Last night a man pick pocketed me, but I caught him. We had a potluck at one of the group of students' apartments, with everyone bringing their leftovers since we all fly out on Sunday. A student presentation followed as they were to do a week long urban design study of Barcelona at a regional, district and site level. I returned home by a late night Metro and within 50' of exiting the station, a man unzipped both my backpack zippers to rob me. The street light showed a shadow of someone too close to me for being midnight with the few people on the street. I turned around, put out my arm, and yelled at the man (who was nearly by my shoulder at that point), "Stop! You are scaring me!" Not until I arrived at the door of my apartment did I realize he had unzipped me while I fast-paced walked. Fortunately, my potluck dinner remains were in a grocery bag over my wallet and camera, so nothing was stolen. The experience, however, confirmed my belief that I don't like traveling alone. I prefer sharing the experience. I also don't like feeling vulnerable. Tonight, one of the guys in the group walked me home--ironically he was pick pocketed today, and caught the guy, too. He felt violated as I did, but never vulnerable. Sometimes I wish I was male.
Despite the difficult evening, the day was a good one. I went to the Miro Museum which has the best collection of Joan Miro art in the world--Miro is a Barcelona native. The work was inclusive of his entire career and I spent hours looking at his paintings and sculptures. Exiting the museum, which is high on the hills by the Olympic site, gardens terrace down the slopes. This is the first city we've visited where the parks do not have turf grass. Finally. Mediterranean design should not have turf grass as it is an incompatible plant with only 15" of rain a year. What makes these parks/gardens so beautiful is the lush use of evergreen shrubs. I am reading Washington Irvings'
Tales of the Alhambra (1820) and this British author describes the southern Spanish landscape as "desert." San Luis Obispo shares the same ecology as eastern and southern Spain--low water--so these models are providing great inspiration to me.
I met most of the students in front of the Cathedral as a traditional Catalan dance is performed on Saturday nights--a dance which the rest of Spain laughs at. However, this dance is supposed to bring a patriot tear to the Catalan eye as its performance is a reminder of Catalonia cultural separation from Spain. I joined the students afterwards for a paella and sangria dinner on the waterfront. Delicious.
Despite the difficult evening, the day was a good one. I went to the Miro Museum which has the best collection of Joan Miro art in the world--Miro is a Barcelona native. The work was inclusive of his entire career and I spent hours looking at his paintings and sculptures. Exiting the museum, which is high on the hills by the Olympic site, gardens terrace down the slopes. This is the first city we've visited where the parks do not have turf grass. Finally. Mediterranean design should not have turf grass as it is an incompatible plant with only 15" of rain a year. What makes these parks/gardens so beautiful is the lush use of evergreen shrubs. I am reading Washington Irvings' Tales of the Alhambra (1820) and this British author describes the southern Spanish landscape as "desert." San Luis Obispo shares the same ecology as eastern and southern Spain--low water--so these models are providing great inspiration to me. 
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