Barcelona - Church, Besos, Great city views

Church * Catalan Music Palace * Harbor * Castle

We knew we were headed the right way to church this morning when about 10 people in Sunday clothes jumped on our metro train.   (Nobody was on the street this morning at 8:15 - let alone in church clothes)  We pegged them for Mormons immediately.  Eric talked to them and they were from Peru.  It's a good thing the church has so many members from South America here to sustain it - the church would really be struggling in Spain if it weren't for the Latinos.  The ward today was probably 75% Latinos.  It was the biggest ward and ward building yet.  Complete with pews (not chairs) and a gym with stage.  The building was bustling with people before and after chatting and being too loud just like in SL.  There were 45 ladies in RS and 11 girls in YW.  Charlie's class had half a dozen kids.  His teacher taught the lesson in the Catalan language though.  I didn't realize what a distinct difference there is between Catalunya and Spain.  Even though we're still in Spain, you'd think we'd left he country because here they fly the Catalunya flag - not the Spanish flag.  All the signs, billboards, menus, websites, etc are in Catalan, not Spanish.  Even the outside of the church has it's name in Catalan next to Spanish.  Stewart finds it frustrating that he can't understand these Spaniards when they are speaking Catalan.  Although everyone speaks Spanish, they prefer Catalan.

I should add here that a super sweet 17 year old boy named Eduardo translated Sunday School for the girls.  After church he road the metro home with us and after Maren and he exchanged Instagram accounts asked Maren if in America they shake hands or do the beso.  She of course said shake hands, and oh well - she missed her chance.  (He then did a follow-up message asking if he could hang with her tomorrow before our family leaves Barcelona - she's flattered, but "has plans").

Later this afternoon (after a nice dinner and nice nap), we went out on a walk around some interesting parts of the city.  First we saw the Catalan Music Hall, another example of modernista architecture. We tried to get into the Picasso Museum because it was free Sunday, but so was everyone else in town, so we skipped it.  We wandered down to the harbor to watch the boats and then took a funicular tram up to the top of the Castle that overlooks the city.  The castle was built in the 1700s with canons pointed toward the Catalonians to remind them not to rebel against Spain.  There were great views of the big ships in the harbor and the planes landing at the nearby airport as well as the city.  Barcelona is a pretty city with the ocean on one side and green mountains on the other.  I'm putting it down as a city that merits another visit.  

this is NOT a statue
Fun on the Ramblas

at the top of the castle