books they had on the English shelf. It was warm inside and the chairs were comfortable. What a great place!! Roberto didn't have anything for us to look at, but he assured us he would keep searching. It was just a short walk to the Estacio de Franca to pick up a train to Sitges and we were on our way back home. The pedometer I wore registered just under 18,000 steps or 14 + kilometers. No wonder our feet hurt!!!