I realize this should have been titled Barcelona day 3 but I’m measuring based on cumulative days on vacation rather than days spent in the city of Barcelona.

I slept in a little more today period I ended up waking up at 7:50 a.m. normally I would get up in time to eat breakfast right when it opened. However I feel as though I may be wearing myself out spending too much time seeing too many things each day. So I was happy to have a somewhat restful day.
Unfortunately they only had 3 slices of American bread for toast. and I grabbed all three. I had my usual Cocoa Puffs with milk the term chocolate before the end of breakfast. The milk that they serve in the cereal is warm. I think it’s meant for coffee.

I set Alt to try in vain to find Betlem Church in Barcelona. Either I never could find it or it was closed at that particular time that I knocked on the doors. I ended up at the Barcelona Cathedral which is located on the main Square in Barcelona. One would think they Sagrada Familia is actually the main cathedral in Barcelona however the Sagrada Familia is actually not around any historical sites. It’s off by itself surrounded by American fast food restaurants.

Back to Barcelona Cathedral. There’s a Christmas Market going on in front of the cathedral. Unfortunately the shopkeepers stands blocks my view of getting a decent picture of the cathedral. It happens a lot European squares. If some big event is going on they will usually set up in the Square thereby blocking the view and sometimes overloading it with commercialism. I’ve seen it before in the main Square in Prague where do they set up for World Cup viewing.

There was a man checking for skirt and pants length.  I’m sure it could be an issue when everybody’s wearing short shorts in the summer time but but it was not a big deal. I’m sober and I’m not even sure while he was sitting there checking.

The church had high ceilings and was very ornate much like many other cathedrals in Europe. There are various side rims off from the main sanctuary. These rooms are gated off and have iconography and statues behind the gate. In front of the rooms there is an electronic candle system. 

You can pay a Euro and electronically light a candle. I found this a bit humorous. I know how Catholics are about lighting candles and I’m not sure how a strict Catholic might view this electronic candle with no Flame. Even though it’s probably good for being fire retardant it almost seems like a fast food way of saying your prayers.

I always find myself questioning the elaborate design of cathedrals. But I have to remind myself that during Medieval Times the cathedral was the center of the town and therefore probably should be the best building in town. I wonder if hundreds of years from now will our current contemporary churches survive? Or will our constant need to upgrade send many contemporary churches  to be demolished?

Afterwards I spent some time in the Christmas Market and bought a stuffed pooping log and a very small pooping log made of real wood. Throughout the Christmas Market there was figurines of pooping men. I think there’s a short funny story that goes along with it. Maybe it has something to do with the pooping log. There were other contemporary figurines including Donald Trump, Prince Charles, and the queen among many others. I thought about buying one but figured I’d never be able to display such a rude figurine therefore I opted out.

I want you to round this area Barcelona found my way to the old Roman walls and and the Augustus Temple. Augustus Temple is the remains of a Temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus. It was difficult to find as it was in some narrow alleyways.

I also found my way to the inter Courtyard of a church. I believe was the Barcelona Cathedral but I got myself turned around I didn’t know where I was exactly. The inside had a nativity scene, live geese,  canned chicken. There was a group of preschool-age children all lined up with their designated buddy and about three or four adults watching them. I took Joy and seeing their faces whenever the rooster crowed.

I decided about now it was time to eat lunch and head toward Montjuic. I decided to head toward the parallel Metro stop near my hotel as I knew that some fast food restaurants around there.

I ended up eating at Burger King primarily because they had their Drink Machine sat outside which meant I could get free refills. I got my usual waffle and fries just sat and relaxed done a lot of walking and I knew that Montjuic would mean even more walking.

In order to lighten my load I returned my merchandise to my hotel room nearby.

And then went to the parallel Metro station and called the funicular up to Montjuic. I managed to film the funicular trip with my GoPro camera.

The funicular drops you off right at the Teleferic, which is very similar to the Opryland Skyride.  I paid 12 Euro for the round trip meaning I needed to get back by 6 p.m. which was the last ride out on the Skyride. I took several rushed videos and photos.

The funicular ride drops you off at Barcelona Castle. Now this is not a Castle in Walt Disney World sense. It’s more of a fort. It was used to defend Barcelona before Modern Warfare. While standing in line I met a nice British couple from Bristol England. We spoke about Trump and I tried not to get to political without offending my International friend.

The fort or Castle offered some great views of the city including the port of Barcelona. I could see ocean containers and steamships in the harbor. In the fort there is a History Museum of the fort.  I learned about Lluis Companys, the only democratically elected leader in Europe who was executed.

After the 4th I decided I should probably try to see the rest of Montjuic, so I headed toward the art museum and Olympic Stadium. The only problem was I didn’t know where I was going because I had no Wi-Fi access and was going based on a Google map. This didn’t give me the fastest way of getting to the attractions. I’m sure I wasted some time trying to figure out how to get to these places.

I stopped by the Olympic Stadium. You work all Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992. This was the Olympic Games that had the debut of the Dream Team. As I got closer to the stadium I can hear the soundtrack of crowds cheering in an announcer giving a play-by-play of Olympic coverage followed by some music. It was on repeat. I entered the stadium where I could see the field and walk around briefly. Only a small section was available for me to see as the rest of the stadium was roped off. It looked like there was some soccer practice going on there along with some track and field events for wheelchair people.

I stopped by a sporting goods store within the stadium figuring they would have have a decent selection soccer shirts. However whilst all the shirts low quality iron on numbers which would crack at the first washing. It can be very difficult in Europe to find a decent souvenir that won’t fall apart on you whenever you get back home and put it in the wash for the first time. Tomorrow will be my goal to try and find one of these shirts.

Near the stadium I found a Wi-Fi signal and a bus stop. I figured I could use this to my advantage should I be in Dire Straits when I needed to get back to the Sky Ride by 6.

next I walked to the Barcelona Art Museum. It was a very ornate building with a domed center. I paid the ticket price and Breeze through the exhibits knowing that I had about 90 minutes to see the museum and not run late for the last Sky ride out. There were some Renaissance, baroque, and contemporary exhibits. I did find a painting from El Greco who has always fascinated me. Also found a free Wi-Fi signal within the Art Exhibit. I used it to talk about stocks with a friend in the US. Also had a 3.50 euro can of Sprite from the museum Cafe. I’m sure I paid too much but I was thirsty.

On my way out I saw the son to access the roof which I took advantage of. During my European trips are always try to go to the top of churches  and other buildings in order to get a good view of the city. I took several pictures and made a video. There were two teenaged or twenty something girls doing selfies walking my way to the rear of the building facing the ocean. They were concerned about getting a photograph just right with their cell phone. Knowing that I had about a 30-minute walk ahead of me and it was already 5 I decided to forgo seeing the back part of the building and start making my way back.

Surprisingly enough Google Maps recommended that I walk back rather than trying to take public transport. I had some difficulty trying to get back the pathways weren’t exactly clear and my phone was running low on battery. My exercise app on my phone said that I had made a new personal record since I had downloaded with all this walking.

I made it back to the sky ride with 15 minutes to spare. I use my GoPro to make some videos on the way back from the sky ride and the funicular.

P I ate a Subway on the way back getting a meatball sub. The Subway Sandwich Artist was very friendly and showed me how to get a free cookie by filling out a survey. I tipped him 1 euro. He said that he had family in Connecticut. I smiled and offered him a mucho gracias on the way out.

Tomorrow will be my last day in Barcelona. I still have a few items to check out before catching the train at 7:20 p.m. to  Madrid. I will arrive pretty late and will need to probably find a place to eat and my hotel. I’m looking forward to seeing Madrid and having a more luxurious hotel room. I’m staying in an Ibis hotel in Madrid.

So that last post about me thinking that Barcelona young people party all night? Actually there was a holiday today therefore they did not have classes to attend so I guess it’s okay if they were up all night because they get to sleep in today.

My last post was written right as I was getting ready to go on my tour of Baga, Spain, Andorra, and Ax Les Thermas, France. We had one person who was like who happened to get lost. It’s good to know that if someone was late they would wait on them. This could have easily happened to me had I not been able to find my way there within the allotted amount of time.

I believe our tour guides name was Julia. She introduced herself to everyone and brought around the 9 passenger van which we would be traveling in.

It seemed to take forever to get out of Barcelona. I later found out that our tour guide who is also our driver was trying to give a synopsis of Catalan history while at the same time trying to navigate the confusing streets leading out of town. We eventually did make it out of town and started on the interstate type Road way on our way to Baga Spain.

She talked about Franco the fascist led Spain from the 1940s until his death in 1975. I’m ashamed to say that I know very little about Franco. It is only briefly mentioned in American history books. I will need to do some more research on Franco.

Our tour guide also mentioned Anarchist and communist which war against Franco. Our tour guide mentioned fascism communism and Anarchy in such a matter of fact I play that it seemed difficult for me to understand how these extremes could take root in a nation like Spain which I thought was Democratic for quite some time. She described her grandfather as being a fascist something Americans would never even admit to even if it were true.

Our tour guide had somewhat of a thick accent making it a bit difficult for me to listen to her. Also I was extremely tired from being awake at 2 a.m. so unfortunately I dozed a little bit during her discussion while driving to Baga Spain.

On the way to Baga we saw Montserrat, a mountain recreational area. He reminded me of Garden of the Gods in Colorado. It had a tan color to it  and some unusual Peaks.

We made it to Baga Spain and I was able to grab a chocolate donut and a juice box of orange juice. I discovered free Wi-Fi which helped me post some pictures online to social media while I was there.

Baga Spain is a quaint little town with a church and a few bars. It was very cold and foggy that morning.

On our way to France our tour guide asked us if we had any questions about Catalan Customs. Somebody in our group brought up the pooping log known as Tio de Natal. Seems that this is done in Catalan a rather than Santa Claus. Children feed a log and nurture it and hope that it will poop Christmas presents. We all had a good laugh about it.

Due to our conversation about the pooping log we missed our turnoff for France and instead decided that we should go to Andorra first and then catch France on the way out. As we were driving to Andorra we saw some spectacular views which I captured on my GoPro suction cup.

We did stop on the side of the road to get some great photos near and Andorra ski Resort.
We made it to Andorra de Vella. Since Andorra has relaxed tax systems much of the material being sold in the country is duty free. If you could imagine Gatlinburg with less redneck Style products with more European twist that would be Andorra de Vella. We were given an hour to shop around and eat lunch. S5 a Subway restaurant and figured this was the quickest and easiest way to get lunch and have enough time to explore Andorra briefly. The Subway restaurant was very unusual in that it was four stories with very limited seating. The fountain drink machine is actually away from the main order counter and it’s actually on the second floor. The bathroom is on the 3rd floor.

I used Subway’s Wi-Fi to post some pictures on social media before explore and more of Andorra de Vella. There are some old cars near a shop which I took a few pictures of. I really wanted to find a souvenir shop where I can buy a flag and patch but unfortunately the stores seemed to be sparse. Our tour guide said that really the only souvenir she could find was a magnet and a department store which I did by later on.

Andorra de Vella is a mess of cars and people. There aren’t enough parking spaces for everyone. Interesting Lee enough I had to pay dad about spending the day at Andorra and I’m glad I did not. I couldn’t imagine putting up with that many people for more than an hour or two. I was glad to be able to leave even though I could have stayed a little bit longer in order to obtain some good souvenirs.

We drove over to a small village called Ax Les Thermes in France.   this Village was known for its Hot Springs which we did manage to put our hands into. Previously we also stopped into a church and heard and organist practicing some very daunting heavy organ music.

After a while we decided to depart in order to make it home before too late. There was some heavy traffic on the way home which delayed our arrival. But we eventually did make it home at 8:15 p.m.

I found myself a bit confused as to what part of town I was in whenever I made it back. But eventually I did find myself back to the correct place. And with the help of Wi-Fi around my way to Domino’s Pizza where I had supper before returning to my room.

Tomorrow I’ll have an entire day to explore Barcelona. I’m looking forward to it.

I almost got lost on the way to find my tour group. Google maps seems to go offline when you get away from the hotel’s wifi. After walking all the way to the subway I had to walk all the way back to my hotel to get directions via Google maps. 

There were plenty of revelers out after an all night of partying. I had to remind myself that there are people who party all night and sleep all day. Don’t these people have day jobs? Are they college students without classes?

My tour is about to begin.  Off to France and Andorra!

I had been awake since 4 a.m. due to the jet lag. So when 6 a.m. rolls around I was happy to go ahead and get up and get ready for the 7:30 a.m. breakfast. I felt as though I need to eat and run since I had a 9 a.m. entrance time to the Sagrada Familia. Breakfast was downstairs in the basement. The lady were attending to the breakfast was still putting out items. I filled a bowl with chocolate Cocoa Puffs and looked for the machine to put milk on my cereal. As I started eating I noticed that the milk had turned into chocolate milk due to the Cocoa Puffs.

As usual there was the cold cuts and cheese and white bread so that I can make myself a sandwich. I’m not sure what the correct way of eating these cold cuts either by themselves or on a bread. However I did the way that I wanted to eat it and made a sandwich for myself. I also posted some bread on a conveyor toaster oven and put strawberry jelly on it. It would be very unusual to see any type of grape jelly in Europe has most all grapes are used in the winemaking process. Instead you see strawberry and Peach jelly for toast.

I caught the subway direct to the Sagrada Familia stop. Ever so often when I’m in Europe I have one of those epiphany moments where it dawns on me that I’m in a foreign country whenever I see an iconic building. I had it before whenever I was in Berlin and saw the Brandenburg gate. I also had it whenever I saw the Colosseum in Rome. And just like when I saw Big Ben in London as I was coming off of the subway so was the same reaction whenever I saw the Sagrada Familia as I came up the Subway’s escalator.

It was old and massive. I stood in awe of it. I took some photos and also took advantage of the neighborhood’s Wi-Fi signal and posted some pictures to social media. I was still very early for my appointment. It was only about 8:15 and the church did not even open until 9 a.m.

There was really no activity the front of the church. I saw signs pointing to the ticket office so I decided to walk around to make sure I was at the right entrance. That lady at the ticket boots said that I could use my Pro online purchase ticket to get in at the designated time of 9 a.m. whenever I buy tickets ahead of time I’m always apprehensive about being there at the designated time and bypassing the line to get in. after some more picture taking presented my ticket to the workers checking the tickets. They let me through the roped-off Section to get in. There’s a security guy checking bags as we went in. We queued up at the stairs.

I noticed it’s this insurance it seemed to proclaim the nativity scene with Joseph Mary and Jesus and the wise men. It was very intricate. You could tell that this portion of the building was much older than the newer letter portion of the building.

At around 9 a.m. we were allowed to go in. I mistakenly follow the crowd to get the audio guide which I have not purchased. Instead I decided to take group tour at 9:30 a.m. I usually don’t enjoy audio guides because they seem less personal than real life guide.

Within the church it has quite a few stained glass. If you look carefully one side is very green on the other side has more warm colors such as orange and red. The blues and greens on the Nativity side Proclaim life such as the green of plants and the blue of water.

On the opposite side of the Nativity side is the passion side which represents Jesus’s death on the cross. The pillars of the church are designed to look like palm trees. There’s so many of them one would think that it is a forest. Our tour guide pointed out that the palm tree leaves were used on Palm Sunday. During the time that the church was built churches were to represent life to those who had much less material blessings. It was the stained glass that drew people to the church building.

I was surprised to see how contemporary the stained glass was. Most the time stained glass within European churches are pretty old.

It’s at this point that I began to wonder about all the money that has been spent on this particular Cathedral and whether or not this was good use of funds meant to serve God. The Church was so big and massive that one could only think is it too big? I grew up in the Church of Christ whose churches are not all that special and even a bit drab. And I’ve always been told not to spend too much on material blessings and instead keep my treasure in spiritual blessings. And sometimes I think that the Catholic Church puts too much emphasis on ornate Cathedrals without necessarily thinking about better ways to spend the money. Even the Sagrada Familia is temporal. One day it will burn up like the rest of the Earth. So why not use the money intended to make such an ornate Church into helping the poor and getting others to respond to the gospel? Certainly a church this big would probably draw in people to become Christians but I am not sure how deep their faith is when something temporal like a cathedral draws someone in.

As mentioned before opposite the Nativity entrance is the passion entrance. The sculptures and statues on that side we’re in somewhat of a block or cubism format. Everything looks so blunt and harsh format. Everything looks so blunt and harsh. But maybe that’s how it was meant to be showing something so terrible like the cruise affection of Jesus has been rough brush and blunt.

I saw depictions of The Last Supper, the denial of Peter, and the presentation of Jesus by Pontius Pilate. At the top of the sculpture shows Jesus on the crucifix naked. This is unusual in that most all the depictions of Jesus on the cross show him clothed with a loincloth.

I am getting little bit ahead of myself as most all of the description and a few paragraphs above were given by our tour guide named Oliver. I had waited a while at the inside of the church instead the tour actually started on the outside of the church. When the tour started we were given headphones well our tour guide spoke the headset microphone. It turned out really well as no matter where you were in the group you could always here with the tour guide said.

Oliver was good. He made jokes about the sculptures claimbing one was Darth Vader. He said Catalans had a unique sense of humor much like the British.

The biggest entrance of the church is not complete. It is called The Glory entrance and will feature Jesus’s resurrection.

The church is said to be completed in 2026 the 100 year anniversary of Antoni Gaudi’s death. The church will feature a huge Tower with a cross atop it. It will serve as a lighthouse to those coming in on cruise ships and the airplane to be able to see the church for many miles away. Oliver was kind enough to invite us back in 2026 when the church was completed. I would imagine in the year 2026 Barcelona will experience an increase tourists that year.

During the Spanish Civil War Gaudi’s plans for the church were destroyed. It also made plaster sculptures which were also destroyed or at least broken into several pieces. Therefore in some ways the church was designed based on some drawings left behind by Gaudi.  our tour guide mentioned that a Japanese sculpture had taken over much of the design of the church after Guadi’s passing. This Japanese sculpturer had been Buddhist but had since converted to Christianity. I thought it was just as well to have Ave Christian design one of the greatest churches on Earth rather than a Buddhist.

It was around 11 a.m. and I decided that it would be best to find the tour group office that was giving me a tour of France and Andorra tomorrow. The instructions on my reservation said to call the tour group the day before. However my hotel room is so sparse there is not actually a phone in my room nor one in the lobby.

I took the subway to what I thought was the office of the tour group. I was wrong and spit a few extra minutes trying to find a non-existent or group company.

Barcelona boast of having free Wi-Fi available but the service is somewhat spotty and can be difficult to get online. In this situation I could have used it  promptly. I finally made it over to the tour company at around noon. They gave me instructions and reminded me to bring my passport. I probably would have forgotten it had they not reminded me. I guess they need it in order to verify identity and we might actually go through some sort of Customs when we hit France or Andorra.

It was about 12:30 and I really needed to try and find lunch before heading off to Park Guell. A Google map that showed there was a Burger King nearby which I headed straight to. I ended up getting the Numero Uno Whopper meal. The server gave me a very large cup for my drink. I was glad that the fountain drinks were available on the outside which meant free refills an abnormality within Europe.

I ate and ran. Not sure how exactly I was to get to Park Guell I wandered around Barcelona looking for a free Wi-Fi signal. I finally found one which help me navigate VIA Google Maps. Google Maps showed that I needed to ride the subway to a particular stop and then get off and ride a bus to another stop. I can do Subway navigation fairly easily but buses are hit-and-miss. I rode the subway to the appropriate stop and got out and looked for the bus stop. It was supposed to be bus 116. I finally figured it out and got on the correct bus. It was another 11 stops ahead of me but eventually I made it up to the park and got dropped off right in front of it. It was only 1:15 and my ticket was good for 2 p.m. I did find where the entrance for the park was. I did verify with the young lady at the entrance that this was where I should be at 2 p.m. I spent the rest of the time walking up to the non roped-off area of the Park. It was pretty sparse. There were vendors selling cheap trinkets and musicians playing for spare change. During one memorable exchange one lady’s dog was nosing around in a musicians stuff. The musicians stop playing long enough to complain in Catalan to the owner of the dog.
By this time my phone’s battery was running low so I decided to cut it off and go based on what I felt the time was whenever it was time to queue up to enter the monument Zone at 2 p.m.

The monument Zone basically has two buildings I’m in somewhat of a gingerbread Style. One of the buildings as a museum and the other is a gift shop. 

Park Guell is somewhat of an iconic place due to these gingerbread buildings. And it’s a ballet of selfies. I haven’t seen this much charge to film selfies since the Sears Tower in 2013. Him from looking at the way these people are taking selfies I really wonder about the quality of selfies. Selfie sticks Lauren Hunt numbers at this location. I had to wait my turn just like everyone else but did manage to get some good shots.

I wandered around the monument area before exiting and going to see the rest of the park. The rest of the park is nothing to write home about. In fact it’s pretty sparse. On one of the Palm leaves I noticed people had been carving their initials. Who actually even wants to carve their initials on a plant leaf?

After a while I began to grow weary and decided to head back to the hotel. There were signs indicating where the next subway stop was. I would have tried to catch the bus but the park’s Wi-Fi signal was not all that great and therefore I could not get a good enough signal to administer a Google map search.

So I walked down hill browsing through the numerous souvenir stands along the way. One shop worker was very responsive to my inquiries and I ended up buying a couple of Christmas ornaments from him. I also bought a patch which is an ongoing tradition of mine. Ever since I stayed in Germany in 2010 I tried to buy patches for each of the Cities that I visit.

I stumbled upon a Subway restaurant and decided it would be a good time to eat supper. Even though I had Subway for lunch the day before this particular time it was quick, easy and convenient.

At this point I faced an ongoing problem. It was not being able to secure a Wi-Fi signal to try and find my way back home. I did eventually find a metro station and followed the maps to get to my destination. On my way back I bought a chocolate muffin for a evening snack.

Tomorrow be a bit less stressful as I am taking a tour of  Baga, Spain, Mont-Louis, France, and Andorra de Ville. Being on his horror means that I don’t have to think and rush in order to get to a particular Monument of particular time period the only thing I have to worry about is being back to the bus when it departs.

Remember how on Star Trek Captain Kirk would the supplemental Captain’s Log In addition to a previous day’s post? Well that’s what I’m doing now. I wonder if anybody actually put episodes of Star Trek in order according to the date on the Captain’s Log rather than the broadcast date on television.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Sagrada Familia. I understand it looks very organic in Design. I hope that it will not be too crowded and that I will be able to find the ticket area with my previously purchased ticket at 9 a.m. today. I hope to be able to use my GoPro inside to get a good 360 degree view of the place. I have also scheduled a group to work at 9:30 a.m. this morning which should provide me with some better insight to the church.

After getting a good view of the church and taking several pictures I plan on stopping by the tour group business which I purchased a ticket to see Andorra tomorrow. It’s nearby so I should be able to find it easily. I also have A2 p.m. ticket to see the Park guell today.
Yesterday afternoon I went out without a jacket and was could probably fine. Everyone else seemed to be wearing heavy coats. Maybe living in the south give me opportunity to regulate my body temperature so that I won’t need a jacket and look forward to cooler weather.

I was able to get enough sleep last night. I went to bed at around 7:30 p.m. and slept until midnight. Then I got up and checked Facebook and chatted with friends briefly via messenger. I went back to sleep and slept a few more hours. 

So here I am that 5 a.m. in the morning waiting for the 7:30 a.m. breakfast at my hotel. Understand it’s a continental breakfast but I suspect that it will have the usual European ham and cheese sandwich availability along with toast. I just hope that it has orange juice because I really need that in the morning. One thing I found is that European breakfast have watered down orange juice.

I’m apprehensive about posting too much to social media figuring that it might look like I’m bragging about being in Europe but I do like to share with my friends and family my experiences.

My hotel room is very tiny. It’s even smaller than the hotel room I had in Estonia in May. I’m a bit disappointed that it doesn’t have a refrigerator which I’d hoped to use to keep my Sprite called. I guess I will have to buy a cold Sprite each night in order to have a nighttime snack on my way back to the hotel. A purchase today chocolate cookies last night from a bakery. It was quite delicious and I ended up just drinking some water from faucet. When I searched Google to determine at faucet water was okay to drink in Spain there was mixed results. But there were people out there who said it’s in Spain as part of the European Union there are certain standards that the water has to meet in order for it to be considered pure. I’ve never had any problem and you’re up when drinking the faucet water and I don’t expect to have any problems in Spain.

Well friend, I’m out of things to talk about so I will bed my one or two readers goodbye for now. I will post more once I have some new experiences today.

Today started off early with a 5:30 a.m. alarm at my home in Mount Juliet. Fortunately most of my bags haf already been packed and the only thing I really needed to add was my retainer and  USB charging plugs. Lately I’ve been able to start really packing light and taking only things that absolutely needed. Last time I packed way too much and this realm of electronics with a bunch of redundant plugs and other equipment that I never use which cause my bag to get heavy.

I drove to the airport while my dad rode along. Security at Nashville airport with very uncrowded. There is virtually no line to the initial check for passport and boarding pass.

I made the mistake of not charging my phone as I was chatting with friends at the gate and Nashville which ran down my phone.

Arrived in Chicago O’Hare without any issues. I wandered around Terminal 2 and 1 looking for a place to eat. I was craving Chili’s potato soup and I knew there was a Chili’s Too around.  A Chili’s Too has a very abbreviated menu and hence they seem to be able to cook the meal faster or at least it was in my case. I had the potato cheese soup and old-timer hamburger with cheese.

After paying my check I set out to try and find Terminal 5 which was the international terminal at O’Hare. The problem is it’s not marked very clearly about where you should go. So I spent the better part of 45 minutes wondering around O’hare Airport until finally finding the train that took me to Terminal 5.

As I have complained about in the past I had to go through security again even though I had initially gone through security in Nashville. I feel like this is very inefficient and way over compensating for security issues. But I get the feeling that someone from the outside can just park in Terminal 5 parking lot and enter and therefore they would have to go through security initially. I just feel like it was very poorly designed from the start.

I found a plug and began to charge my cell phone. I needed to make sure that my cell phone was able to be fully charged when ever I got to Barcelona in order to find my way to my hotel from the airport.

It was at this point that I begin to hear autentic Irish sounding accents within the terminal. I was flying Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier to Barcelona with a layover in Dublin. My seat was in the very back and with an aisle which meant I probably was not going to be able to get much sleep as I was not able to lean against anything. The guy next to me was Chinese and seem to be studying calculus. If it was me studying calculus that would be a sure fire way to put me to sleep.

My earphones only work on one side which and kept me from hearing as I was watching Fight Club and War Dogs.

We were given the option of beef or chicken for our evening meal. I chose the chicken which came with a side of rice, salad, a roll and fruit.

I was able to rest a little bit using my ear plugs and neck pillow and sleeping mask. But I never actually went to sleep. It was at this point in the trip I was wondering if I was traveling too much. Deep down I’m fearful about how others see me I am a wonder that I’m a privileged person who travels way too much. I also begin to dread how tired I knew it would be during and after the trip. I think I tried to do way too much and one trip and I should probably space it out a little bit or just do less.

We arrived in Dublin at around 5 a.m. In lieu of checking our passports we were assured to the transfer area. I begin to worry that if my passport never did get stamped would it be valid once I got to Spain?

After I found my gate we seemed to  board really quickly. But we were held on the transfer bus until the plane got cleaned out. In Europe it is different in that they have a bus that actually takes you on to where the plane is part rather than the US way of having a skybridge to the plane.

I met a nice older lady who was traveling to Barcelona to see her daughter who was traveling there to be part of a unnamed conference. We spoke at length about traveling and about the ins and outs of the process.

We arrived in Barcelona and sure enough there was a long line to get one’s passport stamps. I had hoped to catch a special native dance outside one of the cathedrals in Barcelona but it was not to be. The dance takes place every Sunday at noon and I actually did not get back to my hotel until at least 1.

In fact getting out of the Barcelona Airport is terribly confusing. Google had told me to bride a particular A1 bus but I did not have my transport pass. In order to save about 4 Euro on my ticket online before I left the US. Now I just had to figure out the right machine that would take down my confirmation number and spit out a ticket. The guy working behind a desk direct me to the right machine but it was up to me to figure it out.

Barcelona’s Metro system is very confusing. It took me awhile to find my stop on the subway map. Then it took me some more time to figure out the direction of the trains of where I needed to go. One time I got off at a stop too early and had to wait on another train.

I eventually made it to my hotel room. What helped was looking at the streets on Google street view Maps so that I could try to recognize them in person.

My hotel room is very small. In fact I do believe my walk in closet in my bedroom is maybe bigger. It took awhile for the hot water to warm up in my shower. Also the TV appears to only play Spanish channels.

I had lunch at Subway. The Sandwich Artist spoke good English and recommended that I avoid walking to the Picasso Museum. However I did not follow his advice as I was apprehensive about using the bus. I passed by another Museum that had a waiting line. It was free museum day and both Picasso and this new Museum was free.

Eventually found myself in the Picasso line. After probably a 20-minute wait we were able to get tickets. It was 2:45 p.m. and we got tickets for the 3:15 entry.

It’s at this point which I should probably declare myself as someone who does not get Picasso’s work. It looks very juvenile looking as if cubism is just something that preschoolers could come up with. I try to see Beauty in my own eyes rather than what someone thinks beauty is. And to be quite honest with you Picasso falls into that category of what art critics think is beautiful but is actually not very beautiful.

I realize Rick Steves gave the Picasso Museum a must-see rating however I probably could have just skipped it. Due to the jet lag I found myself falling asleep during the self-guided tour.

After this I would try to find the other Park Guell Museum. By the time I found it I found that all the tours were sold out for the day. That’s one thing about me is that I tried to squeeze way too much into one day. I had a whole list of free Sunday museums and was thinking that I could head up maybe three or four but in reality I was only able to hit one and that was after a long wait.

Afterwards I explored the city of Barcelona in the gothic area. After a while I noticed an obelisk with a statue of Christopher Columbus when he got to see. I thought to myself this is somewhat fitting as I currently am exploring the city of Barcelona. Maybe I could try to call myself a modern-day Explorer least in my own mind.

I decided I would like to have I Domino’s pizza for supper. I walked way out of my way in order to get to this Dominos which was the nearest to my hotel room. I was able to speak to an English-speaking worker who was able to take down my order. It was a thin crust bacon.

Tomorrow I have an appointment at 9 a.m. at the Sagrada Familia. I also have an appointment at the parque guell. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow last time I checked so I’m looking forward to seeing the city.

It was a tour like no other.  When I searched for “Things to do in Jefferson City, Missouri, this prison tour of the now closed Missouri State Penitentiary was at the top of the list.  My pilot friend and I were flying in the next day and they just so happened to have 6 slots still available.  So we signed up.

I took the above photo as we were exiting Housing Unit 4, the oldest of the buildings at the prison.  The table “In Remembrance of Me” seemed so out of place at the time.  I realize that it was obviously taken from the prison chapel which was used during communion services.

I need to remind myself that Jesus did eat with sinners and publicans.  Obviously He was here at the Missouri State Penitentiary.  Maybe some prisoners found Jesus here.  Maybe some past criminals were turned good through remembrance.

Remembrance is an interesting word.  Many of these inmates were purposely forgotten by their families.  After they died their bodies were never claimed.  They were sub-sequentially buried in unmarked graves, later to be paved over for a parking lot used by state workers.

We need to remember the past.  We need to remember the harsh conditions these inmates faced.  It wasn’t so much as for rehabilitation.  Rather is was for pure punishment….to make it as harsh and rough as possible.  It didn’t work.  Inmates learned how to be rougher so by the time they got out (if they got out) they were much more likely to commit more crimes.

And so we find ourselves in a thought of retrospective.  Not only are we to remember our Lord and Savior’s dying for humanity’s sins, but we should also remember the past, our history.

1. Road to Hana
2. Kona
3. Queen’s Bath
4. Hike up Diamond Head
5. Rent a Jeep in Lanai
6. Helicopter tour of Kauai
7. Kauai Lighthouse
8. Scuba dive
9. Chain of Craters Road

I decided to sleep in a little bit but I ended up getting awake at around 6 a.m. I decided to go out and try to find a beach to swim at and then take a shower afterwards. I asked the lady at the front desk if she could recommend a beach based on my Google search results. She said the most popular Beach was not a part of the Google search results. She recommended Robinson Beach. I decided to drive there. Unfortunately I found out that beaches in Hilo are not the sandy beaches you picture whenever you think of a beach. Instead they have a rocky Coastline from the volcano eruptions. Since the land is relatively new it has not had a chance to be broken down into sand. I drove along the coast trying to find a beach that would fit my expectations but of course I was not able to find it.

I was getting hungry so I decided to head out to McDonald’s and try to get an authentic spam mail. Google Maps led me to a Walmart which had a McDonald’s inside of it. I do believe it was the same Walmart that I visited 8 years ago. I got the spam and eggs and rice. There’s nothing particularly amazing about the meal except for the fact that one could brag but they are spam in Hawaii.

While I was in Walmart I decided to check out there souvenir section. There wasn’t anything particularly that caught my eye in the souvenir section. However I would recommend Walmart for reasonably priced souvenirs for any vacation in Hawaii.

As I was walking out I asked a manager about the beaches and he explained how the beaches were all Rocky in Hilo. He suggested I drive to Kona which was a good 2 hours away. I decided not to because it would have eaten up most of my time getting there and then getting back.

I went back to the hotel and rest a little bit before checking out. The hotel had fruit including bananas and a citrus fruit and citrus flavored water available in the lobby. I wish I had known this before I had checked out and I would have taken advantage of it.

Yesterday my car’s tires showed being low so I decided to go to the airport to get more air in the tires Budget Rent a Car. I explained to the sales attendant to my situation and she told me where to go to get more air in the tires. Apparently in the back part of the airport there is a car wash and gas filling station for the rental car companies. I met Arthur the guy who was supposed to help fix it. He put air in my tires. The tower which was causing problems with the left driver side Tire. He also washed my car and remarks that my car was quite dirty. I did not reveal that I had driven down several miles of gravel road in order to see the telescopes.

I headed toward Subway to get a sandwich to go to eat while in volcanoes National Park. As I said before the restaurant options are very limited and I did not want to be stuck Hana hi Bill for food that I did not enjoy. I would highly recommend getting as an Ozark can cooler to keep your ice cold.

As I made my way to Volcanoes National Park I called my family to ask how things were and try to find gas. The first gas station that I went to must have been some sort of private membership only type gas station as my credit cards did not work. I ended up stopping at Phillips 76 station and filled up. I had went down to half a tank of gas on my way to both volcanoes yesterday.

I arrived at Volcanoes National Park and went to the visitor center.  I asked about the Kilauea Iki crater Trail which I had previously missed. She gave me good directions. How could shorten my walk by half a mile if I was able to actually Park in the lava tube parking lot. However this parking lot is always full. So instead I drove towards the trailhead.

I arrived at the trailhead and started walking. This time I started walking clockwise instead of counterclockwise as I had done yesterday. Throughout the trail they were signs indicating to stay on the trail rather than make a shortcut by cutting through the forested section of the trail.

It took awhile to get to the bottom of the trail. I saw many out of breath people climbing back up.
The bottom of the trail looks like the surface of the Moon. In order to keep the trail visible there are stacks of rocks along the sides. It looks like the setting for a Planet of the Apes type movie. I managed to get someone to take my photo at the bottom of it. This is an ongoing problem when you travel alone there’s not enough opportunity to take selfies for good photos of yourself. The people who took my photo mentioned that there was a steam opening but I was unable to find it. I walked over halfway to the other side and decided it would be best for me to head on back.

It took awhile for me to walk back up and by the time I got back up it was 1:30 p.m. I hadn’t had lunch and decided it would be best for me to go ahead and eat. I drove back to the visitor station and grabbed a picnic table and begin my lunch. As expected there was still ice in my Ozark cup  cooler.

A couple from Montreal sat down beside me after asking permission.  I finished up my lunch and offered them a “Bon Voyage” before leaving to travel to Jagger Museum.
As I drove to Jagger Museum I saw a parking area for the steam vents.  I made a mental note to myself to stop by after I got through the Jagger Museum.  The Jagger Museum is built within viewing distance of the smoking Halema’uma’u crater.  This is the most active volcano in the world as explained by the enthusiastic park ranger giving an impromptu lesson on the history of Hawaiian volcanoes….or more specifically Halema’uma’u.  Did you know visitors used to hold their postcards to be singed before mailing them to prove they were at the volcanos? Did you know the volcanos are considered sacred by the native Hawaiians and point to Pele, the goddess of volcanos?

I took some photos of the smoking volcano.  I almost bought a 50s style poster, but decided against it, after all it was $39 without framing, overpriced…and I’m not sure I had room for it in transport and on my walls back home.

Next I drove to the steam vents and smelt the slight sulfur smell fuming from them.  Afterwards I decided to hike the devastation trail.  There was a hill with gravel rock near the entrance to it, and later on the path to an overlook of Kilauea Iki.  I took photos of plants along the way.

I really wanted to go on the chain of craters tour, but unfortunately there was not enough time. It was already 3:30PM, and one way was 37 minutes.  I would like to stop quite a bit to get out and take photos, so it could have easily been a 90 minutes round trip.  I decided against it, opting to do some shopping on my way back to Hilo.

I decided to try out Hilo Burger Joint in downtown Hilo.  Parking was very limited.  I parked on the street in front of a music store.  I halfway expected to see my car broken into when I got back.  That’s what I do, expect the worst and be surprised when nothing happens.

I got a burger with cheese loading inside the patty.  There is a food truck, Hoss Burger in Nashville, that does it, and seems to be slightly better than Hilo Burgers, which seemed to have less cheese.  My waiter kinda forsook me and didn’t give me a refill of water.  I think another patron was asking him too many questions for him to pay attention to me.

After paying my bill I headed off to my car to pack up my stuff.  Have you ever tried to change from shorts to jeans in a parked car in downtown Hilo?  I takes some maneuvering. I do this because jeans take up so much space in my backpack, which was already full with Ozark water containers, a beach tow, electronics, among several other things.

Returning my car posed some issues as I couldn’t initially find a parking space for Budget cars, eventually I found one, but I did have to go back and write down the mileage on my car to give to the attendant.

TSA was no problem at Hilo airport.  I think there was one couple in front of me.  Hilo airport appears to be an open airport, like most Hawaiian airports.  I wonder what happens when a hurricane comes through?  There are no door to close to keep the rain out.

My flight left late possibly due to a late incoming flight.  I wish I had planned for it, otherwise I might have been able to do the chain of craters tour.

Tomorrow I pack up and leave for the mainland, but not without some much needed beach time.