Barcelona, Spain - Part I

I failed to mention my travel history to Adeline before we left for Spain. When I say travel history, I mean bad luck which also qualifies as good, hearty entertainment. I would share about the best story of when I missed two flights in one day, but I think Chauncey Franks would be better suited to do it, since he was the coworker with me on that business trip. When I tell the story, I tend to give myself too much credit.

It only took about fifteen minutes for Adeline to find out that I might not be the lucky rabbit foot of travels. Our flight was set to depart at 9pm on Friday night and I left the house at 6:30, giving me plenty of time. I hopped on line 13 at Varenne down to Montparnasse, then to line 4 to Denfert Rochereaux, then the RER B to Antony where I met up with Adeline to catch the Orly train to the airport. She and I got on the Orly train and had to stand because all the seats were taken. I pushed my bag underneath the luggage shelf. I was so hungry and knew I had to finish my drink and Snickers because it wouldn't be accepted past the security check point. That was my dinner.

It seems I was so consumed with my drink and Snickers because I left my bag on the train. Yes, I left it on the train. I didn't realize it until we were checking in. We ran to the information table and apparently annoyed the women. She's considered to be the person to go to for information and help, but she's French so she doesn't like to help. She made a few calls. She rolled her eyes. She didn't smile. I was on the verge of tears because it was an expensive Longchamp suitcase that belonged to the family AND my cowboy boots were in there, my beloved cowboy boots. We waited about ten minutes when we were told that my bag was found, in Antony. Adeline and I ran back to train, went back to Antony, grabbed my bag from the man, kissed him (not really but it would have been appropriate for my gratitude), hopped back on the train to the airport, ran through the airport to our check in point. We made it through security and to our gate. Breath in, breath out.

The flight was good, no complaints, I just wish that Adeline and I hadn't talked about plane crashes while we were waiting to board. Not smart.

We arrived in Barcelona early. It was only an hour flight. Candice, Adeline's French friend that she met while living in Montreal, came to pick us up. I grabbed a sandwich and sparkling water because the Snickers wasn't doing it for me. We walked to a bus and sat down. I opened my water and it exploded all over me. Adeline laughed and realized that I wasn't kidding about my luck during travels. After a bus and metro ride, we arrived into Candice's neighborhood. We walked a bit, even by this huge wall. We looked at the top and saw barbed wire. It was a prison! Candice lives on the eighth floor of her building with a massive terrace that overlooks a lot of Barcelona, including the prison. It's an incredible view. We didn't stay up too long before getting into bed. Adeline even brought earplugs since I snore on occasion, thanks to my dad. Slept on the floor next to the bed, just like camping out - Thermorest and sleeping bag. Early in the morning, my watch alarm went off. Soon after, my phone alarm went off. I am lucky I didn't get killed by the ladies in the room. Later, we woke up and checked out the morning view. Fantastic! Candice told me that I didn't snore in the night. That made me happy.

We got ready and began our day. We walked to a boulangerie to eat some authentic Spanish food. On the way I saw a man with a parrot on his shoulder, as well as the evidence that the parrot had eaten that morning. Once we arrived at the boulangerie, we all ordered a sandwich with a mix of potato, egg, and tomato. It was so good and so cheap. I forgot how much it costs to live in Paris. We sat and enjoyed our food and good conversation, with no rush to get out. That's what I love about the French. Nothing is better than good food and conversation. We walked across the street to the Saint Pau Hospital. Its so beautiful, surrounded by palm trees, orange trees, and more than enough courtyards. The ceilings are just as ornately decorated and designed as much as the outside. As we walked around, there were hospital patients also taking walks through the courtyards as well.
As we were leaving, I was hanging behind and taking pictures. We cut through a couple of buildings and I saw one of the most bizarre things. There were about thirty caterpillars in a line, slowing trekking towards on of the hospital buildings. The leader of the pack seemed a little confused because he didn't have much direction. I shouted at the girls to come look. They were fascinated as well. We spent a good ten minutes watching these caterpillars. This is no lie. We actually spent more time studying these little guys than any other thing in Barcelona.Walking around Barcelona wasn't too different from Paris. There seemed to be as many tourists walking around and the laid back lifestyle is the same. Tables and chairs covered by umbrellas filled patios in front of cafes, just like in Paris. The Spanish are louder than the French, that's for sure. It seems as though everything is more aggressive in Spain. At first it was nice to hear Spanish again. I hadn't heard it in so long and quite a bit of my vocabulary came back. It also made me realize how much French I know. The architecture is just as beautiful, but a bit different than in Paris. The colors are brighter and there are clothes hanging outside of every window.After walking for a bit, we made it to Sagrada Familia. It's the most famous building in Barcelona by Antoni Gaudi. He has the most unique style I've seen. It's Art Nouveau, but more over-the-top. If there is one person that gave Barcelona it's look, it's Gaudi. Kind of like Baron Haussmann with Paris. We hopped on the metro towards downtown. It led us to the University of Barcelona and down some streets with some great shopping. That's where we saw Hard Rock Cafe and Burger King. I've never been so happy to see a Burger King. It made me remember how much better they are than McDonald's. The shopping isn't much different than in Paris. The same shops, but also some shops that are exclusive to Spain.After walking for a while, we decided it was time to eat. We had reached the Museum of Contemporary Art and stopped for a bit to decide what we would do next. It was either Churros and hot chocolate or Mexican food. Easy decision for me. Chips with salsa and margaritas were our destination. We arrived to the restaurant and found our seats. Candice asked if the music reminded me of home. It was the most bizarre thing. At home, they play either Latin music or pop music. However, in this restaurant, they played music from the 1950. I could only thing of bobby socks and poodle skirts. It just didn't match the meal. We ordered some chips with guacamole and quesadillas to share. I enthusiastically asked for a Strawberry Margarita. Adeline got a Pina Colada. We had a good ole time. My margarita was a little disappointing. It wasn't frozen and didn't have much flavor. It's one of the saddest things. You can hear it from me now - Mexican food in Texas is unparalleled.With full bellies, we began our walk towards the beach. In order to get there, you have to walk through some little streets and through the markets. Oh the famous markets! They were under tents and carried meat, cheeses, fruits, etc. The fruit was so fresh and so cheap. We couldn't believe how cheap it was.
Barcelona public bike transportation
A cafe made famous by a French movie when a student moves to Barcelona to attend university. This movie is what has inspired Barth to want to attend university there. We'll see if it happens.
We then found ourselves on the famous La Rambla. It was incredibly busy and full of street shows. These are not ordinary street shows. They resemble the old-time circus shows like the man completely covered in hair or the woman with two heads, and the like. On our walk we were able to see the Invisible Man, the Fruit Lady, Jamaican Chihuahua & Friend, Bronzed Sea Captain, Large Lady and the man that I didn't understand his character. I'm not to judge how people make their money, but it's not what I put on my "When I Grow Up..." essay in elementary school.The street also had tons of shops and restaurants and cafes and amazing architecture. I couldn't believe it but I saw a Dunkin' Coffee, which I assume is Dunkin' Donuts modified.We made it near the water, only to find good ole Christopher Columbus at the top of a monument pointing to the New World. I know quite a bit about the guy since I had to teach about him to my first graders last year. Sadly I didn't remember much about it until I taught it then. To refresh some of you, he was a bit of a manipulator and charmer. He wanted to discover things because he was an explorer by birth. He approached the King and Queen of Spain and asked if they would pay for him to find spices to bring back. They approved of it and sent him with the famous Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. The rest is, literally, history. This is when he discovered the New World, North America.We walked towards the bridge to find a bench to sit and talk. Not much talking happened, but we laughed alot. There were so many seagulls on the water. The boats were so pretty, just lightly rolling on the water. It was so gorgeous to see the sun set behind the hills and on the water. After about thirty minutes, we began walking toward Barceloneta. On the way we were able to see the old submarine, the Nautilus, which inspired Jules Verne. He was my favorite author when I was younger. I fell in love with Around the World in Eighty Days. It was my favorite book until I was introduced the works of James Herriot.We continued on our walk and finally reached Barceloneta (Little Barcelona), a neighborhood in Barcelona that used to be the home of fisherman, but now is a very popular area for the nightlife and beaches. It's surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and sandy beaches (which I found out are not authentic, but imported in). It was very touristy, but full of families. Where there are tourists, there are shows. My favorite of the trip was a group of guys singing some Bob Marley songs, notably No Woman, No Cry. We stayed for a few songs before making our way to the beach. It was time to hop on another bus. This time we went back downtown to see another couple of famous buildings that Gaudi designed. The first one was of a business building that used only a couple of floors as a museum per se, but the rest was offices. We didn't go inside, but didn't need to since the windows displayed much of the originality of the mind of Gaudi. The next is the Casa Batllo that Gaudi built for a wealthy aristocrat in Barcelona in 1906. It is known as the Dragon House since Gaudi used a dragon as his inspiration. The balconies are supposed to resemble skulls and bones. The roof is the dragon's spine. In a little museum on our way to dinnerWe didn't take the tour because we had to meet up with some girls for a dinner reservation at a tapas restaurant. I've never eaten tapas, but I know that they had become popular in Dallas before I left. I'm kind of glad I waited to eat them until I came to Barcelona. It was a pretty typical restaurant. The company was fantastic. Two girls, both named Pauline and both French, are Candice's roommate. They each speak French, English, and Spanish. Another two girls, Lisa and Caroline, are from Germany. Lisa is in Barcelona to study and Caroline came to visit her. When you go to a dinner with people from other countries, the first thing to discuss is which language to speak at the table. It's so bizarre. The choices were Spanish, English, German, and French. My French is limited and Lisa has no study in the language, so English was the pick. Sangria was brought out immediately and I might have found a new favorite drink. We read through the menu and decided on which tapas we would get and share. I tried my hardest to break out of my usual picky tendencies and I think I did pretty well.Pauline, Pauline, Lisa, and CarolinePrawns
Calamari
A little note I wrote for Adelina as if I could read her mind.We walked back to the metro, then to the neighboorhood, through the streets, all to find that the elevator was broken. After a full day of walking and exploring, we had to climb eight flights of stairs. We made it up there, showered, laughed, then fell asleep. Busy day in a beautiful city.