We had a lovely day with them seeing the sights of Barcelona. First stop, Las Ramblas, the central mall lined by beautiful building reminding us more of Paris than anything we had seen in Spain so far and pleasantly surprising. The mall is also lined by human ‘statues’, some almost impossible to tell from the bronze type! I marvel at what sort of backs they must have to stand or sit rigid for hours, mine aches at the thought! We all shared Tapas for lunch, very Spanish! Tapas literally means snacks and we order a selection to share.  Spiced meatballs, calamari, potato omelette, grilled eggplant, chicken kebab meat etc.. We also share a bottle of vino de casa (house wine).

This lovely experience takes place in an ancient square in the Gothic quarter, perfect with friends and conversation! We expored the narrow streets and ‘non tacky’ souvenir shops with pretty ‘Gaudi’ mosaic crockery. There is no way of bringing this home, sadly!

No visit to Barcelona is complete without seeing at lease some Gaudi architecture so we visit Sagrada Familia, the most famous of all his works, started in 1882 and due for completion 2020. It will only be finished (we wonder) by this date with the assistance of modern cranes and construction methods! We stop for  lovely coffee and pastries and say goodbye to Geoff and Piriot, it’s been a day to remember.

They go back to England for one week a month to window clean and work like mad. They then spend the next three weeks in Tarragona in the ministry. Mark and I hope to get the compulsory service done on the car but although we were told in France that no appointment is necessary and that it only take ½ hour, it can’t be done till 3.30 and will take 2 hours! Oh well! We shop in Tarragona and to my delight the markets are on! We didn’t buy a lot but it was great fun wandering through them.  Justin joins us for a late lunch and on we go to get the car serviced.

A team of electricians from Barcelona were working there and were able to tell us that the local Spanish congregation meets for field service at 10 am today (Sunday) and the meeting is at 12, so we meet the group. Justin is able to go on a Spanish bible study and Mark and I try some informal witnessing with English literature n the town centre, with the blessing of the local elder of course. We were hoping to find English speaking tourists however, it’s very quiet. At the hall this morning a brother originally from Mexico, Brooklyn Bethel and now assigned to Cambrills (next town) tells us that there is an English speaking meeting in Tarragona at 4.30 so that sounds great to us.  The congregation is lovely, friendly and very welcoming.  They have only been formed as a congregation for 1 month.  There were thrilled to have 70 in attendance, a lot of visitors like us, but encouraging for them.

Spain is ‘under construction’; even buildings decades old seem unfinished somehow, or at least ill maintained.  There are of course exceptions to the rule, but landscaping is distinctly lacking on the average street and there is an obvious shortage of grass. However, it is sunny, warm and the Mediterranean is azure blue.  This area, although generally Spanish speaking, also has its own language, Catalonian, a mixture of French and Spanish apparently.