July 22

Well, we went from bad internet in Madrid to no internet in Barcelona.  Despite my searches to try to vette out hotels in Barcelona with free internet, apparently this one does not have it.  I recommend using caution with TripAdviser from now on.

Today we flew from Madrid to Barcelona, a pretty uneventful flight.  Madrid felt like a large, crowded city.  Barcelona feels much more like a beach town, at least where we are.  The hotel is one block from a major pedestrian walkway, with many cafes and other stores lining both sides.  About 1 mile south on that street is the Mediterranean Sea.  Laurel and I (and Puffer) went to see the "Med" tonight and take a look around.  We will have to have at least some time at the beach before leaving.

One other interesting characteristic of Barcelona is Catalan, or Castillian language.  Catalan is like a mixture of French and Spanish.  Although Laurel and I can pick out individual words in Catalan, we can't read full sentences or communicate in it.  Fortunately, everyone seems to speak Spanish anyway, so we're doing well on that front.

I think we've decided that although visiting other places is nice, travelling (especially by plane) is not.  Thus, I think we'll be extending our planned visit to Salamanca following the Barcelona excursion.  It seems more Spanish to me to relax and enjoy some wine rather than hop from city to city anyway.