15 Miles

I didn’t know that it would be possible for me to be more exhausted than I was yesterday, but I think I am… Today was a whirlwind of facts and information, sights and sounds. Mostly centered around the Old City of Barcelona, I feel that I could now usher a tourist like myself around and give them more information than the guide books – but then again I have yet to look at a guide book so that hasn’t been confirmed.

Our architectural historian, the Spaniard with the Japanese name, was more than informative, offering so much of historical Barcelona that my head is now swimming. The only problem I see is rationalizing what I saw with reality. It is difficult to see the chapel for the black metal folding chairs. It is hard to feel touched by Roman civilization when you are 2 stories below the earth in an artificially lit industrial museum. You cannot smell the wine fermenting or the clothes being dyed. You cannot see the people as they must have been. Fortunately for me, children are an international cure all, and the elementary school class dressed in Roman toga and hailing each other with “Ava! Ava!” made me feel a bit more in the spirit of things.

That, and the baroque fresco of the woman with the fire pincers that had removed her own breasts. Corporal mortification or late medieval fetish? You be the judge.

After over nine hours of walking with only a brief stop for lunch, what I am thinking of most is bed – and here in Barcelona mine is the extra firm kind with the super comfy blankets of European hotels. Add to that an excellent dinner accompanied by a few glasses of local draft beer and the sedation is really starting to set in. My plan is to attempt to start my journey map tonight (outlining the routes we took today and for the future tours), but I’m afraid I never really knew the direction I was headed in today.

But that is fairly normal for anyone, wouldn’t you say?