Barcelona

Barcelona is a very 'happening' and energy-filled city. It professes a very cool and welcoming atmosphere, but at the same time has an interesting grunge feel to it.

I loved my first week in Barcelona as I was able to live as more of a local rather than a tourist with Nina, Maria and Hans, ex-residents of the city. 


For months Nina had been talking about the 'musts' in Barcelona, however for this first week we took things rather slowly and enjoyed exploring El Born, the groovy little area in which her apartment is situated. On Sunday morning the sun was shining and we headed down to the Port for a stroll alongside the ocean. Nina was having a great time recalling memories of when she once roller-skated along the area as we watched hundreds of others do the same, making the most of the flat surface. We then wandered through Barcelonetta, a grunge area just next to the sea where the streets are tiny, graffiti is sprayed like wallpaper on every garage door and above the road hangs the washing.

After the two weeks on the Mediterranean with deserted beaches and clean water, the sight of the beach in Barcelona was horrible. As it is shaped like a bay, the water doesn't circulate with the wider ocean and is dirty and littered with rubbish, as well as being filled with masses of people. I remember Nina telling me that she had only swum once in the beach in the seven years she lived in the city as they preferred to go elsewhere in Summer to avoid the tourists.

After watching a set of French fighter jets perform tricks over the bay we made our way to a little restaurant nearby where we enjoyed a nice Sunday lunch. The late afternoon had already approached and so we headed back to Nina's great little apartment in the heart of El Born in typical Spanish style for a little siesta. That evening after farewelling Hans who was returning to the boat, I could not contain my excitement as Nina and I went to meet Maddy who was coming to stay for a few nights. It was an emotional reunion as we hadn't seen each other for eight months. Back at the apartment Maria prepared a delicious carrot soup and some salad and for the remainder of the evening we sat on the great little balcony and shared our stories of our travelling so far. 


The next morning Maddy and I went for a stroll through the city, continuing to catch up on the past six months of travel. I listened as she told me about her great few months in London, her many couch-surfing adventures and most recently of her hilarious time on the chestnut farm in the French countryside. At 2pm that same day we went to Accademia, a delicious Spanish restaurant in Barcelona that is a favourite of Maria's. Mum had been taken to the restaurant with Maria and had enjoyed it so much that she generously offered to shout us all a lunch. We had a delicious meal of cauliflower with a white sauce as an entree, and for the main course lamb with a pear and mushroom sauce. 


Over a nice glass of red wine we heard the history of Maria's family in the small square outside the restaurant, all the while soaking up the great Spanish feel of the place. That evening after a nice meal again prepared by Maria, Nina Maddy and I went out for a cocktail in an old Spanish bar just off La Rambla. We woke early the next morning and headed to the Picasso Museum, hoping to beat the crowds. Maddy and I had a great look through the gallery for a few hours. My favorite work was a fantastic etching of a typical Spanish couple looking very serious. The detail was incredible and the expressions of the man and woman were captured perfectly. It was a sad farewell as we saw Maddy off that evening, however knowing we had lasted eight months apart meant we could easily last three. She was almost at the end of her travels and was excited to get home and start her new life in Sydney, where I am excited to join her in a few months time. 


The following day we had a nice mother-daughter shopping outing as we tried to hunt down some winter woolies for Maria who was heading to Switzerland for a few months. We were without success in that department, however we did hunt down some other bargains as Nina bought some nice clothes and a gorgeous pair of Spanish shoes. We almost had a heart attack when we realised it was 4:30pm and we hadn't eaten anything except for some fruit in the morning, however lunch at 5pm would not seem unusual to Spaniards. A few hours later Maria was off to a friend's dinner and so Nina and I went to Kasparo, the Spanish tapas bar which has been in the Triado family for many years. We had a huge jug of Sangria to share as well as some delicious tapas. Nina reminisced on the many memories she had of herself as a little girl running into the bar kitchen in the afternoons demanding food and being treated like the little blonde princess 'm sure she was!

We left Barcelona the following day and boarded the train to San Sebastian. As we rode away from the city I was already looking forward to the next time I would be back in Barcelona in a few weeks time.