Not an early riser this morning, I went down to breakfast at 9:00 desperate for one of Lorenzo’s lattes’. They are addictive, and yet I know if I bought an espresso machine and made my own, it wouldn’t be the same. I’m going to need to go home to get some rest from my vacation! I always just want to pack so much in, I get exhausted. I felt tired today. So instead of sensibly staying around Hampstead, I decided to go to Hampton Court, spend a couple of hours on the Tube & train and walk all day.  Lorenzo suggested the train to Hampton instead of taking a boat…

Up early and headed to the airport by 8:00 this morning. The hotel owner, Abel drove me and we had such a nice visit. He is originally from Cuba, so that was fun to talk about.  If you aren’t from Florida, it may not make sense, but I have always been frustrated by the embargo and the fact that I cannot travel to Cuba. It is closer than Atlanta, but out of reach for me. My aunt spent her honeymoon there and it was not unusual for folks to fly over from Florida for a nice vacation. I hope, in my lifetime that will change. Anyway…I was so caught up…

Today I was up and out by 8:00 a.m.and, taking the subway this time, back to the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotti). I had signed up to take a cooking class and we had to be there by 9:45 a.m. Even with my exquisite sense of direction, (I walked a few blockes the wrong way when I exited the subway station – pretty standard for me) I got to where I needed to be in time to have a cup of coffee and a croissant before going into the class. The company is called “Cook & Taste” and I saw it recommended on TripAdvisor for things to do in Barcelona. It’s…

I started my day with breakfast on the terrace. Isn’t this the most elegant setting? It was just coffee, juice and pastries but somehow tasted better presented like this. The birds sang to me the whole time.Very pleasant.       Then I set off to walk the length of La Rambla which is a long (1 ½ mile) tree-line boulevard, lined with vendors of all sorts but mostly flowers and souvenirs.         Despite the English similarity, La Rambla doesn’t mean “to ramble” although that is what you do. It actually comes from the Arabic times and means “dry river bed”.  When the Barcelonans took over in…