Stop Holding My Breath

So much for the end of year - again. You'd think that I'd have lots to post about, since I'm a fan of sending holiday cards, but this year was, in the words of my grandmother, a "clutter-f".

I sent far fewer cards this year, in part because I took a trip in the middle of the month. I spent 5 days in Barcelona, a city I'd visited before, to watch the Grand Prix Final of figure skating. Yes, I traveled to Europe for less than a week to sit in an ice rink. That's what I do. I did get some exploring done, however, and I was so proud of myself for writing and mailing postcards while I was there. I made sure that the stamps I got were for international mailing, and consulted my travel book (and the maintenance guy at my hostel) to find a proper post box. I was already envisioning the post I would write once they were received.

Well, it's been 6 weeks, and I'm ready to admit defeat. No one has received any postcards from me from Spain, despite my best efforts. I was holding on to the outside hope that mail from Europe is just sloooooow, but I'm pretty sure the postcards from Beijing only took about 2 weeks. Sigh.

Here are the postcards that people would have received, had any arrived in the US:

This is the pier at the end of La Rambla, a bustling tourist destination. In 2011, I stayed in this area (mistake!), and spent way too much time in the mall on water in the modern photo, because they had free wifi and very few other places did. I was relieved to find that wifi is now plentiful in Barcelona. The smaller tower in the back is the start of a cable car up to the Parc de Montjuïc.

Posing the postcard on my Barcelona travel guide is a nice touch, no?

Another sight that I visited in 2011 but not on this trip - Antoni Gaudí's beautiful Parc Güell. If only all urban public spaces were so gorgeously designed!