On Saturday, 20 August 2005, we got up with the alarm at 8 o'clock. The temperature was pleasant all day and we never had rain fall on us. The windy day following a rainy Friday night cleared the smog and permitted us to see distant mountains, as well as take some great photos of Barcelona.

We first rode subways to Palau de la Música Catalana. This awesome concert hall was completed in three years about a hundred years ago. The beauty of the building, inside and out, is beyond description. The place was constructed primarily for performances by the Orfeo Catalá choral group. There is seating for an audience of more than 2,000 people. Every tourist in Barcelona who is interested in vocal music should take the tour of this "garden of music."

We next rode the subway to find the Picasso museum, but got a bit lost as we searched for it, being hidden in the side streets. The Museu Picasso mostly contains the artist's works from his earliest years. Those paintings verify that he was a masterful artist long before creating the odd pictures that most folks recognize as Picasso's. The museum is in an interesting medieval palace.

Next we caught the funicular (near our hotel) to the top of Montjuïc and walked past the 1992 Olympic stadium. We ate lunch on top of the terrace over the entrance gate to Poble Espanyol. The meal was over-priced, and service was worse than the unappetizing food. But the view of Barcelona was incredible.

Poble Espanyol is a conglomeration of typical Spanish villages and cities. The architecture represents several specific places around Spain. There are many interesting shops. We got in free with our Barcelona Cards.

Our next adventure was riding the Teleféricos, a big cable car that travels high over southwest Barcelona. We boarded on the mountain and ended with an elevator ride near the beach. There we found crepes for a snack and walked to the nearest subway station, several blocks away.

We returned to the area beside the Sagrada Família to get a beautiful dark blue on blue silk shawl for Jeannie that we had seen the previous day. The sky threatened rain, so we found an Italian restaurant near the subway entrance. We ate insalata caprese, canelloni, and Roman chicken. It was the best tasting meal we had in Europe and the service was fabulous.

So close to France, the native language in Barcelona is a blending of Spanish and French. Even the alphabet and spelling are unique in this region of Spain. We did not pick up much Catalan, as the language is called. Everyone seemed to speak Spanish, so we used that as much as possible. We were often poorly understood when we spoke English in Barcelona.

Having so much Italian background, we often would try speaking Italian if we were not getting our point across. It usually worked, though our tendency to mix languages was likely frustrating to those trying to comprehend us. In one restaurant, though we were convinced the waiter understood us, he sent over another waiter, who spoke English, to confirm our order.