Barcelona
July 3, 2004
After a day and a half of train chasing, we finally arrived in Barcelona. The rumors about Italian trains are true. Our train to Nice, France from Rome arrived almost 2 hours late, forcing us to miss our connecting train. Luckily, we found another route with a connection we could make, but this train was an hour late as well, making us miss another connection. A few trains later, we ended up in Narbonne, France after the last train to Spain had already left. We stayed an exhausted night in France.
The next morning, we took a punctual train to Spain and found Laia in the Plaça de Catalunya in the early afternoon. Since then, we've been staying with her and her boyfriend Marco just outside of Barcelona. We saw the Picasso museum, walked to the seashore, visited the Gothic Quarter, and looked at some strange paintings in the Museum of Contemporary Art. We sampled authentic Catalunian cooking, which is mostly grilled meats, olive oil, and garlic.
I forgot to mention our Mass with the Pope. Our last day in Rome was the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is a major holiday in Rome. We spent the day visiting as many of the 901 Roman churches as possible, but we only managed to see about 4. The Papal mass started at 6, but we arrived early to try and get good seats. Also at the mass was Patriarch Bartholomew I of the Greek Orthodox church. In honor of the occasion, the Pope recited the Greek version of the Nicene creed instead of the Roman one which includes the phrase "and the son" in reference to the procession of the Holy Spirit. A number of archbishops were inducted after the homilies, delivered by both the Pope and the Patriarch. Unfortunately for me, both spoke in Italian.
The weather in Spain, and in all of Europe, has been beautiful. We only had one slightly rainy day in Paris. Barcelona isn't as hot as Rome. The subway system is also a lot better.