We arrived in Barcelona Friday night. We spent a 1/2 day in Versailles near France before connecting on a commuter flight to Barcelona. We were pleasantly surprised with our hotel. It is in the heart of Barcelona, right across the courtyard from The Cathedral. Everyone went out that evening for dinner and wandered around the narrow, cobblestone streets full of shops, cafes, restaurants, and more. We are in the “old town” part of Barcelona, rich with culture and activity.

On Saturday, we departed on a full day tour to Figueres and Gerona. In Figueres, we visited the Dali museum. Salvador Dali was a 20th century artist (some would say genius). While much of his work was really bizarre, he also had some impressive pieces of art that exhibited great thinking and culture. In Gerona, we traversed the old city. We saw where the Jewish inhabitants and Catholic inhabitants lived and the walls that kept them separated. The city was full of history and culture.

Today was a free day. Each person went and saw everything they wanted to see. I don’t know what everyone did yet. The small group I was with went on a “hop on and off” bus tour that saw all the major sites. Much of what we saw was done by Gaudi. The architecture tells a story of the culture that is interesting. We finished the day with visits to the Olympic Village from the 1992 Barcelona olympics followed by a visit to an Old Castle and Fort that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.