Barcelona adventure...

Trip Start Feb 09, 2007
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Trip End Feb 25, 2007


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Friday, February 23, 2007

Today I saw one of the most amazing sights of my life.  No, I'm talking about Gaudi's Casa Batllo, though that was also one of our stops.  We saw a man with a mullet.  Now I know you're thinking this sounds familiar.  But have you ever seen a man with a mullet that goes 2 feet down his back?  Who instead of having short hair on the sides has it all shaved off?  Who has died some of his mullet orange, while leaving the rest black?  Who has beaded parts of his mullet in rainbow colors?  It was truly special, and one of the scariest things I have ever seen.

So in Barcelona, we have done a lot of... sleeping.  Seriously, I think we're averaging about 12 hours a day.  I think we all need it, though.  Regardless, we've still managed to see a lot.  Today we spent the day in L'Eixample, the area of the city built up more than a century ago to accommodate the growing population.  Instead of narrow Medieval streets, we're talking huge boulevards criss-crossing in a massive grid.  We basically walked up the Carrer Gran de Gracia, combining sightseeing with lunch and shopping.  We saw Gaudi's Casa Batllo, which is definitely one of the most interesting houses I have ever seen.  Definitely a departure from the royal palace in Madrid we toured just 2 days ago.

The Casa Batllo is really an ingenious design.  There are almost no straight lines in the entire house, as Gaudi wanted his design to more accurately reflect mother nature.  There are amazing colors used throughout the house and I particularly appreciated his brilliant ventilation system and that every room in the house got some form of natural light.  The highlight for me, though, was heading up the roof.  I thought of my friends Michelle and Marlene as the audio guide talked about the reference on the roof to the dragon slain by St. George.  They should both understand my fondness for this story ;-).  The only downside to the house was that it cost about $20 to get in.  It was the most expensive attraction we've seen!

Yesterday, we followed the path for a typical first day in Barcelona.  We walked down Las Ramblas, we stopped at an amazing produce market, and we looked for Starbucks for Chris.  There are none on Las Ramblas, by the way, in case you are ever in Barcelona looking for one...not that I'm an advocate.  We walked around the Barri Gothic and jumped in and out of some shops.  We even took in the main Cathedral, another small church, and went to the Picasso Museum.  We of course stopped for an afternoon glass of Cava and some tapas, had a pastry snack, and headed back for our afternoon nap.  We ended up having dinner at a place called the Attic, right on Las Ramblas.  It was surprisingly good and relatively inexpensive given its location.  I also loved the fact that we were dining well past midnight and the restaurant was still packed with people.

Overall, I am definitely enjoying Barcelona.  Although, I'm surprised to say that I actually am missing Madrid a bit.  There is a lot more traffic here and people seem to be in much more of a hurry.  Also, it's become increasingly difficult to practice my Spanish, as people here seem to default to Catelan, then English, and finally Castillan Spanish.  I am trying my best, though.

I only have 2 days left in my little Spanish (and Portugese) adventure.  I have to admit that I'm little sad that it's coming to an end.  I've really enjoyed Spain, especially the laid back attitude, the long lunches, the nights moving from Tapas bar to Tapas bar, and of course not working ;-).

I hope everyone is well and I look forward to speaking to you all upon my return!

Marc
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