Now it was starting to rain. But we were almost at the top. A little water wasn't going to hurt us. Well, it did make the rocks a bit more slippery. But we were almost at the top.
When Stefanie and I reached the summit, it was beautiful. This is why I hate sightseeing. This was experiencing. That's the best way to "view" a foreign land. We had started climbing some ancient walls that surrounded the ancient city of Girona, and then we found some trails off-the-beaten-path that took us even higher above the city. When we reached the top, the tiny city just north of Barcelona appeared glorious under the Spanish night. Unfortunately, my photos of it sucked.
Nevertheless a summary of two days in Catalonia.
Tranquil ol' Girona.
Barcelona's Arc de Triomf. The one that nobody cares about.
INFORMACION, POR FAVOR:
A summary of my two days in Catalonia.
Excelente!
Here are the highlights from Catalonia. Isn't that right voice of Spanish Mr. Burns?
-Dancing at a discotheque packed with Spanish people and American music. Too much rhythm? Perhaps but at least they weren't doing this.
-Climbing ancient walls.
-Eating traditional Spanish food (see below).
-The Dali Museum (coming in a future post).
-Spanish architecture.
-Las Ramblas during the day.
-The most immaculate subways you'll ever see are in Barcelona. It also runs all night during the weekends.
-Street performers. Everyone loves a good street performer (see below)
-The Ryanair theme song.
Ay caramba!
And of course, there were some rather disappointing parts of Catalonia. Isn't that right English-speaking Bart Simpson who uses Spanish exclamations.
-Las Ramblas at night. This was one of the biggest disappointments of the entire break. You'd think that the biggest street in Barcelona would have a wild Catalan nightlife. Instead there were just, uh, weird shops and people. Apparently we were searching in all the wrong places (you're supposed to go closer to the beach we found out afterward?) We did eventually find some discotheque, but it felt too tourist-y to me. And then I whined and feel asleep. Ay papi!
-Drinks at discotheques. Seven or eight euros for just about anything. But there are no cover chargers.
-Siestas. The whole city becomes a ghost town for two hours in the mid-afternoon.
Muy delicioso:
There's no easier way to "experience" another culture then to eat their food and spill their wine. Or as I did in a plaza in Barcelona, squirt lemon juice on the Irish guy sitting next to you. Here's what I chowed on in Catalonia.
-Paella*
-Tapas. If you order tapas get the very delicious patatas bravas (fierce potatoes). They're almost too delicious. Mom, please make me some when I return to America.
-Fried apple doughnuts covered in Catalan Creme.
-Granatxa wine. It's the most widely planted red wine grape in the world. But we drank it in Catalonia, where it originated. Oh the sweet taste of authenticity.
-Gofres con chocolate (Chocolate covered waffles). Waffles are a big time dessert in Spain. If there's one idea America should take from Espana, it's waffles for dessert. Mmmm. Isn't that right Homer Simpson?
Girona (an hour north of Barcelona)
Girona was an amazing way to kick off my fall break.* I scaled an ancient city (even though part of those fancy walls were actually part of a university), fiesta'd at an excellent Spanish nightclub (that of course blasted English music) and ate delicious tapas. Stef and I spent two days in Catalona, one in Girona and one in Barcelona, before meeting up with another roommate* in Madrid and Girona certainly surprised us with awesomeness.
A photo from either the Jewish quarter of Girona or the Arab corner. Can't remember.
The morning we left Girona, we watched natives make a sacrifice to The Burger King.
The second most popular movie currently playing in Barcelona. Behind Diario de una Ninfomana.
Before we move onto Barcelona photos it's time for:
MATT LEVIN EMBARRASSES HIMSELF TRYING TO SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE (Part 1)
Today's language: Catalan. I tried to whip out my Spanish while ordering a chocolate filled croissant at 3 am one morning. But I failed right off the bat. She kept trying to explain some mistake I made, and I wasn't getting it. It took about a minute before I realized I had paid for the croissant with two pounds.
I did find out in Madrid that even the Spanish can't make sense of Catalan. Comforting, right?
Barcelona
Barcelona also was quite amazing. Although the nightlife seemed lacking, the city center was crammed with people during the day. The famed Las Ramblas street was swarming with vendors, street performers and probably a million tourists. But enough babbling, you want a dozen photos of street performers!
Digeridoo!!!
This photo gallery should be called street performers because that's all you're seeing from here on out. Barcelona: El ciudad de actors del calle.
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!
If you gave this performer some cash money, he'd ride a bike with a skeleton. Neat!
More street performers.
Even more street performers.
Enough street performers already!
Probably one of the better photos I've taken...of a street performer!
This was actually a pretty awesome Latin-style band. Look this guy can play his face so hard he has blisters on his fingers.
A sitar?
The middle guy was Argentinian, FYI.
The whole gang.
And this guy who loved getting his photo taken. Adios Espana.
--
Foot notes
*Man, I don't think I could ever travel with more than one person at a time again. I traveled with one roommate in Spain (Stef) and one in Portugal (Will). It just simplifies everything. Three really would feel like a crowd. A stressful, stressful crowd. And the best part for Stef and Will, thanks to my brilliant switcheroo midway through the trip, they each only had to deal with me for half of the weeklong break. De nada!
*And to think, we both accidentally fell asleep in our hostel at 8 p.m. the first night and almost didn't leave our rooms at all. But at 10:30 p.m., we forced ourselves to get up and just do anything. We had no plan. And it ended up being one of the best nights of the entire break (hmm, and this scenario repeats itself in Porto). There's a lesson here. Sacrifice sleep, sacrifice animals, sacrifice whatever, but don't ever decide to do nothing when visiting a new place. Even if you have no plan, no idea where to go and you're tired....go out and explore. That's the whole point of being in another culture: Explore, try to learn something new and maybe even learn about yourself. **** sleep!
*A note about chicken in Spain. It's never boneless. Even in our chicken paella, buried under the rice were chicken wings with bone. It's kinda gross, and I don't understand if it's a cultural thing or maybe only Americans de-bonify chicken. The good news is the Spanish make the most succulent chicken on Earth.
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