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On With Our Trip.....

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After the wonderful experience with Mission Mini, I left the Ritz Carlton by the ocean and moved into Hotel Bel Air, a 4-star hotel (but MUCH different that the 5-star Ritz) deep in the Catalonian neighborhood. I went to the airport to surprise Tommy by picking him up but missed him by 5 or 10 minutes because I went to the wrong terminal. So, I paid another 20 Euros and took another taxi back to the hotel where he was waiting for me.

My teammates all decided to stay a few extra days as well (origianlly, only Kendall was going to stay 2 extra days in Barcelona). They all decided to rent one room from the same hotel that Tommy and I were staying at. Because of the generous business class ticket provided by Mini, changing the departure date was a piece of cake. We took it easy that night, had dinner and went touring down La Ramblas for some souvenirs.

The next day, 4 in the morning to be exact, Brooks knocked on our door saying there was a couple of inches of water in their bathroom from a leak in the ceiling! The hallway carpet was also soaked. I was half asleep as they went down to the lobby to ask what was going on. As they complained to the front desk, the hotel personnel assure them that everything was fine and there is no need to worry, the lobby ceiling caved in and almost hit people on the head!! Brooks, Kendall and Brian were moved to a hotel room in a different wing of the hotel. Their stay that night was free.

The recovery was only seen by Tommy and I as my teammates all left after a couple of days. They were so efficient, it was amazing. That same afternoon, the insurance guy had shown up to look at the damage, and that afternoon, most carpets were cleaned. The next day, they had started repairing the ceiling. By the afternoon of the second day, the hole in the ceiling was mended and the entire ceiling and wall were painted as if nothing had happened.

The hole in the ceiling	The view from our room	After the leak, no one could sleep, so we took the opportunity to take some early photos of Sagrada Familia
Pretty street lamp on the way to Sagrada Familia	A Mini Cooper Club we discovered on our way to dinner.	Many Mini's were getting worked on there
The many many toy Mini's in the Mini garage	More Mini toys	After dinner, Brooks, Kendall, Brian and I went to La Ramblas. On the way, we saw Viagra ice-cream!
Floor plan of Casa Vicens - a tile merchant	Notes on Casa Vicens	Winnie peaking into the basement window