Day 13 (Barcelona and Madrid): November 15, 2016

Day 13 (Barcelona and Madrid):

This was our last day in Barcelona and we woke up at 8:15 AM, again not feeling so well.  We showered and packed up our luggage to meet Jeffrey downstairs for breakfast at 9:00 AM.  After breakfast, we went back to the room finished packing and then met Hannah in the lobby around 11 AM.  Our first stop was the Placa Nova, in the Gothic Quarter, almost touching the wall of the former Roman city, seven giant letters contrast with their historic backdrop.  They are part of the alphabet created by Joan Brossa to spell out the word Barcino, the principal name of the Colonia Lulia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino, which was the origin of present day Barcelona.  

Barcino Letter Sculptures

We then walked over to the old Jewish quarter and spent some time in an “old little synagogue” that was located downstairs.  The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona is supposedly one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. 

Ancient Synagogue

After we checked that out, we walked around the streets and marveled at all the interesting shops.

Jeffrey in front of the Meat store

Barcelona loves their Pigs

We walked around some more and then grabbed a cab to eat lunch at a restaurant that our guide recommended for Paella.  They make Paella from scratch and it takes about 25 minutes.  The girls split a vegetarian Paella and Jeffrey and I split a Seafood Paella.  It was definitely a solid Paella. 

Jeffrey, Allison, Hannah and Scott eating Paella

After lunch we were all full and decided to walk back to the hotel and see more of the city.  We got back to the hotel and we said our goodbyes before grabbing a cab at 3:00 PM to the airport for our flight to Madrid.  Jeffrey had a couple of hours to kill before his flight so he hung out at the hotel.  Our flight was pretty quick and we grabbed the Hilton shuttle to take us to the hotel when we arrived in Madrid.  We decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport for our early morning flight the next day.  We arrived at the hotel around 7:30 PM.  Since Al is a gold member it allowed us access to the Conceirge level where they had free drinks and food.  I had a couple of beers and bunch of appetizers, but Al didn’t have anything really to eat so we decided to go downstairs and eat at their restaurant.  Al ordered a hamburger and then we went back to the room at 8:45 PM to pass out for our early morning wake up.