Day 9 - Back to Barcelona and a private Mosaic Class - The Bishop/Kalinowski/Olsen Tour

We said goodbye to Andalucia bright and early, catching the 9:30 flight up to Barcelona. After transferring back to the hotel, the remainder of the morning was at leisure to relax and unwind a bit after the last few days of travel. At 4:30 we met once more, this time for what had been one of the most anticipated events (at least for Jean) of the entire trip: The Mosaic Course at Can Manetes, in the seaside town of Mataro. The ladies were met at the shop by Elna, who had prepared an afternoon's introduction to mosaic for them. For about three hours they learned about and how to create their own mosaics, which of course they would be keeping upon completion.  For more information and pictures about their experience, check out the Can Manetes Blog.

The gentlemen and I went for on a cultural exploration of the town. Mataro is a city that actually predates Barcelona. It's Roman origins as Iluro can still be seen at the recently recovered Roman Baths, and the destination of the first railway in spain, which went from Barcelona to Mataro in 1848. It was also home to Puig i Cadafalch, one of Modernisme's  most famous architects. Gaudi has a presence here as well, as we saw one of his earlier works which he used as a trial for the development of what would become his signature archway. A walk through the town included the 17th century Saint Mary's Basilica, where you can still see the previous, 11th-century Romanesque church's bell tower behind the "new" facade. After a walk, the guys took advantage of the free time to sample a couple of the best examples from the emerging Catalan microbrew market at The Drunk Monk, as well as to admire the beer list that Sven has compiled.

Upon returning to the rest of the group, we all went out for an enjoyable night of tapas at one of the best local establishments, and even got Steve Kalinowski's birthday cake surprise, complete with a dimming of the lights and a happy birthday song!

For more information on planning your own private guided tour in Spain, contact The Spanish Touch at 888-480-0013.