Today involved being tired, saying things that didn’t make sense, getting a little lost and having trouble finding doors. Not for me; for Martha and our two friends Monica and Carolyn, who all joined me today in Barcelona after an overnight flight.
I was intent on meeting them at the airport. Knowing how flaky the Spanish train system is, I got up extra early to take the 7:02 a.m. airport train, figuring that even if it was late I would still get to the arrival gate on time. But it wasn’t late. It just never came at all. The people on the platform, many of whom had planes to catch, ended up waiting an extra 45 minutes for the next train. Which was itself overfilled because it had picked up everyone at the earlier stations who also intended to catch the train that never came. So I started my morning in an overcrowded train filled with super stressed-out people who were all preparing to sprint to their flights as soon as the train stopped. I felt like telling Spain I was just going to start taking taxis, but I know Spain wouldn’t really care so I didn’t bother.
Everything worked out in the end, and within three hours I was able to lead Monica and Carolyn through everything you need to see in Barcelona. My tours skip a lot of the history, context and other unnecessary materials and pretty much encourage the participants to get a good look at everything, take a few pictures and move on.
I don’t believe in requiring walking sticks and doing pre-tour stretching, as many of the more expensive tour companies do.
Then we had bread and cheese for dinner and everyone but me was passed out by 7:00.
A good time was had by all.
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