This morning we woke up and went to the breakfast room, again to find other people there far more dressed up, and again not really caring. We ate, woke up slightly, and then went back to the room to finish getting ready. Then we grabbed our map and headed back down past El Corta Ingles and down Las Ramblas where we avoided walking down the main section.
With Poppy and Ahmee leading the way we went down a side street where I got to look into amazing shops and restaurant windows. I saw so much color in the clothes! It was wonderful to get away from the pigeon uniform that so many city-dwellers adhere to. The fashion that was along this street made me want to get out my sketchpad and draw, while the bookshops made me want to get lost for hours, actually to sum it up I walked down my own Diagon Alley. It had incredible shops that I wanted to spend several days shifting through. I knew that I wouldn't get to come back to these any time soon though and so I turned my head from left to right as we went through streets of brightly lit shops, through courtyards with children playing soccer, and down stinky alleyways where you could hear Indian music wafting through the breeze. When we reached the Museo de Picasso I was completely ready to look at funky art. I knew though that this museum contained mostly art from when Picasso was younger.
The great thing about this museum was we got to see Picasso's development as an artist. We saw his work from the age of 11 onwards. Since he was the son of an art teacher he had a technic down that really was incredible. I thought that I was looking at an older Picasso's hand whenever really that was his first work. I got to see his practice sketches, his paintings that he did on wooden boards as a kid, the paintings he did of himself when he was deathly ill (there were a lot of these), the paintings he did when he was in Paris (looked ridiculously similar to Vincent Van Gogh's paintings), the prints he toyed with when he was older (loved these), 
the blue period he went through (not really blue but oh well), the rose period he went through (not really rose), a few sex scenes that he did, his movement into the cubist period (till the end of his days he used this), AND I got to look at some of the ceramics he made (generously donated by his last wife-he had five or so- after he died). 
After spending an hour walking through the museum we went down and looked in the museum shop and then went into the museums cafe where we ate a delicious lunch (I had a salad for desert). While in the cafe we talked about our favorite pieces of art and what we were surprised by. Ahmee said that she actually came to appreciate cubism by the time she left. I said that I felt the same way. Some of his cubist paintings were very nice. My personal favorite technique of Picasso's was his print experimentation. Really wonderful. 
We also talked about the gift shop, the street we'd walked down, and the people who were in the cafe. We also wondered how people were able to distinguish who was English and who was not. We soon found out. I decided I would give it a try. I told Ahmee and Poppy that the couple closest to the door was from Britain, that the couple next to them was spanish (I heard them talking), and from then on I told Ahmee and Poppy who was from where as they walked in to the restaurant (they had their backs to the door). One couple walked in and I instantly knew they were from the U.S.. Why? The man was wearing a baseball cap and was in a bit of a hurry. I told Ahmee and Poppy this and when the couple sat down just across from us I was proven right. They started talking about their day and other things that they needed to do. For a while we didn't say anything, I don't know why but I didn't really want to get into a conversation with the couple. I ordered my salad for a desert and we started talking again, spurring a question from across the room, "So where are you guys from?"
Thus a conversation started where Ahmee and Poppy did most of the talking with the couple. The feeling that I didn't want to talk to them didn't stay around though, it quickly left after the conversation got started. They'd been on vacation for 3 weeks, had been on a cruise, and were on their last day of traveling. The woman said that she had completely lost track of the days and that she no longer knew what she'd done on which day. They said they were ready to be heading home, and that they were heading home the next day.
We told them about our "holiday" and how I was doing schoolwork (me putting my salad to the side for a moment). Once Ahmee got back from the restaurant I stopped talking to chow down on my salad (conversation was halted on both sides do to food). When the man went to pay for their food I heard him tell the guy at the desk that there was a group from Indiana at the back of the restaurant. When he came back the guy who'd joked with us and told us to sit where-ever we wanted, came over and asked if we were from Indiana.
We told him the truth, that I was from Indiana, and that my grandparents were from Kentucky. He told us that his sister lived in Indianapolis and that he'd gone to visit her a couple times and that every time he met an English person in the cafe he asked if they were from Indiana and they'd ask, "Why Indiana?" He made me laugh when he looked aghast and said, "Comeon man! That's where my sister lives!"
He was pretty fun to talk to, unfortunately I hadn't finished my salad and Ahmee and Poppy were ready to head out so I ended up being hushed. When we left he gave us a nice goodbye (some people are abrupt and just say bye and get back to work while others say goodbye and wave and actually act like they enjoyed your company). After this we went back to the gift shop, where Ahmee and I bought more postcards (me grabbing my favorites). We then started to head back to the hotel.
We grabbed hot chocolate and churros on our walk back (I could only eat a few because I was thoroughly stuffed) where we got to watch them make them. We didn't stay in the restaurant long though, we needed to stop by one more place before we headed back to the room. 
We went into the gothic quarter and went into the old Cathedral (La Seu) which contained 29 side chapels. The choir was in the middle of the cathedral and had to be the most ornate thing we've seen so far. Well, maybe not, but the carvings were definitely the most exquisite. We walked around this cathedral, me stopping to sit every chance I got. I couldn't help chuckling when I sat down next to 3 other men who all had a heavy-duty camera hanging from their neck. Most of the camera men found this a funny coincidence too and chuckled along with me. As we all sat there outside the choir and facing the alter the three men each in turn took a snapshot, while I just kicked back and admired the cathedrals architectural elements, rather than the painted and gilded alter. My favorite sections of any cathedral are the pillars that hold up the ceiling, the vaulted ceilings that just seem to be incredibly high up, the glass work that's done in strategic points along the cathedral, and basically the spaciousness of the building (roman cathedrals are a different story, then I'm just admiring how long they've lasted).
The thing is that my opinion of churches is that the architectural grandeur would be enough to satisfy me. I loved the fancy choir and the seats that the singers got to sit in, but I didn't really like the side chapels or the alter.
As I walked around the church I started to get two feelings, first that while mosaics and paintings are gorgeous they aren't needed in a church, and second that my feet were killing me and I was ready to head back to the room to work (pessimism isn't a good thing).
So we headed out through a different door, walked down a street that went under the Carrer del Bisbe (a famous bridge that's connected to the church and that is really pretty), 
walked through the lively Placa del Rei (where more street performers were busy playing instruments and dancing), and walked down yet another wonderful street to Las Ramblas where we made our way back up to the hotel. Before getting to work I pulled out my Vincent Van Gogh postcards and arranged them on Poppy's bed. I then pulled out my new Picasso postcards and mixed them in with my other paintings. The result was fantastic. I adored all of them. Ahmee and Poppy admired them for a while and then went back out to walk around Barcelona while I worked on a study guide. It takes me a while to complete study guides for AP US History so even though I worked hard for several hours. Ahmee and Poppy even brought me food from a cafeteria. I didn't leave that hotel room after I got started on my work. I managed to complete a study guide, a test, and write tons of things including: over 10 postcards, and a few summaries. I emailed people for a short period and then I closed up the computer, got into my pj's, and fell asleep. (tired feet)
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