Curiouser and curiouser

What  an interesting 24 hours. No game at Camp Nou, at least not for us to view yesterday. The football club tried to cancel altogether and the League would not allow it. The opposing team, just to throw fuel on the fire, had special shirts made for the game that bore a small Spanish national flag, and the Barcelona team marched onto the field in a shirt bearing the stripes of the resistance before changing into their regular uniforms. But we were not there to see it; the game went on "behind closed doors", not even shown on TV unless I suppose one had a subscription to it? Over the course of the day, hundreds of Catalonians were brutalized by the Spanish police in attempts to vote; the scenes on local, national and international television were horrifying. I decided to experience a traditional Hammam in effort to calm myself and find a new way to allocate the time. 

That too was a unique experience; the Turkish baths here are co-ed, with all wearing "bathing suits", which for many of the young women were simply thongs. Many young couples were not openly engaging in coitus, but were quite openly petting. Not what one would find in the US, I think, but again, I was under no threat and it was interesting. 

Tomorrow we had been scheduled for a wine tasting day in the countryside of Penedes, where there are Cava wineries, organically producing the local bubbly, and I was eager to learn more about the stuff, but now there is a general strike declared. It is not expected to be safe on the roads, many wineries and restaurants will be closed and we will not be going on that journey after all. I don't know what we will find here in town, whether busses will run or if museums will be open, but somehow it will all be interesting, I'm sure! May we all be safe.