BARCELONA

As a last minute trip and probably the last time I will see my friend Juliet we took a few days to explore another city in Spain. Although one thing I learned while there it that it is very different than the rest of Spain, because of the fact that it's Catalunya (Cataluña in castellano).

We had been planning to visit Barcelona at some point for a trip just the two of us since meeting each other in September. The plan was originally that we would go for a few days in Semana Santa but that ended up falling through the cracks. Then when I was in San Sebastián for the Rotary conference I mentioned to the head of our district, which includes Barcelona, that a friend and I had been trying to visit there for a few days but that without some Rotary connection we couldn't go. She said that her mansion is actually outside the city and for the days we wanted she wouldn't be there - one rotary thing in Spain, home for a day to get her hair done and a manicure then to the US for a world Rotary conference - but that she would definitely look into it for me. About two or three hours later after our meal a friendly young colombian lady asked me if I was the one who wanted to go to Barcelona, then had three questions for me: When did you want to come (this week), for how long/what days (Wednesday to Saturday), am I allergic to dogs (no). We exchanged e-mails and that was that. I told Juliet to book a flight, I bought a bus ticket and Wednesday afternoon we were in Barcelona!

After my six hour bus ride we met at the bus station to sit in the sun and catch up for a while. We couldn't go to Paola's house before eight so we had some time to explore. Knowing our trip wasn't super long and there were lots of things we wanted to do we opted to check one of the parks of our list so we headed in the metro with our baby bears of backpacks to see Parc Güell. This is the Gaudi park so we were really looking forward to not only seeing cool architecture and famous tile work but also the whole park design was supposed to be based on Gaudi's style. We got off the metro and realized that the park was on the top of a small mountain. There were escalators for part of the trek, which normally we wouldn't use but we were tired and wanted to get to some green grass to sit down and enjoy the afternoon sun for a while. Oh but Gaudi must not have a been a fan of grass. The park was twisting dirt paths with dangerous feeling rock stairs cacti and overgrowing palm tree woods full of shrubbery. It actually was very pretty but when we finally found the plaza we had to put our cubs down for a bit and relax. I had found an abandoned newspaper on the metro and started to use my French and Spanish skills to decipher Catalán to figure out at what time FC Barcelona played that night as it was an important game - they only need one point to win the spanish league! When re-energized we toured the important part of the park seeing the tile salamander, gingerbread looking houses and round things everywhere.

After the park we made our way to find Paola's house. We found it but she wasn't there nor was she answering her phone so we grabbed a seat outside a bar to figure out what we wanted to do in the next few days and watch the game out of the corner of our eyes. They tied but Barça got the goal they needed = CHAMPIONES! When we finally heard from Paola we headed for her house to get rested. It was not what either Juliet or I had expected. I had met Paola but Juliet was very surprised by her youth. Then we met her brother and his girlfriend and a mexican guy (Speedy Gonzales we ended up naming him) who all live there. Then some small mattresses were moved into a small room where I had sheets and Juliet had a blanket and pillow. Realizing it was basically a student house meaning no food what so ever we took a two minute walk down the street to have some very yummy japanese food.

First full day in the city started with us walking down the Ramblas (main two streets in Barcelona), looking at different Gaudi buildings standing right between Chanel and Yves Sant Laurent or a hotel and a bank before stopping at the Plaza de Catalunya. Then continuing down the Rambla which is actually right in the middle of the old city - you just don't notice it! Having studied the structure and plan of Barcelona a bit I ll jun Geography it was nice to experience it. Then we found the next stop on our list, Mercat Boqueria. This is now my favourite place in Barcelona.it's a food market with everything. The colours are absolutely stunning and we had to just walk around for about a half an hour to take pictures before opting for walnut and olive rolls, fresh fruit juice, mango and fruit salad that included cactus flower. To eat our gorgeous meal we decided to sit at one of the sidewalk cafes and if a waiter came while we were there I'd order an ice coffee. Unfortunately it was a hotel bar where we sat and they didn't have coffee. I wasn't feeling like a beer or sangria at eleven in the morning so I chose a coca cola. Not knowing though that it was going to be a half liter mug of pop costing me six euros! We did end up with some brazilian buskers right in front of us though. Playing instruments and chanting while flipping and doing some dance fighting thing. More impressive was the body on one of the guys - holy butt and mother of abs. Juliet being the wonderful outgoing free spirit she is jumped up and asked for a picture with them. I got one two and spent the afternoon repeating the Nemo line "he touched the butt!" even though I didn't…

Next we found ourselves walking through the gothic section of the old town, passing a model in an alleyway, the first American Apparel I've seen in Spain and the Cathedral. Then we found the Ciutat park and spent some money on the only entrance fee we would pay on our trip - the zoo! We say a dolphin show, beautiful gorillas and chimpanzees, different endangered species, Juliet had a blast in the Reptile room, there were peacocks roaming around free and I couldn't stop taking pictures of the photo perfect lions. One chimp actually acted as my model for a good while - so cute. Then we walked through the park and finally found our spot of grass to sit on. No sooner had we stretched our legs before Juliet spotted an interesting group of people doing what seemed to be tight-rope walking between trees. Slowly she wandered over and a girl asked if she wanted to try, up went Juliet on the "slack lines" and me with my camera. I ended up trying as well - so much fun - and Juliet and I realized it may not have been the best day to both wear sun dresses since the lines were at thigh height but every one in the group was really nice and we ended up staying for a few hours all chatting and just being. The girl who first offered to help us try was from Germany (a man later told me she was my sister because besides the hair we're identical?), a beautiful young man from Morocco, two guys from the Basque country (I tried the little euskerra I know and said "kaixo" which is hello), a guy from Italy, a few spaniards and one man oaming and doing yoga the whole time who stated he was from the universe. Very interesting group of people, Juliet somehow was full of energy still and kept walking on the slack line of juggling a mini soccer ball while I opted to sit and talk about the world and whatever other topics came up. One of which was the energy flow of my rastas; forty eight rastas, the energy goes through two every hour. Everything is in evolution, man. As the sun started to go down we walked under the Barcelonian Arc de Triomph, got on the metro home and went to a Brazilian cafe where we ate more veggies.

Friday morning we walked from where we were staying to the Plaza de Espanya and onto la Montanya Monjuïc. Were we walked up the twisting road to see the old castle that stands at the top with huge cannons and great view of the Mediterranean or the city - choose the side to your preference or make the tour around the castle and see both! I had worn the wrong shoes though and made my way down barefoot. We did some touring of nearby gardens that led us to an old Greek theatre and then back into the city. We went through a different section of the old city, more run down, poor yet multicultural and I am pretty darn sure we past some girls working the cobblestoned corners at one o'clock. We made our way to the market again and bought more gorgeous food; carrots, red pepper, strawberries, mango, kiwi, bananas - oh it was a feast. But we made our way to a more reasonably priced spot to sit: the base of a palm tree in the Plaza Reíal. Where we hung out for a few hours watching the long boarders circle around the fountain, tourist bike groups coming through, a flamenco dancing man among other buskers. Then we made our way in the metro to La Sagrada Família, a huge Gaudi cathedral that sticks up three times the height of the residential buildings that surround it. It unfortunately was under construction and we didn't feel like paying to see the inside on suck a beautiful afternoon. We met up with Zack another exchanger and Nils who is on an exchange from Argentina and the four of us went to the beach. The beaches in Barcelona the city are said to be ugly, but there was sand, clear blue water and cruise ships mixed with sail boats disappearing into the horizon - it's the Mediterranean. So we hopped in, it really wasn't that cold and Juliet and I being marine enthusiast enjoyed the flow of the waves and the energy we got from finally being in the ocean. She lives in Baiona which is in Galicia - the north atlantic coast of spain above Portugal - and walks along the beach almost everyday but apparently it's too cold to actually go in. The guys thought it was way too cold but with Juliet never having never been in the Med and me with my "I'm from Canada" excuse (nothing in Spain can be cold) we spent an almost pruning amount of time playing in the water.

I have yet to mention this part of where we stayed; at the end of the street is the FC Barcelona stadium, on game nights you can hear everything perfectly. There wasn't a game but the team was coming home from being names the champions in Valencia so wanting the best experience we could get from Cataluña and me being a Barça fan we headed for the stadium. That one day it was free and jammed packed with fans. For about an hour and a half we stood among Barça enthusiast singing all the cheers, waving flags and enjoying the little concert that was going on. We did our best to join in but the stadium is huge (biggest in Spain) and when so many people are cheering, especially in a language you don't speak or understand, we couldn't really make out all that they were saying but the experience was incredible. The the team came in and everyone cheered for each coach and player. I taught Juliet what I knew about the players and the team. Telling her who the important ones are and we watched while each player took a turn speaking to the crowd. Bits we could understand, saying great things about the team and how they're a family. The players were there with their kids and each one ended with saying "¡Visca Barça!, ¡Visca Catalunya!". The whole Catalán thing surprised me but I have an appreciation for their autonomía feelings and was really glad to be there to experience it. The night ended with fireworks and Juliet and I heading out to eat Mexican food. Juliet has worked in a Mexican restaurant and loves the food - but despises avocado and cheese… such an interesting friend.

Saturday morning we went back to La Boqueria to get more food to have one last feast down by the harbour where we watched fish and rowers. Then a stroll along the Ramblas again before Juliet had to catch the metro to her train to the airport to get back to the other coast of Spain. I then made my way through different streets, stopping in some stores and doing my best to not seem like a tourist (I really don't like being a tourist) before making my way back to the apartment, grabbing my baby bear again, leaving a note with the keys and heading off on foot to the bus station.

Great things about Barcelona:

Mercat la Boquería , fútbol team , parks , Gaudi , Multiculturalism and different languages , I return in a week with my sister and parents :)