last day in barcelona Time for a quick post (as I hold my own at the computer in the hotel lobby against several hovering teenagers.) It feels good just to sit and type...I´ve walked many miles in the last few days all over Barcelona, and somehow it has been more tiring than up and down the mountains!

This is a beautiful city, and I have been entertained every day by the life in the street, the interesting shops and food, and some wonderful art--especially at the Miro Foundation yesterday. My favorite gallery there was a room of huge minimalist paintings. They surprised me--I did not know he ever did that kind of understated work. I also found the museum of Pre-Columbian art and the Egyptian Museum very beautiful and intriguing.

My hotel room overlooks the main tourist street of the city, Las Ramblas, and from my tiny balcony I can watch the river of people flowing below me and the many street entertainers performing. There are a million tourists (and of course, I´m one too!) but I´ve also wandered through many neighborhoods a bit off the main routes, and glimpsed bits of the real life of the city--children getting out of school, families in the park, old people walking their dogs and having drinks late at night in the tiny cafes.

Really, the past few days have been sensory overload after three weeks of serenity and relative seclusion in the mountains. Barcelona has been wonderful, but now I am ready to fly home tomorrow. Adeu Catalunya!  ¶ 11:43 AM