Wednesday - June 19th

Wednesday at work I actually had a pleasant morning.  A Fulbright Scholar studying medieval Spanish history was here and we met with him to do a tour of the Gothic Quarter.  I had already gone to the quarter, but even so I learned and saw some new cool stuff.  He showed us the ancient Roman aqueduct, the differences between the different church buildings, the ancient layout of the city, the story of how Barcelona lost its independence, and fun little facts.  For example, the archbishop way back when who constructed one bridge in particular and placed a skull with a knife through it underneath to serve as warning of the supremacy of the church.  Legend has it that the day the knife is removed the city will crumble.  Needless to say, that was definitely something I had to see.  We also found another market near the Cathedral and this one specialized in antique stuff, even some ancient coins from Barcino. 

That evening I decided to go the beach once again.  Why not?  It’s right there!  I have decided that I would sooner have the beach than the mountains any day and time.  The weather held for the most part, but about 8:30 a wind picked up and made things a little too chilly for me.  The weather here is crazy!  The south of Spain has been experienced record breaking heat, above 40 degrees Celsius (over 100 Fahrenheit), while the north, close to the French border, has had massive flooding due to the wet winter and rapid heat wave in the last few weeks.  Barcelona has not had so many extremes, but it is unpredictable: one moment its rainy and overcast, the next its sunny and extremely hot.