Spain!! You beautiful, vibrant, exotic, sexy, hot as hell country. When did I become such a wimp in the heat (San Francisco, you've changed me!).
We got to Barcelona, or Barca (with a thsexy listhppp) late in the evening to see people young and old running around the town like it was 12 in the afternoon - and the weather must have thought that's what time it was as well b/c holy moly was it hot! Our very sweet (minus a bit of awkward goodbye) flatmates Sergi & Andi met us at the apartment which was a block from the beach, with a killer view of the water. We put all our stuff down in our cracker jack of a room, then walked the beach & main strip for food - only to be suckered into yet another doner kebab (Colin really loves those things). We ate our 1:00 meal - then headed to bed ready to take the town the next day.
After a bit of a sleep in we wandered over to a locals spot to grab some tapas, wine, and house made vermouth. It was BOMB. Yummy omelets, seafood dip, spinach empanadas, cheese stuffed peppers, bread and tomatoes galore - all to be washed down with their amazing homemade vermouth (Cols new fave). We then walked the town a bit more, loving all the locals, ping pong in plazas, beach hippies, little spanish dogs & babies, and found our way to place with delicious sangria and perhaps the best internet connection on Barceloneta. I worked with a few clients, we caught up on our emails, then headed to another awesome place for a late dinner (Bombetta) and called it a night. Day 2 was our big sight seeing day - we walked to the town and saw all the local sights... Barceloneta, the beaches, La Rambla, Familia Segada, even Park Guel. It was so beautiful and fun to walk through different areas, stopping for fun little trinkets, snacks, and beers. We made a sexy American fashion statement on La Rambla by soaking our bandanas in cold water from the fountains tying them around our necks and heads - could we look anymore out of place? Did I mention my bandana was an american flag? Regardless - we loved them and we're instantly cooled down everytime. We walked through the Familia Segada in awe of every single detail, digging deep in our brains for any Catholic knowledge we remembered, and hugged really tight in front of the beautiful stain glass windows and sky lights saying "I can't believe we are here". You'd think after 5 months of traveling that might get old - but it never does. Each place we go we find moments where we still can't believe how lucky we are, and how awesome it is we took this leap. Now, we also have moments of hangriness and cravings for american hamburgers:)... but who wouldn't right? We decided to hike it up to Park Guel to see the crazy lizard and Dr. Suess looking architecture (which again, I LOVED)... and found ourselves at the top of the park overlooking the entire city. It was packed with people until one tiny thing... rain... it came fast, and there was lots of it. People started running for the exit and we looked at eachother and said... why don't we just get a pitcher of sangria, sit under this cave like awning, and wait it out. So wait it out we did. We sipped on our sangria, people watching (which was awesome), and relaxed a bit till the rain ended. We then walked to the lizard, saw the longest bench in the world, bought a little pair of earrings for myself and headed home for a long siesta, shower and another awesome dinner. The manchego and sangria are on another level out here -they are fantastic.
Day 4 & 5 were local beach days. We found some spots with locals, popped up our little umbrella, grabbed some fruit and layed out on the amazing beaches. The water was the warmest and nicest on this trip yet - and the spot that the sun lays over the water gives it such a beautiful color - it was really lovely. We spent one of those nights walking Barceloneta, catching a bit of a movie on the beach, talking a stroll down to the W, and finding our way back home - always later than expected. Our last night though was spent at a local, bit out of the center, Flamenco bar that some locals on the bus recommended to us. The place was packed - and we found a little corner on the balcony while col leaned down to the bar on the first floor getting us beers. We waited a while for whatever it was we were waiting for (since we both didn't) really know and then a guy with a guitar came on stage. The second he started playing the crowd went silent and we could not take our eyes off his hands. This guy was incredible. He was then joined by a singer who got even more applause (apparently a favorite), the next song a percussionist guy... who just banged his hands against an amp but made it sound like he had an entire drum set, joined. And after we were dazzled by the music our sweet, talented, and lovely Flamenco gal came on stage. Personally, I felt many emotions arise as she began to perform - it is strangely similar to tap (my true dance love), and she looked like she was having the time of her life. It was so special to watch. Later that night we wandered the area for a late dinner and stumbled upon a beautiful brewery full of caves and beer and locals. We had some of the best food (so much cheese, potatoes, ham, bacon, peppers, tomatoes) and we sampled the local beer before heading home for our last nights sleep.
We had an early flight the next day to Madrid, which consisted of the both of us needing lots of coffee and diet cokes, but we made it and were off to Madrid. Barcelona was so unique and special, we loved every minute of it!
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