Barcelona Rocks!

OK... that's a lame title. I know. But, it's kind of appropriate because this is a really cool city.

Paula and I spent our first full day here... much of it on what turned out to be a lame bus tour, and found that there's just so much of this city to see that you can't do it in a few days.

It seems like within in minutes you can go from the shores of the Mediterranean to the mountains or anywhere in between. The architecture is an amazing of really old buildings and really modern stuff that somehow works. The sidewalks are jammed with people and all sorts of cool shops, stands, and street performers.

Once off the bus, Paula and I spent a couple of hours wandering around the zoo, which is located almost in the heart of the city. It's really more of a big park with animals hanging out. In fact, at many of the displays - the monkeys especially - we couldn't figure out what was keeping them in their habitat aside from the collection of toys they had to play with and the free food. I mean, it looked like they could jump right over the rail and free run of the place. I'll try to post some pictures so you can get a sense of the place, since I'm sure I'm not doing it justice.

Another nice thing about this city - the food is good, which is especially nice after spending the past few months in Dublin where it's decidedly not. Dinner tonight was a really nice paella, followed by amazing gelato from a sidewalk stand, and then a night cap in the hotel bar. Not a bad way to end a day, if I do say so myself.

Speaking of which - I'm done for now. I'll be back later with stories, pictures and whatnot. Until then... Happy New Year.