Upon arriving at the first destination of the trip, Steve learned that Spain isn’t where burritos are from.  Same language, different food.  Very confusing.  Instead, the locals eat waffles with ice cream  for dinner, and rice mixed with fish and vegetables for dessert.  And while “tapas” and “topless” sound very similar, they are actually distinctly different types of restaurants.

Also, Barcelona would hold another disappointment for Steve: the large statue of Jesus on the mountaintop that he had hoped to see is not, in fact, from Spain, either.

So what did Steve and Jenny find in Barcelona?

A hotel room with a view of both the city and the sea (courtesy of the elder Mr Bourque)

Plenty of streets with trees and people and waffles with ice cream:

Plenty of squares with trees and people and Jenny and Steve:

A market with fruits and vegetables and people, but no trees:

Christ, what’s with all these trees and people? (damn hippies and trees need to get a job):

A subway system:

A beach, complete with tiny Jenny (and some rain clouds… it’s foreshadowing):

A light sprinkle:

A downpour and a €5 umbrella:

Jenny told Steve not to buy the umbrella. Steve was kind enough to invite Jenny under the umbrella anyway:

Jenny on a quest for an elusive piece of fruit that doesn’t seem to exist in any market anywhere:

Jenny, calm and collected on the way to the wrong train station (before realizing we are on the way to the wrong train station):

Jenny, trying to figure out how to get to the correct train station (the woman behind her has already figured it out):

The correct train station, and a piece of fruit that will have to make do:

Next up: The most expensive train ticket in Europe (Barcelona to Milan)