I hugged a co-worker last week. But it was her last day, so that was okay. I'm not going to make a habit of it or anything.

Just had an energetic discussion with my new boss. Content management is kind of difficult to explain to people who don't know content management sometimes. But I've been doing it almost 20 years now, so I forget it's not obvious.

I had my phone running as a portable Wi Fi hotspot and forgot to turn it off. Man, that thing got hot. Oops.

Aw, that's sad, Sophia.

Whoops! Sorry, Jesse. I just edited my post.

Thanks! I'm sorry I don't know how to proofread.

you know your business, but 7 months can go by pretty quickly.

Yeah, I'm not going to sit on it, but I do want to give them the time to fix this (if it's fixable). So, like I said: lunches.

Pix! I'm so glad you're having a wonderful trip.

Thank you! The wake up call comes in four hours, so I’m not going to sleep much tonight. I have a 7:20am flight up to Madrid, a three hour layover, and then I fly to JFK. I’m staying overnight there since there wasn’t a flight to LA I could get onto that afternoon. Then I finally catch a 10:30am flight from JFK back to LA on Wednesday. I have had an amazing trip, but I can’t wait to get home. I miss the pets and my bed (and ND, of course). I have fallen head over heels in love with this city, though, and I will definitely be back.

I had planned to take a guided tour at Segrada Familia (which is too much to describe, and pictures just don’t cut it), but I slept in a bit too late and missed my chance. So instead, I followed this walking tour: [link] in order to explore the medieval part of the city, Barri Gòtic. Many of the museums were closed since it’s Monday, but I took a lot of pictures and then found some locally made and affordable gifts for friends and my mom at a little store tucked into an alley. Synchronicity!

I had a tasty lunch at a little restaurant near my hotel and took a little siesta (not the sleep, but the break) and then ran over in time to catch La Pedrara before it closed. Since it was evening at that point, the crowds were gone, and wow. I don’t even know what else to say except that I’ve become a little obsessed with Gaudi. After that, I went to see the Arc de Triomf (every city must have one!) that was originally created for the World Expo in 1888. I wandered through the Parc de la Ciutadella and watched a dog playing in a fountain, jugglers practicing, people learning how to tightrope walk on a low line, and people playing music and chatting together in the green beauty of the park.

After that I came back, got my ducks in a row for tomorrow’s traveling, and went out to grab some dinner. That was the one mistake--I went for convenience and had tapas and sangria at one of the touristy places on La Rambla rather than going to one of the better places a bit out of the way, and it was subpar. Nonetheless, it was a pretty great day.

Wow, Gabby Giffords just returned to the House floor to vote on the debt ceiling bill.

Well, it passed.

[On Edit] With around 50 votes to spare. And it is absolutely certain in the Senate.

Kristin, did you get to Parc Guell? IOW, I share your Gaudi obsession. And I remember loving the Barri Gotic - I think that's where I bought my leather mask from a gorgeous mask store.

Kristin, did you get to Parc Guell?

I didn’t this time, but I definitely will next time. This is a small city, but MAN is it jam-packed with things to see! I think I did pretty well for less than 48 hours, though. (And my feet and legs are SO telling me all about that.) The Metro makes it so easy to get around and most things are walkable, but still.

Also, I x-posted with Sophia, but sad now. Poor puppy.

Okay, I think this would cheer me up immensely:

[link]

The little chocolate Han Solos put it over the top.

I don’t even know what else to say except that I’ve become a little obsessed with Gaudi.

Yeah, Barcelona will do that to you. Definitely go inside La Sagrada Familia next time; walking inside was quite literally breathtaking. I also loved Casa Batlló. I dug the roof of La Pedrera, but the interior was a lot of information I'd just seen at Casa Batlló. Parc Guell was a pain to get to, and I didn't think it was that amazing, but there are some cool things there. Like the gingerbread house and the ceiling made of smashed plates.

I loved the Gothic Quarter as well. I loved how it was all narrow alleyways. I had just read The Shadow of the Wind, and I took a walking tour in the back of the book that led me to various locations in the book; it was way cool.