Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 49: Barcelona

I stepped outside briefly this morning, and a bird crapped on my favorite hat.  I guess I should be grateful that I was wearing the hat.  Regardless, that set the tone for the day in more ways than one, so there isn’t much to say about my last day in Barcelona.

 I had a couple of relatively bland meals – some ham and cheese on crusty bread for lunch and a Lebanese chicken wrap for dinner – that I didn’t eat much of.

At one point while I was holed up in the hotel room, someone was playing what sounded like a concertina in the plaza below.  That was lovely.

Then the World Cup Final game approached.  Before the game it was pure chaos outside – yelling, chanting, horns honking.  Then the game started and it was silent, like someone had put the entire city on mute.

I wasn’t watching the game, but I could tell whenever something happened.  You’d hear a cheer or a boo or groans of displeasure.  At one point I heard a huge cheer, followed quickly by what sounded like shouts of outrage.  I looked online to see what had happened and I guess Spain had scored what they thought was a goal but then the ref disqualified it because someone stepped on someone’s foot.

Then the big cheer when Spain scored in additional time and then pure pandemonium when the game was over.  Fireworks, cheering, chanting, honking.  They take their sportsball very seriously here.

So, yeah.  That was it.  That was my day.  At least the part I’m going to share with you.  Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to know about the rest.

I am bummed that my digestive issues kept me from getting out to explore more of Barcelona.  I really like this place – the vibe, the people, the laid-back energy.  I’m definitely coming back here one day to do it properly.

Tomorrow it’s on to Valencia as my tour of Spain continues.