Barcelona, España - Barcelona, Spain

 
 Barcelona Photo Album Here
 

I’m not sure where to start, what words to say, what story to tell. I write to late after to conclude much of anything, to describe much amazement. My thoughts are wrapped in more important endeavors and revelations. I have to try though, if not for the sake of some kind of temporary resolution to this blog but at least for the people who’ve read it so religiously over the past few months.
After the stressful situation in Amsterdam, I finally made it to Madrid. Trying to find my friend proved mildly difficult but after being an hour late, we saw eachother and in a flood of tears we stood in embrace for several minutes. It was probably an awkward scene, weighed down with bags in front of the train station but nothing could make us look away from each other or leave the moment we had anticipated for so long. Holding hands we set out on the first part of our journey and caught the train to Barcelona. Francesca was nervous about her first couchsurfing experience but I assured her it was far better we were couchsurfing than staying in a hostel. Sure enough I was quickly proved right, our host was awesome, his house was amazing, we had our own space and did everything to make us feel welcome. I was feeling a loss over everything in Amsterdam and then on the train to our hosts’ house we noticed my chain had come loose, allowing the guitar pick I’ve worn around my neck for 6 years and another sentimental pendant to fall off into oblivion. I’m not attached to many material things, but that was a hard loss to handle, one of which I still have not come to grips with and likely never will.

We had a lot of sightseeing to do in Barcelona but as per usual, it rained my 1st days. We wandered out and saw some things still and met some neighbours who play guitar almost every night in the plaza near where we were staying. We spent a considerable amount of time cooking and jamming with our host, talking of the current Spanish affairs and what the protesters are doing to move forward. Everyone has heard of the riots and protests both here and in Greece. In Spain the protesters have mostly divided into smaller more community based groups that are holding regular meetings to discuss their ideas in a more effective and productive manner. I guess only time what will happen to the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain and France soon possibly) but I doubt the EU agreement will uphold it’s economic intentions and initiatives. Keep open borders? We can only hope.

After the cracks of lightening faded into the new day, we set out to cover basically every Gaudi building in town and some museums. Exhausted we stumbled back just to be home for a while with our host. I really hate sightseeing, especially an entire day of it. Little bits and pieces here and there I enjoy but too much and I become withdrawn from reality, left irritable and feeling wasted. We were invited to a jam just north of where we were staying so we headed up there to check it out. Upon getting off the train we were confused, in the dead of suburbia, not quite sure where to go but we were eventually directed into this hole in the wall bar up the hill. It was such a cool vibe, outdoor patio, hash every where, cheap drinks, musicians and kids running around. For those that don’t know, Spain practices siesta, a period in the afternoon where everyone sleeps in avoidance of the mid day sun. In turn this means very late nights and very early mornings. This sounds ridiculous and foreign to us but having grown up on that schedule, most kids are up very late. It’s a hard schedule to get on, I’ve been trying since I got here and have not fully succeeded yet. As soon as we walked in the little girls said Hola Chickas! And I was basically rushed onto stage, thrown in the mix of only Spanish speaking musicians, trying to communicate with little avail. We pulled it together quickly in much amusement to the little girls there and did 2 songs before I couldn’t stand the blinding heat under the bright lights or the drummers’ indecisive nature. We chatted outside the best we could considering no one there spoke much English and we hadn’t exactly mastered Spanish. Amazing how many laughs and conversations can be had with little or no words.

We had to leave tho becuz it was our last nite in Barcelona and we had see one last sight before we headed to Seville. There is a rather large and offensive phallic structure in the centre of Barcelona that glistens in multicoloured LED awesomeness that Fran and I wanted to go photograph at nite. So we set off on what would end up being a rather lengthy mission. Unfortunately, said lengthy mission came to no resolve, for some reason, it was not lit up. In irritation and anger with ourselves for leaving such an awesome party, we mopped, deciding it best to just go get some tapas and give up on the rest of the nite. A good choice under the circumstances.

Tomorrow we would head to Andalusia, the part of the trip I was most looking forward to.