16 June-Andy's Version

Hello from Barcelona, Today has been a travel day. We have spent a lot of time on trains and buses. Mario Andretti never retired. He simply drives the bus we took from Cadaques to Figueres. It was making Betsy and I a little motion sick. We got a little lost after we got off of the two hour train ride from Figueres to Barcelona. We finally found our Hotel. It is very nice. It feels a little upscale compared to our prior Rick Steves tours. The neighborhood feels like the "Time Square" of Barcelona. After an hour siesta we went to a department store that was as good or better than anything in Atlanta. We bought a converter for the three prong computer cord. I packed the two prong. :( We looked for some dinner and saw one of the wildest things I have ever seen! Before we rounded the corner I noticed a handful of cops chatting. I didn't think much about it. I have seen groups of cops in Rome. We got about half way down the block and were almost in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. It was very crowded. I noticed about six to eight sun-glass salesmen. All of the sudden every single salesman pulled the strings on their "shop" and pulled the bag of sunglasses over the shoulder and ran for their life. I noticed one girl running too. I guess she was the look out. But when we turned around the police were just behind us. We found a quite less touristy place to eat. It was good. I think Betsy wants to go back for some of the treats. :) Tomorrow we start our Rick Steves tour. We don't start until 5pm. I plan on washing clothes during the morning. If you need a guest blogger drop me a line, Andy