Spring in Spain

March 7th to the 11th, I was in Barcelona with a bunch of my RADA friends.  We woke up at 4 am to grab a double-decker bus to London Victoria station, there to take another coach to catch an 8:05 plane from Stanstead to Barcelona-Girona airport.  Traveling with four actresses and two filmmaking women, it could've been problematic, but everyone kept his or her cool, and we were especially relaxed getting off the bus from the airport to the sunny Carrer de la Marina of downtown Barcelona.

We reserved a spacious and cheap hostel just a few blocks from the Sagrada Familia, a hundred year old cathedral, still under construction, following blue prints from the late Antonin Gaudi.  The archtiecture was wild.  Elaborate carvings of bible scenes tower high into the skyline.  It reminded me of King Louie's palace in "The Jungle Book."  

Barcelona is a large

, spread-out coastal city.  We got to know the metro system pretty well in the four days I spent there.  It's another city designed on a grid, and there are a number of historical monuments

, so the metro works very intuitively and efficiently.  Intersections on the grid spread out into dia

mond shapes, which is very frustrating for the pedestrian, who has to move left and across the street, then right to get back on the block.  Plenty of space to park vespas and motorbikes, though, which is very much the vehicle of choice.  (Especially for the crooks, too, I think.  Two of my friends were robbed within two days of our being there.)

Our first night, Anna and Liz and I went to watch the fountain light show near Montjuic Palace.  It was a little corny, listening to a recording of Freddie Mercury sing "Barcelona" or Celine Dion's "My Heart will Go On" in English as water shot up in the air.  Apparently, the Belagio models its fountain off of this one, so that was pretty cool.

My favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Gaudi park up West in the hills.  On our third day there, Jon and Phil and I found a little grocery chain to buy salami and baguettes and Spanish chocolates to make some lunch while we sat under the stone caves and palm trees.  

The beach was an hour walk away from the hostel, and it was crowded even in the 55 degree weather.  On my second day, I had paella in La Barceloneta, a row of restaurants.  A little pricey, but the chorizo was lip-smackingly good.

It was certainly hard to leave, but four days was just about the right amount of time.  

Our fourth day, we visited Barcelona Cathedral in Las Ramblas, built in the 14th century, and discovered a courtyard inside with a geese-inhabited pool and palm trees!  Church in the tropics, baby.

Our last night, before hitting up the clubs in the old city called "Las Ramblas," (where you are free to purchase roosters on the street, if you so desire).  I ran down to a local fruit vender to grab some strawberries for our dessert.  (It was also a chance to dust off the old Spanish and make an old, leathery-faced Spanish friend.)  Soon, a confusing exchange ensued in which I didn't really know how many "fresas" I wanted.  

"No sé.  Siete o Ocho?"

"Bueno.  Ocho."

The man pulled out eight strawberries and put them on the scale.  It came out to about 1.63 Euro, a pretty awkward number, considering I had given him 2 Euro.  So, I put my foot down.

"Bueno.  Es que, quiero más.  Doce fresas, por favor."

The man pulled out four more and it ended up being exactly 2 Euro.

"Perfecto!"  I smiled.

"Perfecto!" the man laughed.

A lame story, but it made me happy.

More to come on the second half of spring break with Biggie M. Harvey, soon.