I've had a friend, Jason, come to town to celebrate his 30th birthday and so we decided to take a quick 4 day trip to this great city.
Unfortunately for Jason, thought, his birthday celebration did not start off too relaxing. He landed in London at 9am in the morning on Thursday and when he arrived at my flat, it was to see a flurry of unpacking activities. My things had just cleared customs the day before and I had received a call from the shipping company that they could either deliver the next morning or not until later this week.
Guess which date I picked….
So needless to say, instead of a warm welcome at the airport, he instead got to find his way to my flat via train and taxi and was greeted by my movers and a load of boxes in various stages of unpacking.
How did he spend the morning of his big 30th birthday?
Unpacking my kitchen….not the most glamorous way to celebrate, but he jumped right in and in very short time he had my kitchen in order - and I had the rest of the place done as well. I say it was in order, but really, it was an exercise in creativity as we were both just putting things anywhere to get them out of the way and I'll actually start organizing later this week.
Good news though - everything arrived, customs only searched a couple of my boxes, nothing was broken and all the boxes arrived!!
So only 3 hours after touching down on English soil for Jason, we were off for a quick lunch and another airport to get to Spain. I know it seems like a bit of a rush, but the thought process was that it might be OK for him to do a few different time zones in one day, then as long as we woke up in Spain, it would be easier. And besides, I had to be back to work by Monday, so we were on limited time.
Here is something interesting…I have traveled a bit in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and I was always fine with my limited Spanish since, in all honesty, its really more like Spanglish, and in those countries, they really understand English well enough, that you can lull yourself into a false sense of feeling like your language skills aren't so bad.
Well, there was no sense of that in Spain. I fully admit that I have lost more of the language than I had realized and Senora Torellio, my high school Spanish teacher would have been ashamed of me!
However, even with the language barrier, the trip was incredible!
Thursday night we really didn't see much of the city save for the extended taxi ride since the driver missed a turn to the hotel. We had a great dinner, though at a little café and I was able to satisfy the paella craving that I have had for the past week since we decided to make the trip.
Friday we walked all over the city. I absolutely love just meandering around the city…any city really. It’s a great way to get a feel for your surroundings and to see so many little places that are a bit off the beaten path.
Walking through the streets of Barcelona was an all day study of people and beautiful architecture. There is a blend - consistent throughout the city of new and old. You can walk past one building that could easily be 300 years old and next to it could be a building that is less than 10 years old. One of the great things that we got to see were buildings by an incredible architect named Gaudi. This man was an absolute visionary. My initial thought was that he was a man so far ahead of his time, but once I thought about it a bit more, he really defined his own space in time, for there is nothing in the present that I can even begin to compare his genius to. One building might be reminiscent of something dreamt from a Tim Burton film, but then the next building you see could easily have risen from the sand and rocks of a desert oasis. He began work on a temple in the early 1900s that was not complete by his death in 1926. Construction then stopped, but resumed after his plans were rediscovered in the 60s. This temple is roughly the size of a city block and encompasses so many aspects of the religious history of the country that it is almost impossible to comprehend how so many separate stories can be blended together so beautifully into the façade and interior of one single building.
After a long day of walking, and walking, and a little more walking, we stayed close to the downtown market area for dinner and a tour of the local open air market. Immediately upon entering the fruits and vegetable stalls, I was reminded of the produce store my dad used to have. I suppose that some smells will evoke certain memories long after those scents fade. I could not help wondering how much my father would have been in awe of this market.
The vegetables and fruits were so incredibly vibrant in their colors, scents, textures and tastes. I have never seen strawberries so huge! The intense red of those tomatoes was enough to make me want to just bite into them whole right there in the aisles! There were vendors selling every possible edible concoction one could ever imagine…nuts, dried fruit, gelato, candy, chocolate, wine, fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, and eggs!
I will be honest though - there were a few times that the freshness was a bit much for me…for instance, the skinned animals dangling from the hooks - I could have done without seeing that. Or the one thing in a couple of the meat cases that we could not even identify - we are torn between mongoose or rabbit - both of which I think I may now avoid if ever I see them on the menu…I really don't think that any incredible flavor of the after could erase my image of the before…
Saturday was, unfortunately, not as smooth as Fridays' adventures, though. I still contend it was fun little waste of 2 hours, Jason, when reading this will just roll his eyes.
Our goal was to get to Guell Park. It is this beautiful park way up on a hill that overlooks the city and has some great hiking opportunities as well as a few more great architectural secrets waiting for anyone that can hoof high enough up the hills to take a peek.
The concierge tells us that all we need to do to get there is take the #24 bus…sounds so simple….
Off we head to the town square to catch the bus. I didn't realize until just the other day, though, that that was the first time Jason has ever been on a public bus….hmm…no wonder he was a bit hesitant to try it once he started exploring London a bit….
I admit though, since being here in London, I have become quite a little bus riding pro. I know when to push the button for the next stop, I know how to read the route maps, I even know that if you don't know where you're going, as long as you ask the bus driver if his route includes your particular destination and he says yes, and you sit towards the front - he'll just let you know when to get off.
That said, we attempt to get on the 24 bus. I quickly ask to make sure the route includes a stop for Guell park and inquire about buying a day pass for the bus. The driver, in his limited english, we think, tells us that you can't buy tickets on the bus and points to the other corner of the square and says to buy them there at the metro station.
No big deal, I think, it’s a bit weird that you can't buy tickets on the bus, but here in London, a day ticket covers the bus and tube, so I suppose maybe it stands to reason that you have to buy the tickets in the metro/tube station.
Off we go to the metro station….Just to make sure we are headed in the right direction though, we ask a couple police men that are standing on the corner talking. They point us to the information desk for the 'Hop On, Hop Off' tour operator. I asked to make sure this was correct - we didn't want the tour bus, we wanted the city bus. He assures us that is correct and again, off we go….
Once at the information desk, the information lady tells us she doesn't sell city transportation tickets, but I can go to the metro station and get them there, she points us in that direction. Off we go….
Once in the metro station, we are a bit unsure about the automated ticket machine. It doesn't specifically say its for the bus, but it doesn't say its not, either. So we look around for a little assistance. Apparently there is no one manning any of the booths during that time of the day though, or it was just our luck that they were all on a break at the same time. So we wonder around the metro station a bit, finally find someone that points us in the other direction and says to buy the bus tickets upstairs….um…the only upstairs in the underground of the metro station is outside….so off we go….
Once upstairs, we start looking around and are now a bit confused. Jason was ready to call it a day, but I, ever the little explorer am now determined to get on the bus!
We ask one final metro police guy who points us back down to the metro station and the automated machines…turns out we were closer than we thought before!!
Finally we figure out the ticket machine. As I am trying to break the code of the zone layout map, Jason points to the wall next to me and says that it might be easier for me if I look at the English version…hmmm….yes, he was correct…it was much easier.
Tickets….check! Next stop Guell Park!!
Just as a point of reference, this little side adventure has taken us about 40 minutes….the ride was only supposed to be 20.
Once we get back up to ground level, we make our way back to the bus stop, present our tickets and off we go….
Now that it's been a while and we are a little turned around, we decide to double check that the bus route does in fact include Guell Park…after being on the bus for 10 minutes.
Just our luck….the bus driver lady doesn't really speak English, so 5 minutes later after an animated charades session and a few drawing on some paper, we realize that we are on the right bus, but going in the wrong direction!!! And even better - we are almost at the end of the route.
Some more charades…some more drawings and we realize the bus driver is telling us to just stay on this bus, it is turning around and at the other end is Guell Park.
20 more minutes later, we are back to the city square where we started. Now in this time, I have seen a few people buy tickets when they get on the bus. I don't mind telling you I was a little ticked - why didn't the 1st driver sell us tickets?
Once we go around the city square it dawns on me…..we are now going through the other corner of the square…where the 1st driver was pointing…OH…lightbulb…..he wasn't saying he wouldn't sell us tickets….he was saying that he was going in the wrong direction and that we needed to go over to the other side to get on the right bus!!!!!
Hmmmm…time like these I wish my Spanish were a bit better!
Needless to say, 20 minutes later, there we are - Guell Park. And yes - it was worth the wait! This beautiful hillside park was absolutely amazing. The warm temps of the weekend - 60s and sunny added to the day as well! After doing a little light hiking through the park, seeing a few of the original houses that were build before it was turned over to the city, as well as seeing some street performers and street vendors, we headed back down towards town via the infamous bus #24…this time without incident, though.
Again, we had another great dinner and walk around the local markets. OH, and I picked up the little bargain I found the night before…I got a new leather jacket and they had to hem the sleeves for me overnight. I think it’s the softest leather I have ever felt! Right now it is hanging regally in my closet until I can get some leather protector for it. I think I'm almost a bit scared to wear it! Its just beautiful and so soft and I don't want anything to happen to it, so I have been putting off wearing it around the general public…I know - totally stupid and I'll break over and wear it soon since my other leather jacket A - has seen better days to put it nicely and B - really just pales in comparison to the new one. I kind of feel a bit sorry for the old one really…
Anyway, that was the bulk of our adventures in Barcelona - we left around noon the next day, so didn't really do too much sight seeing in the morning. Also, now that I have all of the cables for my camera, at some point this weekend I am going to try to upload all of the pictures I've taken so far to share with everyone online.
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