Barcelona reminded me a lot of Huntington Beach, in a weird way. Not that the architecture, or even the language was similar, but the attitude of the people. It's a beach town, and they have the same kind mentality in that way. It was a nice feeling, because I was at home there almost immediately.
We got there Thursday night, and as soon as we dropped our bags off we went out with our hostel to a club on the beach. I like going out with the hostels because they take you places you wouldn't normally go, because you don't know they exist. It was interesting to see a wide variety of people, because everyone goes to clubs in Spain, and a lot of ages intermingle together, dancing to mostly American music. I thought it was great for people watching, especially when the older men started dancing.
On Friday we did the Gaudi tour of Barcelona. Gaudi was an architect in the 20's who built these amazing buildings that are part fairy tale and beautiful. It's easy to tell what he built because it's so different than anything I've ever seen. I couldn't believe that someone could actually build things that like. Everything was very surreal. The first place we went was Casa Mila, an apartment building. So beautiful. The apartments themselves were pretty normal, but the flow of the rooms were great. The outside is what caught most people's attention, because everything was either painted or sculpted. The rooftop terrace was like being in a sculpture garden, with a great view of Barcelona.
After that we walked to Park Guell, a public park Gaudi did. The entrance has houses that look like they're from Hanzel and Gretel. Everything was so beautiful, and at the same time I felt like I was in Disneyland. Bizarre.
That night we got tapas, which I think we need to start doing more in the States. I'm definitely figuring out how to make Patatas Bravas (we had them with almost every meal). I like how Spain and Italy do meals--its really relaxed, and the waiters don't bother you. It can be a little frustrating when you're trying to get the check and you can't find anyone, but I like it anyway.
Saturday we went to the markets down on Las Ramblas and poked around for awhile. They're pretty incredible in their scope. There's this one, called the Boqueteria, that is huge, and it's all food. On the streets, they sell pets, like chickens, roosters, chinchillas, turtles, chipmunks...everything. I wish I could have spent more time there, but the people I was with wanted to siesta (because we were leaving our hostel around 4:30 in the morning to catch our flight) so we left pretty early. After our nap, we went to the Picasso museum. It was pretty cool, but there wasn't anything in it that I recognized. It was more about seeing his work as a whole, as it changed.
That night we got paella at a restaurant off the Ramblas. It was really funny because the cook served us, and when he came to clear the plates, he yelled at us in Spanish because we didn't eat it all (not real yelling, just like, an Italian mother yelling) and I was the only one who could really speak back to him, so I tried to make nice. He got distracted by a huge group of older Scottish men, so we were off the hook for awhile. We were also much better customers because we didn't fuss about anything like the Scottish men did. As we were getting up to leave, one of the Scottish guys tried to talk to me in Spanish, but I couldn't understand him because of the accent, so I was like, "I speak English...I'm American" and he started laughing. He thought we were Spanish. Then I got the usual interrogation about what I was doing in Europe, but it was okay because all the guys were really funny and a little drunk.
That was pretty much the trip in a nutshell. It was a lot of fun, mostly relaxing, and a lot of art. I'd like to go back in the summer when the beaches are open. Maybe I will, someday.
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