Ninjas Ate My Lunch…So I wrote a blog about it.

Today marks 4 days of being sans travel buddy, and it has been growing on me. Slowly. I have been doing things that I like, even though most make me uncomfortable during some portion of it. One of the things I have done is sign up for Catalan classes to learn some of the language spoken here in Catalonia. It is different, but similar to Spanish, so I am able to pick up bits here and there. I found a Catalan woman who gives private lessons for 13euro an hour (about $18) and she is incredibly sweet. The first thing she said when we met was, “Oh! I thought you would be older! And taller.” I guess I write emails like a more mature, tall person?

Anyway, we have met a few times, and during our first meeting she took me to the tourist office in Platja d’Aro to talk about more excursions I should go on. It should be mentioned, at least to give an idea of her personality, that during that same meeting she brought me to a book store, to a shop where she bought her daughter a skirt, offered to drive me to some volcanos to sightsee and invited me to her house to meet her family and her dog.

One of the places she suggested is yet another beach side village called Tossa de Mar. It is actually quite close to where I am staying, so my friend said he could drive me there on Thursday, hang out for a bit and then come back to get me after he did other things. We headed there in the afternoon, around 2, and started off at the beach (this is becoming a trend that I love.) After he left I explored the city which quickly became one of my most favorite places I have visited so far. There is a medieval town running along part of the coast line which was built in like the 12th century or long time ago. At some point the town was walled off and a castle was built inside the walls as well. What is really cool is that you can walk through the town and also along the wall, very high up, and it gives an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea.

High up view of Tossa de Mar

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Paris has, to date, been the most sightseeing that I have done on this trip. Caro and I did some in Barcelona over a few days, but Paris was a condensed series of hardcore sightseeing opportunities. Museum after museum after park after cathedral after museum. It was overwhelming. To start off the trip, as I mentioned in a previous post, we spent the day at the Louvre. This, if you weren’t aware, is an incredibly large museum that I would have quickly lost my way in if it weren’t for Carolynn and her amazing ability to read maps. (Add that to her skills at changing in tight spots and you’ve got a great date . )

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Now, before anyone gets too freaked out about the title of this post I want to be clear – this is a mostly PG posting. Mostly. Moving on.

After spending a very relaxing day at the beach on Thursday, Carolynn and I were ready to do more sightseeing in Spain today (Friday). My friend who lives here graciously offered to drive us to a region called Empuries where there are beautiful beaches alongside Roman and Greek city ruins. History AND being lazy in the sun? Sounded like the perfect combination.

And really, it was. Arriving in the heat of the mid-day sun we decided to start at the beach and then explore the ruins which are 100% outside, with no trees for shade. Ancient Greeks and Romans were a much tougher bunch than the three of us, so we bee-lined it to the water’s edge and I immediately jumped in. Well, jumped isn’t quite the right word, more like waded for a mile before the water touched my chin. A very different shoreline on this part of the coast, for sure. Even the sand was different, the kind that is very soft but that gets in all your crevices as opposed to the pebble variety at the beach near our apartment.

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Upon arrival in Barcelona I had about 6 hours to kill before my friend was able to meet me. I took the train from the airport into the city center (about 20 minutes), changing trains once to make it there. It was recommended I get off at the Estacio de Franca stop where there is a beautiful building and access to a park and the sea side. I wandered around a bit and, to my surprise,  stumbled upon the Barcelona Zoo! I gladly paid the 16 euro entrance fee and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the animals and watching people. I was enthralled by these animals, and even teared up a bit when I watched a few.

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