Resting it out with Pinxos, Paella, and Peddling

For those of you who have never been, Barcelona has an excellent public transportation system. There are plentiful buses, trams, trains, and a metro. But that’s not all- the city has recently started something called Bicing, a pick-up/drop-off bike system for locals. We tried to get bikes, but as we later found out, one needs to register and live in Barcelona to rent one. We are not sure if they are free or just really cheap, but they are great. There are Bicing stations all over the city, so you can pick one up in Plaza Catalunya, for example, and drop it off by the Barcelonetta Beach (as another example). I think every urban city should invest in this system because it is sustainable and fun. Almost everyone loves bike-riding, and it’s much faster than walking.

So anyway, on Wednesday, after a failed attempt to go to Montserrat (I was feeling sick) and successful attempt to sleep until noon, we decided it was time to hit the town. For lunch we had Pinxos, which are little breads with either tortilla or crab or jamon Serrano, or other yummy foods attached with a toothpick.

Full and happy, we walked around the whole city and took the metro to the beach. We strolled leisurely and Bret taught me how to skip stones. Then, we looked up at the distance and realized that there was a series of cable cars overhead. After looking at the map, we realized that we could take a car over the city to Montjuic, yet another part of Barcelona. The ride was lovely because it took us above the sea, and it was lots of fun to get such a nice bird’s eye view of Barcelona. After doing a few sprints around the mountain, we met up with my family again for some dinner. We walked around the whole city looking for places to eat, and finally settled on another Pinxos place in Old City close to the Cathedral. To end the night, we went to the newly designed hotel Ooomm, where we listened to live music and had Amaretto with Cream.

On Thursday, Bret was not feeling well, but he was determined to experience the town, so we rented tourist bikes (not bicings) and rode around the whole city. We have decided that the best way to see a city is by biking or mopedding. We had such a fun time biking through the Born and the Parc de la Ciudadella (where there are lakes, pathways, and a zoo). The sun felt so nice and warm, we decided it would be a perfect day for a paella on the beach. For those of you who don’t know, paella is a delicious Spanish rice made with peppers, squid, lobster, and shrimp. It was perhaps the most delicious paella I’ve had (next to my mother’s of course!), and the hot sun and crashing waves made the experience a completely hedonistic event.

To finish off our bike ride, we headed up through Poblenou, which is a quiet and quaint part of the city, and then Bret went back to nap while I wreaked havoc in the stores. Let me tell you that Catalonians are not known for their kindness towards strangers, and I experienced firsthand the wrath of the shop clerk. Ok, wrath might be a bit strong, but I was needlessly scolded in two stores for touching the merchandise. First, I went into a hat store, and after I had touched a hat, the shop assistant said: “Psst! No!!” and shook his head and wagged his finger at me. I felt like a naughty puppy, so I quickly scampered out to the open market. While there, I noticed a lovely antique typewriter. As I was testing it out, the seller came up to me and said: “Hey, what are you doing? That’s not a toy, you know.” Again, I cowered away. This was too much disciplinary action for a pleasant shopping trip. They could have put signs that said: No tocar, or gently told me that touching the merchandise was not allowed. But no, this is Barcelona, and you have to be a feisty little one to survive the stores. Once you know that, shopping is much better. I think, in fact, that Barcelona shopping is even better than New York shopping because in Barcelona, they have stores you can’t find anywhere else, while in New York, most stores are international chains. Sure, there are chains in Barcelona; in fact, my parents bought me some lovely outfits from the chain MANGO, but they also have little boutiques that aren’t all terribly expensive. I got this really cool felt necklace from a store in Gracia, the young, vibrant part of Barcelona. And there were some really fun pins and patterns in stores around Old City.

Anyway, we have been left visually and gastronomically satisfied. And we are ready for more international adventures. We hope, not only to hit up places around Europe, but even take advantage of the fact we are so close to Africa, and go to Egypt and Morocco. But for now, we’ll keep it quiet here in Northeast England. As they say in these parts: Ta-ra!

Barthelona: Sun is shinin, weather is sweet...

Well folks, Bret and I are back from our Catalonian adventure, and what a great time we had!

It was Bret’s first time on the Iberian peninsula, and I hadn’t been in 8 years, so I had forgotten quite a bit about it, like how sunny it is in Barcelona! Every day we were blessed with bright blue skies. The temperature, too, was glorious, usually in the mid-fifties. Despite this, wherever we went, we saw everyone bundled up with scarves and coats. Even most dogs were clad in their little canine sweaters! Barcelona is a very dog-friendly city. Actually, it’s a very pedestrian-friendly city, not only because of the weather, but also because the sidewalks are wide and there are many shops and cafes everywhere. We stayed in a wonderful little hotel called the Alexandra, right off the Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona’s “5th Avenue”. Everyday, we walked along the storefronts of Tous, Burberry, Carolina Herrera, and MaxMara.

But the shiny storefronts were hardly the only objects to dazzle our eyes on this trip. Barcelona was Antonio Gaudi’s design playground, and his art nouveau influence, with eccentric undulations and quirky mosaics abound. In fact, after greeting my parents and grabbing some tapas, we decided to head out to his famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia. It’s a fantastic and still unfinished structure which lights up gloriously at night. Across from the Sagrada Familia, there is a lovely park where children were playing futbol and ping pong. Like any cutting edge urban mecca, Barcelona is home to many bustling green spaces. My mom tells me that as a child when she would visit Barcelona for long periods of time, she would feed the pigeons in Plaza Catalunya and play in the Parc de la Ciudadella. These parks act as a sanctuary to garrulous groups, joyous (and tantrum-throwing) children, fetching pups, and romantic (frequently underage) couples.

Surrounding these parks, there is often a mixture of buildings: Parisian-style apartments, grand government structures, and sleek hotels. The old and the new comfortably co-exist in this cosmopolitan city. Ornate gothic churches sit alongside jagged-edged post-modern structures. The centuries compress within buildings, too. It is not uncommon to see an old 18th century exterior, with thick stones and dramatic doors, lead to a cleanly refurbished ultra-modern interior.

After appreciating the preliminary sights of Barcelona, Bret and I decided to head back to our own minimalist quarters at the Hotel Alexandra. As we lay in bed, we couldn’t help but notice that there was something curiously different about our setting aside from the obvious change in location from our English bedroom. Then we realised: unlike our bedroom in Durham which faces a noisy, busy street, this room faced an interior courtyard. We closed our eyes, and for the first time in 3 months on Dec 24, we had a truly silent night.