CIAO SIENA!: Barcelona!

I’ve been trying to update this lately but have been having technical difficulties. So here is a late update on my trip to Barcelona.

Things I discovered or learned this weekend:

1. I finally saw the leaning tower of Pisa through the window of my airplane.
2. I learned first-hand that the Spanish never sleep. If celebrating late into the night (as in until 6am or so) is your favorite thing you should go to Spain, not Italy.
3. Espresso and sweet & condensed milk is unbelievable.
4. So is Gazpacho.
5. And Payaya
6. And tapas too.
7. It’s always the nicest thing in the world to see family.
8. And only relatives would care about you enough to actually transport a bagel across the world because they know that you’ve been wanting to eat one.
9. Going from Siena to Barcelona is like going from the past into the future. It’s very Jetsons-meet-the-Flintstones-ish. (Ellie will appreciate that reference.) Siena a very medieval city and Barcelona is constantly re-inventing itself, staying modern. It was fascinating to go from one to the other.
10. I understand no Spanish and I especially understand no Catalan.
11. I can very successfully travel alone, even internationally, even between two foreign countries, and this discovery opens up a lot of the world to me.
12. I am addicted to gelato. The first thing I did when I got back to Siena was buy a cone of fig & ricotta gelato. I can't live without it.