Madrid to Barcelona

Ellie woke up much better. We went out for coffee and to buy her a second new toothbrush. We packed up, left our bags at the hostal, and went out for churros and chocolate.
Then we split up...Phil went in search of the Egyptian temple and Ellie and I were going to the botanical garden, but instead got her hair cut for tomorrow's graduation, and wandered around. We got some amazing recommended sandwiches to bring on the train. The rest of the afternoon is back in Barcelona. Our Airbnb is in someone's home and is lovely.

This evening did not end the way I anticipated. Isabel, Ellie's counselor, who helped her escape from the Dursleys, invited us to dinner in Mataro, where Ellie lives, about 40 minutes outside of Barcelona. She invited Trini as well. We arrived in Mataro and it was Isabel, Trini, Lily, the other exchange student, Trini's daughter and boyfriend, and Isabel's husband and adult son. We waited through the town to a particular restaurant that served sandwiches... But was at the gym where they practice castells...the competitive human towers that Catalonians still do. They make human towers 7 people high, and sometimes 20 people deep. The key people build a tower, standing in each other's shoulders, with small kids in helmets at the top. The rest of the crowd offer support by pressing against them to strengthen the tower. We watched this amazing sport before and during dinner, and the after, they invited us to join. We had our torsos wrapped in cloth to strengthen our core, hung out glasses on a rack, and were put in particular spots based on our height and weight. We were told that under no circumstances were we to look up, and brace against the person in front either with hands on their back or hands along their outstretched arms. We all became part of one strong unit. It was amazing to feel that sense of being part of this multigenerational group. After two rounds, we listened to the motivational speech (in Catalan), and then our friends rushed us to meet the 11pm train back to Barcelona.
And here we are"helping".
So we did not do much, but it was so kind of the group let us experience it and feel like we were contributing!

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