This week we got in a few different tourist activities. We started by visiting both Ramblas on day 339, followed by Park Güell on day 340. On day 343 we saw a popular local church called Santa Maria De La Mar. The rest of the week was rounded out with gym and beach.

Travel Log: Day 339 (6/1), Spain

We walked a crazy amount through the day today. JC and I both got over 20K steps.

I went to the gym and it was awesome because there were maybe 30-40% fewer people than normal. I’m not sure why traffic was down, but I hope it stays this way. After that JC and walked to get more protein.

In the afternoon we all took a walk to visit La Rambla. It has massive construction down the middle of the whole street which I think totally ruined what it normally is. After that we went to the other “Rambla” that our tour guide recommended which is not touristy that locals go to. It was much smaller and we didn’t stay long because we weren’t shopping for anything.

In the evening JC and I took another walk and went to the beach. The beach was pretty empty, and we’re thinking we should take the kids there at night.

Travel Log: Day 340 (6/2), Spain

Park Güell

On our agenda today was Park Guell. We had tickets at 1pm, so we left the house at around 11:45am. It was a 15 minute walk to the metro station we wanted to take, and then we took the L3 to the station near Park Guell. We had to sit around and kill about 20 minutes because we got there too early. Once we got in we walked all through it and it was pretty cool. It was a little underwhelming, but I did like the central column thing with a terrace on top. It apparently collects rainwater that filters down through the columns into a cistern below.

I went to the gym first thing in the morning and only got a half workout in. They taped off the weights/benches area so they could lift someone up in to the roof. It looked like they were replacing a filter or something. I gave up on waiting since we had limited time before going to the park.

Later in the day I wrote a post for our May budget analysis.

Insurance

I got a quote from Amica for home + auto, and it came back at an insane amount. The car (Subura Crosstrek 2026) came in at $2500/year, and the homeowners at $6K/year. To put that in perspective, we were paying $1200/year for two cars (liability only), and about $1500/year for homeowners.

JC and I called the Parker AAA office to try a different angle after being ghosted a few times by the lady we were talking to. We got a guy who got us to the right guy who was supposed to have given us a quote two weeks ago. It got off to a bad start when he said he sent us the policy and that he spoke with me, and we had to say no, we didn’t speak to you and we didn’t get a policy. He started from scratch and built a policy for us, which came out to $2,121. We were very happy with that relative to the Amica quote and signed the policy.

Travel Log: Day 341 (6/3), Spain

Today we didn’t have anything formal on the agenda. JC and I went for a walk in the morning on the beach. We came back and got the kids and took the L4 metro to a farther beach for a couple hours. I liked it, and thought the sand and water were much better. It was just as crowded though.

When we got back from the beach, we couldn’t get the outside door to open. It would click, but not unlock. This old dude came over and was speaking Catala/Spanish to us. We made out enough to realize he was asking what floor we were on. Our answer didn’t matter though, and he proceeded to push the buzzer on EVERY apartment until one guy talked through the intercom. I heard just enough to know the guy on the other end didn’t speak the old man’s language, because he responded “hablas ingles?”.

I jumped in when I heard that and asked him if he speaks english and he said yes. He tried to buzz us in but same issue, so he came down and opened the door for us. He said sometimes the door acts up. Just a bit later I realized what probably happened. I noticed the last day or two the building has some negative air pressure causing the door not to fully shut. I think had we just pulled the door completely closed, it would have worked.

In the end, the old man did provide a solution. I would have never buzzed every damn person in the building on my own.

I took a long nap after lunch, and then JC and I made a grocery run. This was the cleanest checkout process yet, and the different self-check attendant didn’t micromanage us.

Travel Log: Day 342 (6/4), Spain

Our beach walk this morning was unusual, as almost nobody was on the beach because it was cloudy. We walked through nude-row and it was only the hardcore fully nude old dudes out there today.

Besides going to the gym I don’t think I really went out of the Airbnb. I did Duolingo and Dreaming Spanish, and also looked at cars quite a bit.

Travel Log: Day 343 (6/5), Spain

It was cool out today, so JC and I skipped the beach walk and I went straight to the gym after we had coffee. The gym continued to be pretty light on people. The pretty people count is just staggering there, unlike any gym I ever recall being at. There were 26 total people in the main lifting area. Of those, 11 were women, with 8 of them smokin’ hot and the other 3 still normal attractive. They aren’t even all young with the benefit of youth. Some were approaching my age. I’m not sure exactly what it is about Barcelona but holy crap it collects beautiful people.

I made another round of changes to YAL, allowing the learner to choose the language they speak. The only option right now is english but that will change soon. This just lays the ground work for more changes.

AC and I went for a walk in the afternoon. I did Duolingo and Dreaming Spanish again. I seem to be able to follow the intermediate videos on there now, and have switched away from beginner content in favor of those.

JC and I didn’t drink much tonight. We went for a walk and visited the church really close to our neighborhood called Santa Maria De La Mar. I sat there for a while just trying to imagine how they built it, with all the stone walls, columns, and arches.

Travel Log: Day 344 (6/6), Spain

I ran this morning despite still having a cough, and it went much better than expected. Coughing wasn’t a problem at all and I had the best pace of any run this gap year.

JC and I went walking around the gothic quarter and we saw a really incredible street performance. It was a guy with a huge heavy metal ring that he did cartwheeled inside and did all sorts of crazy tricks. We tipped him 4 euros.

I made another round of changes to YAL, allowing Spanish speakers to learn English phrases.

We also went on a date night, and our strategy was to start in the tightest circle possible to our Airbnb and work our way out until we found somewhere to go. We ended up at the place near us that always has a line called Paradiso. It was actually really cool because you go in and have to open a refrigerator door to go into the bar. We had a couple expensive drinks that were pretty good, and chatted with an English guy who lives in Hong Kong and works in the bar business.

After that bar we walked all the way to the beach, and then back toward our Airbnb to Mr Robinson where we had another drink. It was pretty full when we got there, and got more packed as the night went on. The people watching was really good, and we were among the oldest people there. Nothing will make you feel old like being out in the party scene of Barcelona. We left around 11pm and ate dinner at home.

Travel Log: Day 345 (6/7), Spain

After our evening of partying I slept like crap. It set the stage for a pretty low energy day. JC and I walked to the beach in the morning, and then we took an evening walk. I didn’t leave the Airbnb beyond that.

I spent more time looking at cars, trying to dial in on what exactly we’re looking for in a Corolla. Something with about 70K miles might be the sweet spot of not paying too much, and not buying too many car miles, while still having a nice car.

I emailed the building department where we live to see if we need a permit to tear out the pony wall. Also did a fair amount of Spanish work between Duo, Dreaming, and YAL.