BARCELONA: Where we were touristsBrett fell asleep on the ride up to Barcelona, so the car was quiet enough to permit conversation this time around. As usual, we stuffed the vehicle to clown-car proportions (by this point four in the backseat felt spacious). I wish I had a videotape of Jeff and Michi giving Ken directions into Barcelona. Maybe I was just tired, but it struck me funny: Jeff gave directions via the stream of consciousness method; he'd basically read every sign he saw in the same calm voice, while Michi's contribution was to gently wave his hand from left to right while saying, "yeah... no... left, I think... no, no... right..." After several choruses of "este-oeste" we made it into town and Brett woke up right on schedule.
We found a place to park in the Gothic section of town and Michi took us to meet his brother and parents. His family is originally from Japan. They have an elegant shop where they sell Japanese art and furnishings. Like so many of the stores in Barcelona they were closed for the month of August. Ironically enough, I spoke more Spanish with Michi's mom, whose native tongue is Japanese, than I did with anyone else throughout our trip. Afterwards, we traipsed about looking for lodging, but all the pensions were full. Ken, Jeff and Brett decided to stay up all night since they flew out the next day. Jef and I, however, had one full day in Barcelona, so we wanted a good night's sleep. Ken kindly arranged for us to stay in Area3's studio. We weren't sure how to get there, so we met up with Elisa of Area3 at the Placa George Orwell. When Jef asked Michi how far away his apartment was from the cafe we were at, he soberly replied, "About four and a half years" because he didn't hear the question right. We had a good laugh at that one.
Later on, we caught a cab with Elisa and she feigned being a tourist guide as we zipped down the Avinguda de Gracia. "To your left you see Gaudi's Casa Battlo," she told us, explaining how he and his rival architect had both designed buildings in the St. George and the Dragon theme on the same block. (For some reason, blocks are called 'manzanas' which also means 'apples' in Spanish, but I don't know if that's intentional or just a pun in the making.) We also passed by La Perdrera, Gaudi's famous apartment complex. The next day when Jef and I walked by I was as impressed by the unique ceiling I could see in the ground floor as I was with the rest of the building. A few days prior to our trip I read that Gaudi was being considered for sainthood. At the time this seemed a rather silly idea, but after seeing his work, I wholeheartedly agree. The man is a genius!
That night, Jef and I shared a tiny futon on the floor at Area3's studio, but their powerful fan transformed it into four star accommodations. We were so grateful! We watched a little bit of Spanish TV before hitting the hay. They had an unintentionally hilarious show on - a titillating sci-fi thing in which this crew would fly around to different planets in order to monitor the ways in which different planets seduced one another, very silly! Elisa and Fede showed up to work early the next morning which was fine with Jef and me; we wanted to make the most of our day in Barcelona. Elisa gave us directions to Park Guell, otherwise known as Gaudi's Children's Park. She invited us to meet them for lunch but told us she'd understand if we were having too much fun to make it.
Lunch was bocadillos at a little café in the Gracia district. Mine was gorgonzola with raisins - quite yummy and only $2.50. Spain is so inexpensive. Despite having much of the population being gone on vacation, the remaining neighbors were preparing for a big festival. As we strolled down the streets people were in the streets - they'd blocked off lots of streets - and were creating papier-mache creations and painting festive banners. Our last night we wandered for hours, marveling at all we had seen and experienced over the past two weeks. It was sad knowing that soon we'd be back into the whirlwind of our life nine time zones away; it didn't seem fair to leave so many new friends behind - especially when they were such kindred souls. Still, we were grateful for the opportunity. And besides, who knows what the future may bring?
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