En Reconnaissance de Paris: Viva Barcelona!

Hola!

It's been so long since my last post, but what a weekend it's been! I am finally back from an insanely packed and extended weekend spent in Barcelona, Spain. Let me fill you in:

Thursday afternoon, Abbey, Christy and I departed from Orly airport and landed in Spain quickly and smoothly. They went to find their hostel while I met up with Brian at the bus stop. The first thing we did, obviously, as we headed towards his apartment was pick up bread, cheese, and tomatoes for dinner. We ate, I settled in, and we got ready to go out. We went to a club where the DJ Afrojack was performing. The place was really crowded, and a really cool scene. The best part was that it was one of Brian's friend's birthdays, so we were able to sit in the VIP area closest to the DJ. We danced a ton and the night seemed to fly by. On our way out, we realized we had worked up such an appetite that we decided to stop in a place nextdoor where I had my first tapas of the weekend.

Friday morning, we decided to do some exploring around Barcelona, so we headed to some of the major areas. We walked up and down Passeig de Gracia and La Rambla where we saw some really crazy street performers, lots of cute souvenir shops, and of course tons and tons of tapas places. Eventually, we stopped in one, Tapa Tapa, where we split half a dozen different dishes, all of which I liked very much. My favorite was a crab salad mix. As we continued to walk around after, I spotted some adorable Spanish babies, which I determined have much in common with French, Czech, British, and Dutch babies in that I want to kidnap them all.

We then moved on to the Picasso Museum. The place was not so big, but really had some amazing pieces. There was such an interesting evolution to be seen in Picasso's work-- from the time of his first amateur sketches, to his famous Science and Charity, to the melancholy works from his Blue Period, to the well-known cubist, and finally surrealist pieces he created. It didn't take long to see everything, but it was definitely worth the trip over.

Later, we decided to go to a restaurant called Cal Pep that Brian had heard good things about, but that he hadn't tried yet. When eating at Cal Pep, the idea is to sit down at the bar and simply order whatever five tapas the chef recommends that day. It was a little intimidating and sort of nerve racking to have no idea what was coming, but it was absolutely the way to do it. We asked for mainly fish, rather than meats, and we were served a dish of very well-seasoned clams and mussels, an interesting potato creation, another unique clam dish, flavored and crusted baby fish, and monkfish in a delicious fruity sauce. We topped it off with a tasty crema catalan and cream pastry for dessert. It was all absolutely incredible, and when it was over, neither of us could move.

The following morning, we took a trip over to the Castillo de Montjuic, which is an 18th century castle built atop a giant hill. Especially with the clear skies we had that day, the views of the water and the rest of the city were breath-taking. We spent a bit of time sitting along the ledges and walking from one end to the other, looking out over Barcelona.

We finally descended, and went to eat lunch at popular place called Bo de B. Here they make really good sandwiches that are enormous and very un-European in that you can choose your toppings and basically mix up whatever you want into them. It is no surprise then, that we both got jumbo sized sandwiches with virtually everything possible in them. We followed this with a long walk that we figured would justify our eating habits. (It's okay to pretend.)

We then made our way over to the enormous fresh food market on La Rambla. (No, I'm not kidding. I told you we like to eat.) This is where we bought all sorts of fresh fish, vegetables, and spices to cook ourselves dinner that night. Several hours later (I promise it really was several hours later), we began preparing our epic meal. We had two tuna steaks, which we seasoned, coated with sesame seeds, and pan-seared to start. Then, we had pasta with clams in a white wine clam sauce and shrimp with parmesan cheese. We were so proud of what we had created. It was all so tasty, but we enjoyed eating it nearly as much as we had did cooking it.

On Sunday, we made a quick stop for tapas before we headed to Park Guell. This is another amazing location for sight seeing, especially given the weather, and is filled with all sorts of fantastic structures by the famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi. Walking through parts of the park, I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss world and half expected to see a Who wander past me. We left the park, and following the architectural theme, went to see Sagrada Familia. This is an enormous Roman Catholic church also designed by Gaudi. Once again, the outside of the structure is reminiscent of something from a fantasy novel. The colors and shapes look almost out of place in the real world. The most fascinating part of this church is that it is incomplete-- Gaudi died during its construction. The plans still exist, however, and it is being worked on and projected to be compeleted in 2026-- 100 years after Gaudi's death.

After taking a nice nap, we went out for my last dinner in Barcelona. We went to an Italian restaurant, where we split a fantastic risotto dish and a thin-crust pizza. We were enjoying ourselves and the food so much, that when we eventually looked up, the restaurant was empty. It had actually been closed for an hour, but the staff was too polite to kick us out.

On Monday, I only had a few hours to kill before I had to return to the airport. We took a walk down to the Port where we sat outside and ate chips with cheese, guacamole and salsa, drank cold beverages, and strolled along to check out all of the white tents. It was a beautiful day, and I was truly sad to be leaving.

However, just when I thought my trip was over, sitting in the airport, I was left with one more small adventure. My flight was delayred an hour and a half and then a man working for the airline tried to tell me I needed to check my bag. After pleading with him to no avail, I was left with a giant luggage sticker on my bag. A nice couple nearby, having watched the sorry scene, pitied me and suggested I simply ignore the order to check my carry-on sized suitcase. Blocking me on either side, they played the look-out while I stealthily tore the sticker off, shoved it in my pocket, and continued on my way. So fortunately, I got out of checking my bag. That was not the end, however, because upon landing, due to our delay, it was too late to catch the metro.

Here, I found myself in a cab for the last stretch of my trip. The driver told me the drive would take 20 minutes-- interesting to me because I was expecting a solid 40. I didn't argue, however, and fastened my seatbelt as the driver practically floored it back to my street. He got me there in 20 minutes alright. In addition, after a brief conversation with him, he learned that I was a student, pitied me for having missed the metro, and assumed that I was broke. He therefore decided that it would be cruel to charge me the usual 65 euro for this trip and left me only 40 euro lighter. Finally, back in my apartment, I collapsed into my bed somewhere between 1 and 1:30 am.

So... a long weekend it's been! In spite of some overeating and stressful situations, the time was absolutely marvelous and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I can hardly believe how quickly the days seem to have passed! Now, there's just a short week left to go until another weekend away in Stockholm, Sweden. This time, the weather will be drastically different in the opposite direction.

I'll be back next week to fill you in!