Barcelona

  I have heard that Barcelona is a happening place now, but when we were there in 1973, we gave it the nickname of "Boring Barcelona".  There just wasn't much to see there.  We did see a stone carving by Picasso; the city hall; a cathedral; and the Court of Orange where Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus.  At the cathedral, Sandra pulled out a pair of glasses to look at a chandelier.  I had never seen her wear glasses before, and I had known her for almost two years.  She said she only used them to look at things she wanted to see.  So, had she not seen much else on the tour?  We also saw a statue of Columbus pointing toward the New World.  That was where we were heading tomorrow.  Back home.
  Everybody was pretty tired.  It had been a grueling 3 weeks of sights.  An overload of the senses.  Not to mention--the nerves.  We went to a craft area, where they made glass and brass items.  One of the ladies bought a brass sword letter opener, which was confiscated the next day by airport security.  She never got it back.
  We had the afternoon off.  The girls and I wanted to go to the beach, which we had seen flying into the city the day before.  We found out that the only way to get there was by train, and it was thirty miles away, so that idea was scrapped.  We all took naps, and then it was out into the city again.  I went back to the nine-story department store, and then the girls and I went shopping in dress stores.  Sandra wanted to call home to say when she was coming back.  The hotel still said we could not use their phones because of that strange fire in the country, but they did tell us of a post office that had phones nearby.  Now, why would the post office's phones work, but not the hotel's?  A question that was never answered.
  We headed over to the post office, and after a lot of charades and gestures, we explained what we wanted to do.  Sandra finally got through to the operator what she wanted, and then she was able to talk with the folks back home.  Her spirits were lifted. 
  We had seen the prettiest and the ugliest that Europe and Israel had to offer.  We were going home tomorrow.  At least, we hoped so.