June 18-21: Barcelona

Apparently it’s pronounced Barthelona, and apparently patates fregidas means “potato chips” in Catalan. As in potato chips like Thins. I mention this as this our first dinner in Barthelona was nachos and Thins. Perhaps OK at home, but not in a restaurant; a cautionary tale against ordering randomly in a foreign language. On a more positive note, I went out on a limb and ordered that sassy light yellow drink that all the young Spanish women seemed to be ordering: clara, half beer and half lemon something.

The pace of life in Spain is well suited to the uni student. Day begins at 10 am, lunch goes from 1-5 pm (siesta), knock-off is 8 pm, sun goes down at about 9.30 pm, and dinner is usually 10 pm, although it’s common to see people rolling up to full restaurants at midnight, when the air is still warm. We often found ourselves hungry at the nerdily-early time of 8 pm. People stay out late, no matter what night of the week, and Barcelona has plenty of bars, cafes and plazas to accommodate them, which makes the nocturnal atmosphere quite buzzy.

We saw two famous monuments, La Sagrada Familia (an unfinished church), and Park Güell (a very large city park), both designed by Antoni Gaudi. He somehow turned his love for God, vegetables and nature into inspiring architectural masterpieces. Barcelona’s other premier attraction, the Museu Picasso, allowed us to savour the brilliance of the young Pablo Picasso, although we weren’t prepared for the roomful of pornographic drawings. Disturbing – and they let children in!

The Sagrada Familia. Check out the famous guy sitting on the arch!

Close-up of the Sagrada Familia. St Peter (played by Gumby) hears the cock crow three times.

The Park Guell. Houses not actually made of gingerbread.

This is what they call "hanging ten".

Barcelona is also a bit of a shopping mecca. We stayed in a “funky” district, which may have alluded to not only the expensive boutique stores but also the smell at times. Closer to the city centre, Vicky was pleased to discover a bevy of clothes stores; Zara is priced like Target!

It was just as much fun to walk the streets of Barcelona, and see all kinds of pleasant and/or unusual sights. We came across several outdoor pet stores showcasing many cute, illegal-looking species; outdoor string quartets; outdoor art expositions (ie. plenty of oversize statues); and a completely naked old man (not a street performer, just walking around going about his business). What a wacky city.

He's so cute.

Did somebody say wacky?

Just happy to have caught this train on the correct day.