Barcelona!!

Taking a little break to let my feet rest. Barcelona is just simply amazing. Lots of art and great people. Every little nook has something to enjoy.

So to start out, I first arrived early morning after taking an overnight train from Oviedo to Barcelona. Started out with a full compartment of 6 which was whittled down to 3. At that point, the two guys who were in there with me took their seats and laid them flat to snooze. I did too and at one point thought it was funny that we're complete strangers but if you got rid of the arm rests we'd all be spooning each other.

Took the metro to Las Ramblas which is the main drag. Lots of street performers, vendors, birds, fresh flowers and lot o tourists. After taking in a great retrospective of Picasso, I started walking around planning on getting tapas and wine every once in a while till I found this cool tapa bar.

Sat at the bar and started chatting with the Italian bartenders. They were very, very attentive and I'm having a lot of fun playing this side of the tourist game. I have now realized that there are two questions the guys ask. Where are you from and how long are you here? wink wink. ding! One of the guys has been traveling and working in different countries for the last 12 years. I ask him what his favorite country has been and he says with a big smile - Spain.

Got to talking with another American lady and a guy from Holland who sat down next to me. It's the first time I've talked to an American since I landed here. As she left, I said goodbye and the guy from Holland said "You're not leaving too?" and I said no that we just met. He looks surprised and I tell him that's how this whole trip has been - meeting people along the way. He asked me if I wanted to stay for another drink and I said sure.

He orders champagne and asked what I wanted. The lady-like thing would be to order a nice glass of wine but I what I really wanted was a beer. So beer it is. When the Italian bartender puts the beer down in front of Harold I say "Uh, that's mine." He just smiles, gives me a hearty laugh and a happy high-five.

Holland Harold and I got to chatting and I found out he had a GPS company and was in town to learn Spanish. His teacher told him they should go out and find people to speak with after class but all he's been able to find is people who are speaking anything but Spanish. I told him he needed to go down the alleys to the dirty parts of town. "Really?" he said and I nodded and confirmed it with a yep.

He asked about my trip here and told him a bit including the part of having to change my name. When I told him why he let out a dirty deep throated laugh with a giant smile. Very surprising from a Holland person cause most of the time you wonder if they even have teeth. Who knew having your name sound like penis could be such an ice breaker?

He followed it up with telling me about Holland's prime minister who traveled to different countries and struggled with his name. "What was it?" I asked. He spelled it out for me. "Prime Minister Kok?!?" I exclaimed. We both busted up laughing. He re-entacted how Prime Minster Kok was introduced to other countries. By the way in Holland it sounds more like Cook.

After briefly going into my history which includes a bit of a marketing background he quickly tells me that he needs a marketing manager cause he just fired his last one. Hmmm.... He asks me how long I'm in town for and then gives me his business card and tells me to email him. He tells me that he won't ever forget my name. I just say "Well, how can you ever forget a person named penis? See, that's marketing you just can't buy!"

I get a kiss goodbye and happily start wandering off with a big grin on my face when I realize I'm lost. And drunk.

Hmmm.... Where the hell am I??? I go past a bar named Karma and take a couple dead ends. Finally I get close to the water and pull out my book. Yeah, right. I'm too buzzed to read it or focus on the map for that matter and I just laugh. So I think I recognize a theater and feel the instinct that I'm on the right path. I finally get back to Las Ramblas and start floating down that street when a cute guy hands me a flyer.

He starts telling me where the club is and I thank him for the card and begin to walk away. He quickly grabs the book out my hand and looks at it. "Hmm. Where have you been today?" he says in Spanish while opening it with a professors tone and a curious grin. I switch to Spanish and start telling him the Picasso museum and some other stuff.

Two can play this game. I'm figuring he gets some sort of reward for shooting people down to the Deja Vu bar so I flip over the card for his info.

"Is your name number 3?" I say inquisitively

He looks at me surprised and then with a big smile and a great laugh he says no. "Well, number 3. What is your name?" I say, now switching the tables.

It's Luis and he wants me to stick around but I'm exhausted. I tell him I've been drinking, on a train all day and need sleep, so not tonight. He asks me to please come back to this area tomorrow and makes me promise I will. He's very sweet. I say ok and when I do I get two kisses and a cute little smile. I wave goodbye and continue floating home. I like Barcelona.

The next day I hit all the Gaudi goodness. Absolutely amazing views of organic shapes all architecture based on nature. The Sagrada Familia is a work in progress which is really interesting and it's the best church I've ever seen. It's literally a celebration of life. The columns are supposed to be trees and the inside cathedral ceiling is exactly like being beneath a canopy of trees. It's so beautiful there are not enough words to describe it. There is a small school beside the church where his studio/living quarters were. He did everything. Sculpted, designed, drew. Creation. Creation. Creation. It's inspiring.

I have to hunt to find his home up in Palau Guell but it's totally worth it. Walked everywhere in that park and each corner I turned I found something else that literally blew my mind. The organic shapes weaved in naturally with the trees, flowers, and just meshed together like magic. I love his shapes, his colors, his movement.

His thoughtful designs for architecture are mind-blowing. Simplistic, useful but at the same time creative beyond creative. I can't get enough of this as I visited his La Pedrera and Casa Batllo today. This was the whole reason I wanted to come here and I was fulfilled beyond belief.

The art is inspiring and is everywhere. The people are warm and vibrant. This city is literally buzzing all day and all night. I love it and feel like I can't get enough.

There's probably more I could say but I need to process it first. If you ever have the chance to visit this place all I can say is GO. The Barcelona trip is just adding fuel to the ever growing fire. I can't believe how great these last three months have been...