Barcelona, Day One

We always need a little pocket money in the local currency, so we find an ATM.  This is often an adventure. You never know how it's going to work out.  We've had a year where Sabrina's card got demagnetized (which we figured out after hitting every ATM in Heidelberg). Another time the machine ate the card (travel tip, use a machine that's attached to a bank during operating hours so you can go inside and retrieve the card). And not all machines have English as an option, although you can muddle your way through, high school Spanish helped out this year. I did get 100 Euro from Wells Fargo before we left ( I LOVE the Wells Fargo's in P-Town.  They have the friendliest people and all the benefits of a big bank.  I don't have an account with them but I have my ways to snag the benefits). It sometimes takes all four of us to make the transaction work. This is part of our travel routine and we still get a kick out of this.....plenty of tension....sort of like playing the slots.

We always select a hotel that's right in the middle of things, Hotel Avenida Palace this time. We spend the extra money to have a great location so we don't spend vacation time getting to where we want to be. Now we're ready for some fun and adventure.

We always find something that makes us chuckle. We saw these women all dressed alike, in plain dresses.  Is it a cult? Sister wives? Lovers of burlap?

And then some signs just don't translate well in to English.....like this one.....they sell candy that's packaged to look like pills.....I would guess this is not too good to have around children....wouldn't they confuse medicine and candy?

And this is a bar with a bench you can sit next to Obama and take a photo.  Barack didn't look well.  It was a very poor replica.  It didn't photo well either, so you'll just need to take my word...it was ugly....

 Gin is HUGE in Spain....gin and tonics are THE drink....

Then we finish up and call it a day....