Scottish Deep Thoughts

A very smooth start to the trip, as usual. I am quickly becoming a seasoned veteran at low budget travel. I made it to Barcelona and the hostel - a very good location - with ease. I was greeted by the hostel employee, who turned out to be a Scot. I was shown around, introduced to people, given a glass of wine and fed. Pretty good welcome! I met most of the people at the hostel when I was shown a chair at the table. Most of them seemed to be from eastern U.S. We all went out for a few drinks later. We got back around 3 and I crashed after a LONG day of travel.

The next day I walked around the city and made it down the Ramblas - a very large boulevard of street performers, kiosks and markets. I suppose it is the heart of city and somewhat impressive - good vibe and a lot going on. The food here is amazing! I found a cool market and introduced myself to the tapas bar (a bunch of tasty small dishes, for those unfamiliar). Unfortunately, I was relegated to pointing and speaking a broken, incorrect Spanish. It was annoying and embarrassing. I really hate not being able to speak the language. After a delicious lunch of roasted peppers and octopus (i think) and wine I found myself staring at Picasso masterpieces. The museum has a decent representation of his work and charts the progress from a "normal" artist to his cubist stuff. I found a pretty cool restaurant down a wee side street in the Old Town for dinner. Again, awesome food. I completed the night at a tiny relaxing pub and wrote a few postcards.