Our morning began with some extra excitement. The Uber was pre-ordered and it took us to the train station where we first entered Montpelier. However the train station that we needed was a good 20 minutes away. Traveling with people has somehow gotten us off of our game and we have made a few silly mistakes in the last few weeks. Since we could not see out train on the video screen we investigated further and discovered our error. We dashed for a taxi, loaded up and sped off to the correct station. This was going to be tight as the maps app said it was a 25 minute drive and we would only have a few minutes to spare when we finally got to the station. Luckily for us this driver understood the timing issue. He knew a better route that the one maps had laid out and he was not beholden to the speed limits. He zigged, he zagged and when he got on the freeway he punched it. Soon there were two police motorcycles (see above) who pulled up alongside and gave him the slow down signal. Thank you officers for not pulling us over. We got to the station and he even rolled some of the bags onto the elevator for us! We made it! The train ride went smoothly, we had pizza (Carlos forgot his), we saw flamingoes and watched the lady next to Omar sleep solid for 2.5 hours. Once she woke us she recounted her story of missing her train, trying to stay in the station but getting kicked out at 2 AM staying up the rest of the night and finally making this train. She spent the remaining half hour of the trip putting on makeup with her stuff strewn about the train's staircase. We stood in the hot taxi stand and barely fit into a smallish taxi. Our AirBnb host has onsite to greet us and get us situated. He recommended a restaurant for dinner and then we headed out to the show. This venue was the Palau de la Musica Catalina and it was a gem of Catalan Modernism. Built in between 1905 and 1908, this was over the top beautiful.
Our train station savior
In the new station we met Carlos and Omar
We took a path long a large barrier island
Some bigger towns along the way
The devil's coach
Water on both sides
Seagulls
Isolated farm buildings
These buildings were on an island
Flamingoes
The world is zooming by
The greater flamingo
Our original planned stop before the plan was changed
Andorra is up there somewhere
So many taxi's available that the live went very fast
A dragon who eats cars
We are in fancy Barcelona
The grand buildings
Passing the major squares
Almost at the place
One fantastic knocker
With a matching knob
Discarded back in the 70's
Dinner at Casa Alfonso
This gin is leaning
Of course we get olives to start
Jamon
Toast points with tomato sauce
The Spanish omelet
Having a blast
New shoes!
Is it Carlos or is it Trotsky?
Room for dessert?
Yes we did have room
Nicely decorated
Heading out to the concert
Great street lights
We have arrived at the Palau de la Musica
Our piano maestro for the evening
Layers of beauty
Gilded and sparkly
Grandiose
Glass balustrades
Tile work and painted glass
The room is filling up
These ladies are 3-D
So much detail
The glass ceiling
We have a box
The ladies coming out of the wall
The dome coming out of the ceiling
The 3-D ladies on the other side
A fantastic tree
How did this get manufactured?
A full house
Love the organ
A fun reflection on the piano
A series of busts of composers
A pair of giant men arrived and blocked rows of folks from seeing the piano player
A great show
The chandelier on out way out
Statements on the walls as we walk back
Our elevator is very small
Only one person and one set of luggage
