God hates skirts

So Josh and I borrowed a guidebook to Barcelona from Andrei´s house on our way out. The problem with the guidebook is that it´s in French, which neither of us really know. So far not being able to read the guidebook carefully has only caused one problem.

One of the exciting things for tourists to see in Barcelona is the huge Gothic cathedral in the Barri Gotic. Since it´s a Catholic church, I thought it would be fun to go to Mass today. Wanting to be more respectful than usual, I decided to wear a dress instead of jeans. Specifically this one .

I think it´s a reasonably classy dress given the constraints of being a backpacker.

The security guard (!!) stopped me at the door and pointed to a graphic that had a woman with a short skirt crossed out and another woman with a long skirt, not crossed out. ¨"No minis," he said. Josh tried to argue that my skirt wasn´t really a mini, but this guy meant business. He was turning away women young and old whose skirts were above the knee. Apparently, God doesn´t like my knees. Or anyone else´s.

We did eventually make it to Mass in the evening after I changed into jeans. I feel my dress was more respectful than my jeans and tshirt but whatever.

Oddly enough, later in the day Josh wanted to visit the old synagogue. We looked all around and finally found ourselves standing with two French dudes in front of the site where we all thought it would be. Here, the guidebook did come in handy! They read the entry for the synagogue and determined that it was in the process of being converted into a restaurant? I was a little shaky on the details but the point was that we couldn´t go inside.

In any event, Josh and I are having a great time in Barcelona despite BOTH having been denied entry to our respective houses of worship.