Somebody Stole my Strawberries!

And I even had them labeled "Parisa: 21/4/2010", per hostel refrigerator protocol (name: departure date). And these were not just any strawberries, but plump and gorgeous berries that I picked up from the Boqueria off La Rambla. Humph.

You see friends, I am stuck in Barcelona and will be here until the skies clear up and air traffic in Europe resumes. Buses and trains are booked solid for another week and the situation looks unclear for flights. Yes, there are far worse places to be stranded than Barcelona, but my parents are visiting Zurich on Thursday (my mom's first time to Europe!) and I was really looking forward to showing them around.

Ignoring that small issue, this change of plans has given me more time to explore Barcelona, admire the Gothic and modern architecture, and practice some Spanish. So I'm not really complaining for myself, but it's crazy how many people this has impacted and left stranded on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Just as announcements yesterday were made that airports would start to resume operations, new reports are being made of another ash cloud on the rise. I'm interested to see the economic impact after everything (including the volcano) calms down. I'd earlier speculated that this volcano's sudden eruption was Iceland's planned attempt to bring down the rest of the EU economy, one airline at a time, but now I prefer an alternate Tweet I read yesterday... Iceland's last wish: to have its ashes scattered all over Europe.