Okay. In advance let me just say... I KNOW that these posts are going to be long (Joe I don't care if you don't wanna read a long post. You can do it, I know that you know how to read) and sorry that they are so close together timing wise.........our internet situation is thus: we can access e-mail on our Kindles at any point (I LOVE MY KINDLE 3G!) but unfortunately if I try and type more than 200 words the Kindle kind of freaks out. In other words, send me e-mails!! But if you want a long response it will have to wait until I get to an actual computer. To blog not only do I need a computer, but I need to not have people hovering over my head waiting to check their own stuff, so usually we wait until like 2am when everyone is sleeping or out. BUT, never fear, the blog will continue to be updated and hopefully continue to be entertaining :)
NOW for the dirt on Barcelona. And boy was there dirt! We have come to realize that this in inevitable with big cities, and Barcelona is definitely not the exception. Most of our time in Barcelona was actually, and amazingly, spent on the beach-- watching tourists, topless old women, and vendors constantly trying to sell "coca-birra-aqua-cerveza-beer" (said as one word), random buckets of food, and massages. We said no at first and then just pretended we were sleeping. NO, Asian woman, I have not wanted a massage from the last 15 ladies, why would I want one from you. NO, creepy man, I do not want you putting a henna tatoo on my lower back. Tramp. Stamp. Other than this the beach was pure heaven...not too crowded, not too hot (in fact downright chilly at times), and gave us the tan we wanted! For some reason Megan and I didn't really feel that we were getting the full Barcelona experience- perhaps because we spent the majority of our time lounging on the beach-but the fact is that we have had so many people RAGE about how fantastic Barcelona is and for some reason we didn't really feel this way? Open to comments on what we should have done!! There's always next time ;)
Here are some highlights...
Las Ramblas, the main street, was very fun to walk down. Lots of vendors selling crazy things, men and women dressed up and pretending to be statues (how is this an global thing?), tourists galore. Only problem was that it got creepy when we were searching for a latenight kebab, and unfortunately my blonde hair has been screaming to these men "Hey! Look at me! I'm a tourist and want to be hit on!"
Gaudi Tour (free!) was definitely a good thing to do...and he was SUCH a man ahead of his times! His buildings are a feast for the eyes, and if you've ever seen Spy Kids his art kind of reminds me of the weird guy that deforms people. Sorry for those who haven't seen Spy Kids. It's good. Anyways the Sagrada Familia, his largest commission and stunning cathedral (recently updated to Basilica status by the pope) is so large that it is STILL not finished...and won't be for the next 20-30 years! Also, we didn't have the chance to go inside A because it was expensive and B the line was around the block. No gracias. Megs and I have decided to return when we are 50. You are invited.
Magic Fountain. I mean... I love fountains, and I love magic. It was pretty much just a lights show with water shooting out and coordinated to music; definitely entertaining but we got there like 10 minutes late and had to walk around an entire building just to get a good view. But drinking a Estrella cerveza while watching a water/lights show in Barcelona was still pretty cool.
Arguably the best part of Barcelona...their soccer team WON A TITLE while we were there, so inevitably we HAD to go to Plaça Catalunya to go and see the celebrations of the crazy Spaniards. Oh. MY. GOD. Imagine the Saints winning the Superbowl again but instead of simply drunken fools high-fiving in the streets people were shooting fireworks, shouting songs, waving sparklers, flying flags, and climbing lampposts!! Of course I wore the Barca colors, and I loved the feeling of intense camaraderie...to a point. Once we saw people kicking trashcans and throwing fireworks into the middle of crowds we knew it was time to go.
Shots on fire. On FIRE! Not to mention awesome names like "Boy Scout Shot," "Harry Potter Shot," "Atocha Shot," and "Finding Nemo Shot." It tasted just like Nemo. This bar was crazy though, and they wouldn't tell us any of the liquors they were using bc it was all a secret. And when I say fire I mean FIRE! Like lighting the bar on fire...and for the boyscout one we roasted marshmallows, dipped it into the shot, then took the shot. For Atocha we sipped with a straw out of half of an orange after it was lit on fire, squeezed the rest into the shot, and then drank it. How I love interactive drinking. And fire.
Perhaps the only negatives were not buying our ticket until the day we wanted to leave for Milan, only to find out that the overnight train left the NIGHT BEFORE and wouldn't run again until Sunday. And it was Friday. UGH. Also my accidentally ordering squid that looked like they fished it out of the ocean 5 minutes before. I swear it was watching me with its eyeball. The flavor was great (of course I ate it!) but not a huge fan of slimy, chewy seacreature.
Fortunately we ended up making it to Florence for Saturday night...but this was after yet another 24hrs of train travel. I'm talking Barcelona to Montpelier, Montpelier to Marseille where we slept for 5 hours, Marseille to Lyon, Lyon to Chambery, Chambery to Milano, and Milano to Firenze. Also for at least 2 of those trains we didn't have a reservation and simply hopped on....after being told that it was full and we couldn't go. Oops. Sorry we weren't sorry...and we never really got in trouble, just had to pay €10 and find our own seats. We have realized, through thick and thin, that no matter what, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!! It has, and it will...aren't you lucky to be part of the audience?!
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