On Tuesday, we started the day out at the Barcelona Olympic complex to see the Calatrava Radio Tower and the Jardi Botanicos Barcelona - a fairly new botanical garden designed by a local Barcelona design firm that included different sections devoted to plants from areas around the world with the same climate as Barcelona. We then went to visit the famous Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Mies van der Rohe and on permanent display near the Museu Nacional d'Art de...

My first experience in a sleeper train was, at the least, an interesting one. Sleeping on a carpet covered slab of wood isn't my best idea for fun, but suspend 6 such slabs from the wall, three on either side, with about 2 feet clearance between them and you have a world of entertainment. It really wasn't too bad, though. We arrived yesterday morning in Barcelona, parked our luggage in the train lockers, and went to find where we would be meeting our next profess...