i just peeled off my fleece, grimacing, and made a mental note that fleece is not the wisest over-thing to wear in rain. ah well. not to dwell on the weather, but it�s been the only really disappointing part of the trip - even today, the one day that weather.com guaranteed the kind of calm, beneficent sun we were craving. moving on to more positive things, HIGHLIGHTS:
last night -- the three of us dined on excellent (yes, miss becca, vegetarian, or at least seafood) tapas w/ three georgia tech boys we met at the hostel. as the blurb i found online promised, it was an ordeal for which you had to brace yourself, throw your arm through the happily gabbing crowd, and grab something from a tray on the bar. we washed it down with glasses of a mix of whitewine and champagne and it was perfect
-- ten steps outside the restaurant, onto a plaza, we encountered a folk-costumed troupe of troubadors. we followed them for a minute or two before one player whisked me to the front. the guitar-players formed a circle, serenading, around the gently-twirling duo of a tall man in black and me, and another larger circle of spectators formed, clapping. at one point during the song, my partner asked my name. ��i��m giovanni,�� he said. ��do you like it?�� i nodded, dazed. ��good, i like it,�� he said, and pulled me cheek-to-velvet. when it ended, he kissed me on both cheeks and bowed over my hand. my face remained red for the next hour
-- two pitchers of sangria on george orwell place w/ the tech-ians, and a clever, well-hidden bar where we toasted heather�s 22nd birthday at the exact moment (12:15).

we�d needed a good evening too as we spent the afternoon walking, walking, walking, first to and through the picasso museum, then to not-near-finished gaudi/y cathedral and then up the 400 steps to the top of the turret. we discovered, to our outrage, that there�s only a two foot long platform with a balcony nearly too high to see over, apart from which the only option is 400 steps back down. in ludicrousness it matched the ��labyrinth�� in budapest. at least, just as there, senses of humor propelled us along.

montjuic this morning and the olympic stadium, after which we decided to give barcelona�s favorite son a chance to redeem himself. parc guell, which he designed, we all agreed would be prettier in summer, and as it has no drainage to speak of we would have had to wade in knee-deep to get the full effect. but the mosaics mollified us. if i could link i�d find you pictures of lizards and whatnot to make you grind your teeth in jealousy.
we leave tomorrow morning around six a.m. not too long a trip but really, it�s been lovely. we�ve had fun and traveled well together, which is always the make-or-break factor. paella tonite and i�ll be near-perfectly satisfied.