My Sharona Barcelona.doc

I'm stealing half an hour at our apartment in Rome to catch up with the travel diary. Jessica and I spent four fantastic days in Barcelona. I now know why Woody Allen devoted a whole film to this wonderful locale. We had a tremendous time waltzing around the city.

I met Jess after a long day of travel from Amsterdam. It was great to see her again and pickup with the vacation part of my July. Unfortunately the hostel room we were staying in, even though we had it all to ourselves, was a shoebox. It has a bed, a sidetable, and a closet - that's what you get for 25 Euros each a night. Thankfully, we didn't spend much time in our room.
The first evening we ventured up and down Passeig Gracias were we enjoyed a delicious meal and sipped on a few beers. We caught each other up about our respective weeks and then headed back home for an early night. We sipped some wine and watched a short film before bed.

The next day we conquered the city. I think we must have walked 20 km. We started by walking down La Rambla where we stopped to watch a bevy of street performers. Some were better than others but you had to give these people credit; it was 30 degrees out. Along the way we marked some of the Gaudi architecture which you would stumble upon ever so often in the city. The buildings are beautiful, whimsical, and seem void of any pretentiousness. I wish more artists designed with such a love for colour and the absurd as Gaudi did. At the end of La Rambla we stopped by the Columbus monument pointing the way to North America, and strolled along the new Pier area that houses little shops and eateries. We stopped in and had paella for lunch. I think I could eat paella almost every day and not get tired of it...absolutely delicious. From there we headed to the beach and strolled along the seaside. Having not expected to have time for the beach that first day, instead of swimming we bought a four pack of beer and enjoyed them overlooking the pier.

That evening we went for dinner at a chi chi pizza place. It happened to be one of the cheaper menus we saw on the strip, but the ambiance was sublime. The main dining room had beautiful paintings on the wall, we had linen napkins, and even an ice bucket for our bottle of wine (it's the simple things that go a long way). We felt a bit out of place but were happy to relax in air conditioning with the upper crust. After buying a few 1 euro beers on La Rambla we went to the Boulevard Culture Club which advertised an 80s/90s room. We were excited that we didn't have to pay cover but soon realized that the place was charging 6 Euros for a bottle of beer (the same brand for 1 Euro on the streets). After begrudginly having a single drink we hit the dance floor and ended up staying until the wee hours of the morning. The DJ was spinning all kinds of classic, pop, and 80s/90s hits. It was one of my favourite club experiences in Europe; we just kept going.

The next day we alloted to the beach. But before, we visited the Picasso Museum. The collection was really impressive but my feeling is that his best works are scattered throughout the world. The highlight was the forty or so paintings he did of recreations of Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. Taking the original painting as inspiration he applied a cubist twist to all the characters and scenes - it was quite extraordinary. From there we hit the beach. It was packed but we managed to find our own slice of paradise. After baking in the sun we both headed into the water which, thankfully, was five degrees warmer than the water in Portugal. I spent a good thirty minutes swimming out to a rock bed. On the way back to the hostel we stopped by the Spanish Arc de Triomf and the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. Gaudi's design of the Temple is stunning. That night we hit a beautiful buffet to save some money where we had all kinds of wonderful tapa and salad items. Afterwards we hit La Rambla and watched street performers before calling it a night.

For our final full day in Barcelona we made the trek to Park Güell which was designed by the aforementioned Gaudi. The sprawling parkland contains a spectacular view of the city and seems to go on forever. We wandered around the beautiful marble sculptures and rocky roads for what seemed like four hours. It made for a beautiful morning/afternoon but our feet were aching after all the uphill climbing. That evening we experienced a special treat, and something I think will be one of my favourite memories of Europe. We bought last minute tickets for Puccini's Turandot at the Barcelona Opera House. We got a student discount for the tickets and since the lady said it was more a seat to listen rather than view it worked out pretty cheap. We figured the seats would be pretty terrible, but it turned out we were in the second BOX from the top of the theatre that overlooked the stage! Apparently you have to crane to see all of the action (and hence the reduced price) but Jess and I had no trouble looking over the edge of the box for the show. We needed to swipe our tickets for access to the box and we had our own little lobby area. It was simply magic. Not only was it my first opera, but from the box we could look out on the hundreds of audience members in the sold out theatre. The performance and the whole experience gave me chills.

Maybe it was the high of the opera, or the two beers consumed after, but I got sucked into a bit of a gambling on La Rambla. I relate the story not to get you concerned about a potential propensity to gamble, but rather because it's a remarkable story from Barcelona (and memorable in its own right). Jess and I joined others in watching wealthy men hand over 50 dollar bills trying to pick which matchbox a ball may be hid under. What idiots! They lost a lot and we both were better at picking up which matchbox the ball was under. The guy officiating realized I thought I could probably pick better and invited me for a money free guess which turned out right. After one other failed there was a 50/50 chance and he asked me which one I thought it was - I was certain. Before I knew it I was handing over $25 Euros to double my money, and of course was sucked in. I take solace in the fact that it wasn't $50. It's easy to laugh off the event because he sucked me in fair and square with absolutely no intention of participating. It all happened so quickly, but the difference between me and the others (I think) is that the moment it was over I realize my error. A good story nonetheless. We finished off the evening with one more beer on La Rambla before heading to bed.

We had a leisurely morning the next day before missing our bus to the airport. Disaster. We were certain the Ryanair bus left before it should have, and we also had a cab driver who took us to the wrong bus station. Instead we joined a group of two girls who had also missed the bus on an hour cab ride to the airport. It wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper than missing the flight. Success...we are in Rome.

Wow, after expelling all of the events and adventures I'm reminded what a jam-packed and exciting time the Barcelona chapter was. Jess and I tackled the city and left with some great memories.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: Of opera, gambling, or cab rides to the airport choose opera ever time. It probably will cost you the least in the long run.