We are in barcelona now! We arrived yesterday at 815am, picked up our luggage and took the Aerobus to Placa Catalunya. The bus was easy to take. Only 5.05 per person, plenty of room for the luggage and not crowded at all. The Pratik Ramblas is 2 blocks from Placa Catalunya. We took a few wrong turns before we headed the right way, so I thought that I would share what I learned. When you get off the aerobus, look around you until you are facing a lárge tan colored building (Banca de Espana de Credito). Ramblas Catalunya will be to the left of that building. Walk up almost 2 blocks and the Pratik is on the left hand side of the street before the end of the 2nd block. It is right past the restaurant Piscolabis. Le Meridien is one block the other way from Placa Catalunya, you can reach it by turning towards the Samsung sign on top of a large white building and heading towards the right side of the building.
We bought a 2 day HOHO ticket, rode around all afternoon of the first day just to stay awake. Today we used it to check out the Sagrada Familia. We were there just after 9am and the line was around the block, so we just took pictures from the outside. It´s pretty amazing. Next we stopped in Barri Goti, visited Santa Maria del Mar, which is a really beautiful church dedicated to the sailors. We had a great lunch in Eñ Born, then walked through the alleyways of Barri Gotic before ending up in Las Ramblas. DH hled tight to his very big Nikon and I made sure my hand was near my shoulder bag. Nothing bad happened. The street is crowded with tourists and street performers, so it can be easy to be distracted, but I didn´t see any one looking suspicious. There were a lot of police present.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Parc Guell using the no. 24 bus from Placa Catalunya. I bought tickets for the Opera and Flamenco concert at Palau de Musica Catalana.
The weather is identical to So. California. Mid to high 70´s in the day, cool at night. You´ll need a light jacket or sweater at night.
The Pratik is a very interesting hotel. The building is old and very beautiful, newly renovated using a lot of dark colors. Our room is small and has one window looking into a center core open to the sky. It is warm with no cross ventilation or AC. The bed is good with great pillows. The bathroom is dark green tile with black countops. The wifi is intermittent. I can´t seem to connect on my ipod touch or my laptop so I am using the one computer they have set up in the hallway.
More tomorrow. Someone is patiently waiting.
I told my husband I want to retire close to a Navy air base so I can hear that every day. 
