I know this is outta order and as always, way abbreviated but LAST WEEKEND.! It's always always an adventure with me..never a dull moment.! First off, I headed off into the night in a taxi at 3:45 AM Friday morning after a restful hour and a half of sleep. After paying the taxi I realized he'd dropped me off at Victoria..which is not where I asked to be dropped off at. Completely lost with barely any money and only 20 minutes to find out how to catch my bus and running around everywhere following random people's conflicting instructions...anyways. A nice busdriver told me if I caught a taxi I might still be able to make it there so he hailed me one and ended up where I needed to be with an entire minute to spare.! The view from the plane window was so gorgeous- flying over snow capped mountains to beautifully sunny Barcelona! A short wait in the airport and was then reunited con mi Devonito for a weekend jaunt! no big deal you know, just country hopping. We checked into our fancy adorable bed and breakfast that most assuredly thought we were a prude confused couple, and that's when it happened. When I fell in love...with...Francisco! Of course that's his name..it had to be. *Sigh. What an incredibly sexy charming man. Actually he just worked there..but my Spanish true love..oh Pacoito..*sigh. EVERYONE was so gorgeous it was insane. Devon and I headed out in search of tapas, walked down las ramblas, and checked out the mercat de la boqueria, which was AWESOME. Full of fresh fruit, vegetables, chocolate, cuts of meat, and seafood that upon closer inspection was still twitching in the ice O_o. We got a chirimoya to share later- so good.! & insanely good gelato..! We walked around a lot enjoying the weather, sights, and sounds (foster the people & creepy annoying vendors with distortedly squeaky mouth whistles) of Spain- saw the Christopher Columbus statue (where he supposedly reported his trip to the Americas to Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand), the port vell, the Arc de Triomf and more.! We almost saw a spanish concert in Santa Maria del Mar- turns our they were rehearsing 3 hours early.? Saw breakdancers, walked by the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, then met up with Devon's friend from W&M Amanda, and walked around a lot more before ending up at a delicious tapas place projecting freakeh images on the walls with delicious food (patatas bravas.!) and a unique server to say the least. Then we ended up at an Australian themed bar with angry bartenders and a tiny pitcher of sangria and then an accidental free glass of sangria that kept spilling on the table. Saturday, after a lovely free breakfast complete with Magdalenas, we met up with Amanda and had an AMAZING time looking at so much of Gaudi's architecture- all of it was so fantastically beautiful and different and I loved it.! reminded me a bit of hundertwasser in Austria. We saw Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, and La Sagrada Familia. At La Sagrada Familia, we realized that we had been looking at the wrong side of the building trying to find the images talked about in Devon's guide to Barcelona book, but we were then able to fully appreciate the architecture and symbolism of the structure once we walked around the building. Park Guell was SO beautiful too once we hiked and escalatored all the way up there- such a view, and mosaics and designs everywhere in the curved benches of the outlook. And we were serenaded by beautiful dancing dredlocked hippie spainards playing bongos, guitar, bass, and a digeridoo.! We stopped for a late lunch and I got a delicious queso manchego bocadillo, then we kept exploring and walked on the beach right at sunset. I splashed in the cold Mediterranean Sea & Devon and Amanda did not. A creepy fat completely naked man walked by..yes. Late november on the beach. O_o. We took awhile finding 'the magic fountain' in Montjuic but when we found it it was SO worth it.! (http://www.dotting.me/en/photo-8291.html) There were SO many gorgeous fountains everywhere with an amazing light show and oddly enough obscure 80's American music..then opera..then slightly spanish sounding ballads..It was so wonderful though and incredibly beautiful, sitting on the steps enjoying the colorful streams of water with friends in Spain..*sigh. I keep thinking about the weekend and what was my favorite part and so much of it was..Then we went to get a late dinner- another highlight, AMAZING fresh seafood Paella right by the coast itself (it was so much seafood but I had to, and it was well worth it, I wish I could have swam in the deliciousness of it all. Devon named his shrimp with head still intact Francisco) and sangria and then we split a crema catalona- typical catalon dessert. Then we walked around for FOREVER trying to find the fabled crazy nightlife of Barcelona. Everywhere we found was full of creepy old people or extremely expensive..Devon & I ended up going into a literal garage and what we think quite possibly may have been an Anti-American party. There was music, people dancing, red white and blue lights and it was the sketchiest of settings but I enjoyed that a lot..random half closed garage door hole in the wall. Sunday we walked around the markets more, and spent most of the day in the Parc de la ciutadella- which was gorgeous, like the rest of Barcelona.! The park had lots of interesting buildings, including the parliament de catallunya. As we walked further in, there was a gigantic pond surrounded by palm trees where you could rent boats out to paddle around in. There was an adorable girl yelling "Hola pato! hola pato! hola patito!" at the ducks swimming by. Then we discovered the cascada- yet another gorgeous fountain hidden away in the park, featuring a statue of Venus and a golden horse drawn chariot on top. We spent a lot of time watching little kids freak out about the gigantic bubbles people were making, which was adorable :) There was a pavilion full of people salsa-ing nearby, and then later, we were entertained by a man doing the most intensely thorough pre-stretching I've ever seen. I don't think he ever did any kind of exercise..he made a show out of it all and there's no way he wasn't aware of his captive audience as he squatted, hopped, and boxed his way around. There was also an adorable dog who kept fetching out of water nearby that was 54x's more active than that athlete could ever hope to be. Amanda & I got gofres amb xocolata amb gelat for lunch (insanely delicious waffles topped with chocolate and icecream-I got tiramisu gelat) what a messily wonderful experience.! All too soon..barcelona was over..but it was an amazing time :) I feel so inadequate compared to so many different people I've met that are fluent in several different languages, and to Devon and Sara who are at least nearly fluent in other languages despite their protests that they aren't quite. Well I was super impressed with Devon even though Barcelona speaks Castilian rather than Spanish.
Check this out.! -> (http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/maps/barcelona-map.html)
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