City Guides in Europe attend school for many years, pass an exam to attain a professional license or tour-guiding certificate, and speak excellent English. Their knowledge of the history, art, and architecture of their country is truly amazing!
On Our Own
After dinner, we walked the Ramblas with our new friends on our way back to the hotel. We passed Christopher Columbus's statue (placed where he disembarked after discovering America). We also saw this huge, smiling golden lobster. We aren't sure of its significance, but it was impressive!
Travel Tips
We've learned from experience to always take two pairs of shoes. Here's a tip for drying out wet shoes. Take out the insoles, if you can. Then stuff them with something absorbent ( crumpled newspaper, a rolled towel, or even pages from Rick's guide book that you won't be using). Change out the papers frequently and you'll be surprised at how quickly your shoes will dry.
After checking into our city-centered hotel, we had a lovely wine and cheese meeting with our fabulous tour guide Federico and the other members of the tour group. We loved finding out where everyone was from and why they had chosen this particular trip. Federico is a resident of Madrid and we were so impressed with his knowledge and love of country. His sense of humor would shine through his dramatic telling of his stories. "Close your eyes and imagine...." he would begin, "I am ..."
Here we are outside our hotel. The rooms were very modern and exceptionally clean. It was located in the heart of Barcelona. Almost every site was within walking distance. Our morning breakfasts were in the back courtyard in a huge tent. Any breakfast food you could imagine, and some you wouldn't, were part of the huge buffet. Spanish tortillas weren't at all like the Mexican version. These were an egg and potato dish. We always left that tent a few pounds heavier!
After our meet and greet party, Federico escorted us to our first dinner together. Along the way, we were given an orientation of the city and saw some of the sights that we would be visiting. Dinner was a fabulous paella and the biggest, most tender squid rings we have ever tasted. We'll never be able to eat those rubbery calamari rings back home again! Of course, there was more of that wonderful Spanish wine! We expected Spanish food to be similar to Mexican, but were pleasantly surprised to find that the two food cultures are very different.