Hola! - 26 May 2001

Hi Everybody! I continue to probe the depths of Internet cafe quality. The computer savvy among you may appreciate the fact that this cafe/cafeteria/pool hall/video game parlor has two 150 Mhz, 16MB PCs that each have their own dial-up-networking connection that you have to log in to yourself. Just booting the computer and logging onto the Internet takes about five minutes (and 60 pesetas worth of time). I keep checking to make sure the "turbo" button is pressed. Ah well. It's all part of the "manyana" (spelled phoenetically since I can't get the enyay thingy to work with this particular combination of computer and apps) attitude that makes Spain such a nice place to relax. I met John in Barcelona over a week ago. We saw the Gaudy architecture: the Sagrada Familia, his house in Parc Guell, and a bunch of other examples throughout the city. We saw the Picasso Museum, whose Picasso paintings weren't not what you'd expect; mostly from his early years. The building was nice, though, and the price couldn't be beat. We happened to go on International Free Museum Day. I thought it funny that the guards insisted on checking our free tickets at every door anyway. My favorite museum in Barcelona was the Fundacio Joan Miro. The Miro stuff was good, but the works by Joan Brossa were the best. Very creative use of fonts and layout and simple materials, and a clever humor that transcended cultures and languages well. We ate two nights at an amazing restaurant called "La Fonda" near our hotels in the touristy "La Rambla" area. We paid about $35 for both our dinners and a bottle of fine Rioja called "Cune". Our subsequent dining experiences have been similarly tasty and reasonably-priced. Even the bocarones (anchovies in olive oil) have earned a special place on my list of favorite tapas. Just before we left Barcelona, we got a cell phone. It came with a dapper Disney dinosaur hat that I'm quite fond of. You'll see it when the pictures come out. Anyway, incoming calls are free for us! So if you don't miind paying the charges (I don't know how much) and you want to chat, give us a call at xxx-xxx-xxx. The country code for Spain is 34. John says you will get a good rate from the states by dialing this: 101-6868-011-34-xxx-xxx-xxx . You can also send SMS messages if you are able. Note that we are awake about 1am to 4pm on the west coast. You may find us grumpy outside these hours. After Barcelona, we rented a nice little diesel Renault Clio, picked up a Best of Neil Young tape, and headed down A-7 to a (currently) sleepy resort town called Benicasim. Or at least that's how some people spell it. Many road signs had edits made by local graffiti artists. I sensed there was some dissent between local factions - perhaps the Catalan and the Spaniards. It didn't take long to adjust to the minimalist style employed by the sunbathers in Spain. But we have had the damndest time finding people to play volleyball with or even chat with. The resort towns are very quiet at this time of year. Yesterday we finally got a good volleyball game going with some locals. Today we went to an island called Tabaraca off the coast of Torre Vieja where we are staying with our friend Micael's parents in our own little retirement bungalow. Not much in Tabaraca but some fine seafood, an old military building and lots of tourists. It's been a while since I've written and I know I've forgotten a lot of the things we've done in Spain, but time is running out here at the Internet Cafeteria. I'll filil in the details next time. Next time will be from Madrid or maybe Paris on top of the Eiffel Tower for my 30th birthday (June 2nd for those of you who want to send me an e-birthday card!) Take care, Joe

Back to Travelogue Home Page | Next >>