I promised myself I would blog daily. Ha! To be fair, I did write some stuff down, just didn’t follow through. I’ll try to go back and fill it in. For now, I’ll just summarize Barcelona.
This experience has been both easy and difficult. We’ll start with the good stuff. Barcelona is easy to get around, and the city feels very comfortable. I love how historic it is, the windy narrow complicated roads, the buildings that look uninteresting until you step inside to a beautiful spacious restaurant, the balconies and modernista architecture… it’s such an interesting place. I love the fact that everything is in Catalan here, including public school instruction, because they understand that if the language dies, so does the culture. Sadly, I have not picked up much Catalan… sortida, espere, and si us plau is pretty much it.
I love that climate change doesn’t seem to be up for debate here. Cab drivers drive Priuses and Teslas. Public transportation is widely used. People walk everywhere (in my neighborhood, at least). Plastic bags cost 10 cents at the grocery store. Starbucks comes in paper cups with paper lids and paper straws. Packaging is less wasteful. They are light years ahead of the U.S. It’s frustrating to me that people in the U.S. dig in their heels about stuff like plastic bags. Not to mention that they don’t have mass shootings over here. My French tour guide said her heart breaks for the U.S. “It doesn’t have to be like that,” she said. Europeans actually feel sorry for how backwards we are.
I loved living in Raval, which was originally the neighborhood for the outcasts because it was outside the city walls. (The city expanded to include this neighborhood in the Middle Ages.) I love the nopales nachos at Chilango’s, the berry pancakes with cream cheese topping at Trópico, and the $2.40 margherita pizza at Pizza Circus. These places are all within a block or two of my apartment.
As for things I did not love… the beach. The crowds of tourists on La Rambla and in the Gothic Quarter. The way Pink Drinks taste different here, and Coke Light is trash. (Spanish Erin prefers Pepsi Maxx and Mango Dragonfruit drinks from Starbucks. So strange!) The heat. The way dinner time is at 9:00 p.m., and I am just not a late night person. The smell of pee when I step outside my door. Dog poop on the sidewalks.
Overall, it’s obvious that the good outweighs the bad. And I’ve loved getting a more worldly perspective. It’s also nice to know that some things are the same no matter where you are in the world, like manicures, the subway, and Bach.
I’ve loved my time in Barcelona, but I’m ready for what’s next. Can’t wait to see Italy!!!!
Comments