The Wallen Street Journal

Tom woke up and left while I was sleeping. I still needed to catch up on sleep. I woke at 10:30 and headed out an hour later. After first stopping at a local bagel shop for lunch I took the subway to the Placa de Catalunya, or Plaza de Catalan. There were many tourists there, so I felt more in place. I just wandered around the narrow streets called Ramblas, admiring the old buildings. After about 3 hours of this, I bought a delicious ice cream cone and headed back to the hotel to rest my feet. I'll wait for Tom to get back to go to dinner. One thing that sticks out to me is the number of children here. When traveling to China last year to get Jade, I was surprised to not see any children, almost none whatsoever. No babies, nothing. Here, there are many parents with small children and pushing strollers with babies. Very nice to see. I posted photos in the last post.

The street in front of our hotel The man on the elephant is real, in a costume, talking to passersby. The people on these animals are real also, asking for donations from those taking photos. The market The side of Barcelona Cathedral A narrow street Cathedral from a distance Violinist in the street Narrow street The Plaza Catalunya Pigeons on the plaza (This photo is for Jade who likes birds.)

I made it. I am actually in the hotel room. Here is how it happened. After my last post from the airport, I wandered around looking for a drinking fountain. There aren't any in Terminal 1. I bravely asked a group of security guards who were chatting together where I could find a water fountain. I should have known better. One of the men said there is a beautiful fountain at Buckingham Palace, at least that's what he had heard. I smiled and asked for a drinking fountain a little closer than Buckingham Palace, and they confessed they did not know. How does one say "drinking fountain" in England? I did not look that one up. I walked around and found none. But I did find a coffee shop open where I could buy juice with American dollars. Isn't it coincidental that the pound has reached a 26-year high against the dollar. The Euro is up, too. Just in time for us to exchange money. Photos of the empty terminal. Notice the sleepers on benches. I read DIckens for a few hou...

Can you spell "misfit"? That is what I feel like here in Heathrow Airport. I forgot my sari at home! This is very difficult for an introvert like me. That is why it should be obvious to all that God is with me. When I woke up this morning, I pretty much did not want to. I have never appreciated early morning flights and this morning, with all the airport unknowns ahead of me, I tried unsuccessfully to talk myself into staying home. Rose very kindly drove me to the aiport by 5:30 am and American Airlines let me on the plane. The plane was 10 minutes delayed and upon arriving at O'Hare, waited on the runway 10 more minutes, making me nervous about having only 1 hour between flights. I began walking briskly toward my gate and walked right on without using the restroom. That is unheard of for me. I then learned that I had the middle seat in the section of 5 seats in the middle of the aircraft. Tom knows it is very difficult for me to ask people to move for me, and I am somewh...

Well, this is not actually the beginning. I have tried to design a family website for a couple of years and just cannot make it work efficiently. I am going to try the blogger route to see if it meets my needs. One reason for trying this route is that Tom and I are going to Spain next week and I would like my children to follow our trip with photos and daily posts. So, here is yet another attempt at participating in cyber communication. Enjoy! (or not!)