20. Dali, Barcelona, Heading Home

What else is there to do on a 10-hour plane ride but reflect on the past couple of days and type into a computer?! We’re flying back to Asheville, NC, now somewhere over the Atlantic. Yesterday started early in Quillan after we’d dragged all our packed bags and the bike downstairs for loading. Wait, it was also Wednesday, which means Market Day in Quillan, ergo the Coffee Truck would be in town! We met there with Paulita and Earl for one last round of pastry and coffee and conversation. Nothing great lasts forever, that’s for sure… so we bid goodbyes and agreed this would not be a long parting. Hopefully. we’ll get together in Florida or North Carolina sometime this year. If not, a future trip back to Quillan is not out of the question! 




After loading up the car in front of our rental house, and getting a last group photo, we hit the road. At Paulita’s suggestion, we lit out for Figueroa, Spain to visit the Dali Museum, before going to Barcelona for the night. The drive was pleasant, scenery impressive as always, and Lynn got one last look at her favorite house in France as we drove by. 



Figueroa gave us practice driving in a crowded urban setting again; it seems lots of folks were going to the Museum today. A few wrong turns, some REALLY tight driving incidents, and we finally found the public parking lot. Once again, it reminded us why most Europeans drive tiny cars, as the parking spaces were packed tight, but there was no alternative. We parked, we walked, then, of course we ate! Found an outdoor Italian-esque restaurant near the parking garage, run by a Arabian guy who spoke a few languages and was looking for his cat. He set us up with a unique pepperoni pizza for lunch. Delicious, with super thin crispy crust, and local pepperoni sliced in long (not  round) shapes. Fun start to our Museum visit.


The Dali Museum  was close at hand. Once inside we were basically blown away by Dali’s imagination, and countless bizarre works of his art. What a prolific artist! Our photos don’t begin to do the pieces justice. We wandered agape for a couple of hours, determined to learn more about Dali and his life when we go home. This was an amazing stop on our travels! Anyhow, we took LOTS of photos which I'll include as a separate blog post, probably number 21.
First look Dali Museum interior is mind-blowing1

We finally made it into Barcelona, found the airport hotel, had a fantastic early supper, and crashed for the night. Early next morning (today) we launched ourselves into the hotel’s huge breakfast buffet, then drove to the airport where I dropped off Lynn with the luggage and bike. I returned the rental car to the hidden Alamo rental office nearby, then walked this huge sprawling terminal and found Lynn in time to dump our luggage, find our gate, and spend our last 7.50 Euros on some chocolate to sustain us on the return flight! 


That’s about all for this trip. Dali photos coming tomorrow. Thanks for reading along with us! 

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