Barcelona- shorter and still somewhat sweet

So, we spent a week in Barcelona and I wrote for a long time about the first day. I'll speed it up. Me, Andy, and Caroline spent our first days there in the apartment, in Barceloneta. It was a small studio apartment about four blocks from the beach in two different directions. It's a working class neighborhood, so laundry is hanging out of every window to dry and there were tons of little grocery stores and kebab restaurants. It was fantastic. We had two balconies, on two streets since we were in a corner apartment. We had a basic kitchen with a two burner stove, a fridge, and a microwave/oven. It was small and basic with only two minutes of water at a time. Showers were short, rare, and not relaxing at all. Every morning, we'd be woken up with the sweet smell of sewer and loud noises, like a carnival parade was passing by. It was awesome and I just saw pictures of the apartment and started to miss it. Anyway, Irina finally got there and we started to go out more and explore parts of Barcelona, since Caroline's leg had gotten a little better and she could walk some. Andy got a good soccer ball.

We didn't want to see the sights until Lauren, Matt, and Danielle arrived so that we could share the magic with them, so we just got to know our little corner of Barcelona and we went to see Park Guell, one of Gaudi's famous parks. It was awesome. We walked to the top, where a huge structure with a cross on top looks over the city. We contemplated Barca for a while and realized how big it is. I realized how much pressure sight-seeing is. More on that in the future, maybe. We played some soccer up there and then headed down to the park, which had another great view of the city, with some museums and stuff. It was awesome, and I can't even describe it without going on forever. Cause I can ramble like it's my job.

Anyway, we spent some days just lying on the beach, playing soccer and frisbee, and admiring the Med. It was like any other beach vacation, but in Barcelona, a great city. The Sevilla group arrived and we began to branch out. We still didn't do much sight-seeing, but there's value in not doing that. (Again, later.) We did go to the aquarium, which had a really cool squid tank and a huge tank in the middle, where you stand on a conveyor belt in a tube while sharks and sting rays fly over you. Awesome. After that, since it was a rainy day on and off, we went to a Japanese buffet and ate sushi, dumplings, salmon kebabs, and other forms of animals we just saw swimming in a protective environment. Andy and Irina didn't go, but they went to the other apartment with Brendan, John, and Shannon and hung out with them while we were in the aquarium. I think Andy got donner kebab afterwards. I met up with them on their way back to the apartment and we rested for the night.

I'm not sure if this was the same night, but we'll pretend. Suspend your disbelief, again. Irina had spent a month in Barcelona and knew the former owner of all the big clubs, so we got on the list of Opium. We weren't let in, though, because of our sneakers. Still, we had a great time standing in line and talking to people, meeting Irish, American (one of whom had gotten maced by the bouncers and kept trying to get in), and Swedish people. It was a fun night just hanging out on the street and seeing Barcelona happen by night.

We finally found Ice Bar. For the 15 euro cover, you are given a giant fur hat, a huge coat, and fur gloves and you enter a huge feezer, wherein everything is made of ice, including the bar, chairs, tables, glasses (pun, sort of, if you know French.), and some of the walls. There was a fire on the TV to warm you up. The cover included a drink, and they were creative. Lauren got the "picante" which was spicy. Very cool place, and I've heard there are more in other cities. The chairs had furs on them to keep you warm; it was just exciting to be in there.

Finally, we took a bike tour of the city and I ran into Chloe and Antonio from Tufts just before the tour started. It was quite a surprise but it was great to see familiar faces. The bike tour was awesome. We learned so much about places we'd been to and I really appreciated the architecture and such of Barca much more. It was a fun tour, too. We saw all the major Gaudi sights, including a long stop contemplating the Sagrada Famiglia. Biking through the busy streets of Barca was harrowing. In just a few hours, we biked through the tiny, twisting Gothic quarter and the straight, regular blocks of the "Extension." It's a must-do in this city.

Barca was amazing, but I got back to France and practically couldn't speak French. I had been really paying attention to Catalan and Spanish and absorbing their sounds. I figured I ought to, since I'm beginning Spanish next semester. But, I was amazed at how Spanish much I could figure out. I do miss Barca and the apartment, and I hope to spend more time there in the future. It's truly an amazing city and there's so much there I have yet to do.

Last note:
Coming back into France, the Spanish boarder control guard checked all of our passports. I thought that was odd. Then, we drove 20 feet and the French guard checked all of our passports. The world is truly a strange place.