Yay-dah: Lleida

Due to some unforseen circumstances - JCB's client decided not to pay for our third night at the 5 Star Hotel in Barcelona - we have adjusted our itinerary. A little frustrating, yes; we found out pretty last minute, and by that time, we couldn't go back and see all the things in Barcelona we weren't going to get to see. But challenge is really just more opportunity, right? 

So instead of having a crazy night out in Barcelona on Saturday, we packed our bags, rented our car, and started driving to Lleida. That's right, Lleida. We hadn't heard of it before, either. But it was about halfway between Barcelona and Zaragoza, and we were able to score a 4-star hotel room for 64 Euros, so why not?

Well, yay for Lledia. Even though the town was virtually dead on a Saturday night, JCB and I managed to find the one happening restaurant: La Masia. The place resembled the nursing homes at which I used to tap dance as a kid. Carpeted floor, large circular tables, a coat rack on wheels, and a television on a stool in the corner. Add to it that all the tables were flanked by middle-aged Spaniards smoking like chimneys and toasting to life, JCB and I were quite sure we had invaded a family reunion. 

But we were received warmly. We're not sure an American had ever set foot in La Masia before. Our waiters spoke Catlan. Our menus were in Catalan. So I was speaking Spanish to the waiter speaking Catalan, but I wasn't even sure what I was saying. 

Nevertheless, I found a seafood dish to eat. I settled on it only because the waiter confirmed that none of the fish in the dish would have heads or eyes. JCB settled on a lamb chop. We saw a lot of feet on the menu, but when the waiter said, "Baaaaaaaah" and pointed to his leg, we figured he'd be OK. Not to my surprise, though, the food was fabulous. 

Delightfully full, we went back to the hotel, and slept soundly. Finally! We woke early, had some breakfast, and headed to a Catholic Cathedral turned Muslim Mosque turned Fortress turned turist attraction. It was a sight - just see the picture at left. And would you believe it, "This church has a bar!"

We walked around the grounds, both inside and out, and took a lot of pictures. The combination of the Muslim and Catholic influences in the archictecture was what I found to be most interesting. We made our way into a chapel and found a group of people celebrating what I thought was mass. However, we soon realized it wasn't mass, mostly because we noticed that one of the men on the altar was presenting a sword to the congregation. Loco!

After a quick stop at the bar (for coffee, although had we wanted, we could have had a shot of tequila) we were on the road again, headed to Zaragoza. Lleida, our unexpected, delightful surprise excursion, forever in our hearts.