Into Every Life, A Little Rain Must Fall

Saturday was cloudy and rainy all day.  It was our first day in Barcelona without perfect weather, but they needed the rain.  It was also the day Maddy flew in for a visit from Amsterdam.  

With her new job, she only had limited vacation days.  So she flew to Amsterdam for two nights, came to Barcelona for two nights, and then was going back to Amsterdam for a night.  Wow!  Long story short, she loved our apartment and Barcelona!

Rather than break new ground with her during the day, we covered the walking tours of the old city.  We took her on a mash-up of Barri Gotic and, at Carol's suggestion, we did La Ramblas.  Having just done those, I was able to show her the highlights of the city without consulting the guidebook.

And, we also found two of the things we had somehow missed the last time we did La Ramblas, the Fountain de las Canaletes and the Chinese Dragon holding a lantern (Carol deserves kudos for spotting that!)

The Fountain.  To drink from it

means you will come back to

Barcelona, according to legend.

We stopped for lunch at La Mercado de la Boqueria, where we grazed our way through the market.    Maddy and I each had the two largest oysters we've ever eaten.  They were not the largest ones we've ever seen, as the stand also sold the most massive oysters ever.  Each one literally is the size of a meal!  The woman working the stand shucked one for another customer, and it was a ball of oyster!  

Huge fun!

One oyster down, one to go.  Absolutely

the largest oysters I've ever had.

Then the three of us shared two cones of Jamon and manchego cheese from another stand.  Then we hit a third stand for empanadas.  It was a good lunch.  

We finished off our ramble down at the Columbus Monument before heading along the coastline for the apartment.  

That's when the downpour started.  Maddy and Carol pulled up the hoods of their raincoats, and Maddy kindly lent me her umbrella.  We waited under some palm trees for a bit, near where a stage had been set up for music for the La Merce Festival 2019.  I felt bad for the band that was playing, as only a few people braved the rain to listen.

After a bit of waiting, the rain's intensity was not weakening at all, so we headed back.  Partway there, a guy selling umbrellas crossed our path, so Carol bought two for five Euro each.   To the seller's credit, he did not try to overcharge us.

That's when the thunder and lightning started.  We hurried back to the apartment, where we all dried off.  Maddy laid down for a nap.  We had tickets for a Cathedral tour, including the Tower, but she opted to sleep right through that, which was fine, as the tickets weren't that expensive and her travels finally caught up to her.  Given the rain and the walking, we all napped.