Barcelona, Spain, 27th September 2011

After all the walking the past week, and the desire to just sit and chill out somewhere, today, will be my lazy day. How I really need this. 10am and I'm still in bed. Ömer is still sleeping. I'll let him be. The moment he wakes up he would want to have his long never-ending walks. Yesterday I managed to slow down a little. In the morning, Ömer took me out to the Marina. It would be nice if it was cooler. We walked there and along the way just walked through some ancient looking town/neighbourhood. There was a big church in the town and we went in to have a look. Another grand catholic church it turned out to be. In the same category as the ones I saw in Rome. Anyway, I still went around looking at the altars and paintings. Then we walked to the Marina through the historical looking roads. It felt like walking through time if not for the modern clothes the people were wearing. I was imagining myself in one of the areas in Universal Studio. While we have to pay to enter Universal Studio, these people are living in it. Then the Marina. The afternoon sun was really hot. I was in my normal get-up, my cap and shades. I bought a new pair of shades in Rome after the last one broke and the fear that it might not be protecting my eyes from the UV light anymore after I had my migraine. I bought my cap at €4 from a Bangladeshi shop. €1 discount after he learned that I am a Muslim. Then we went to McDonald's at the Marina for our fish fillet meal. And free wifi! I took the opportunity to check my email and facebook. Then we walked back home to check on Erhan. After the previous night, Erhan had decided to just sleep in in the morning saying that he was not feeling well. Erhan was having too many things in his head at the moment. In the evening when I was with him, he was eating more than normal. He said it was his way to overcome the emotions of the moment. Amber lights on... PLAÇA ESPANYA We went to Plaça Espanya in the afternoon after our nap. We went up to another rooftop and had a view of the city. I've had quite a number of these rooftop visits for this trip so it was like just another one of them. But I still took some pictures. After that we went to see the Art Museum. The museum itself was closed so we just sat outside for ice cream and some pastries. Ömer went on to walk to the castle up the hill but I thought I've had enough walking in the morning and I just wanted to sit somewhere. After Ömer left, I suggested watching a movie to Erhan but most of the shows turned out to be in Spanish. So we changed our mind and decided to go to the Marina. And we picked up Erhan's handphone along the way. ERHAN WAS HARRASSED On the way up the museum, a group of three Spanish ladies approached us for donations for the handicap (so they claimed). But they were so aggressive. Ömer as usual ignored them. Erhan stopped to sign his name but it turned out that the signature was also an unwritten agreement to contribute some money. He didn't want to but the lady didn't budge. So Erhan took out his wallet to get some coins out. The moment they saw his wallet, they all ran to him and won't let him go. One of them even went as far as trying to snatch the notes in his wallet. He got so angry he just pushed the lady away.  I only saw him pushing so I was surprised by his behaviour. Then he told me what happened and I thought he did what was right. After Erhan, they came for me. I said no and walked off. NICE MUSIC While I was at McDonald's and in the shopping mall, they were playing some nice pop songs. I would like to buy a music CD in Barcelona but I couldn't find a music CD shop. DÖNER SHOP - HALAL? Near the Marina, there was a Döner shop and there was a halal sign at the entrance. Ömer usually looked for these before eating. He normally wouldn't ask so he relied on theses signs. And also if they were selling beer or other alcoholic drinks. If there were alcoholic drinks it would probably not be halal. The owner could not be trusted. Anyway, this shop with the halal sign, they didn't sell that many diffrrent types of drinks. Just Coke, and a few others. Among the drinks, I thought I saw this red coloured can that I understood was beer. They were selling it at the concert and people were drinking it in the streets. So when I saw the cans in a halal shop, I assumed that was not beer. I couldn't bring myself to scrutinize the can. Furthermore, there was a can of 0% alcohol beer in the same fridge so I assumed that if it was beer it would be 0% alcohol. Then we went to a supermercat to buy some snacks and drinks and I saw the same red-canned drinks. I checked it and there it was written in small prints: larger beer. So... How halal is a halal shop? Here I think Erhan's way of asking to find out is better than relying solely on signs - written and unwritten...