I arrived in Barcelona a couple of days ago. Jetlagged and thirsty, I navigated my way through the city via bus and then metro to find my accommodations, a room rented via Airbnb in an apartment that’s about a 5-minute walk from the famous Sagrada Familia. The place is as nice as the photos promised it would be, and the host is even nicer. Her family is from the island of Menorca, but she grew up in Barcelona and knows the city well. She’s been a huge help whenever I've had any questions. The day I arrived she was at work, but her boyfriend let me in and helped me get oriented looking out over the city from the terrace. I didn't think to ask him if it was OK to drink the tap water. Shortly after he left, my bottled water ran out, and frankly I was too tired to go out and buy some more. After a nap and a shower, Carla arrived home and told me the good news, that I could in fact drink the water here. It didn't taste great, but it wouldn't make me sick. I downed about three glasses. It’s been a while since I've traveled somewhere where it’s OK to drink the water, so this is a bonus. Less money spent on bottled water, and more money for… wine?
Speaking of which, I had my first real meal in a restaurant on Friday night, in a little place just two blocks down the street from the apartment named “El Bar”. I was definitely the only solo diner there, but true to Barcelona form I sat down to eat around 9:45 p.m. They asked me if I wanted a menu in English or in Catalan, and stupidly I asked if they had one in Spanish, which they informed me they did not. "Really?" I asked in Spanish. "Really," they replied, but kindly offered to translate anything I needed help with. I should not have been surprised at the lack of a menu in Spanish. I had been told this might be the case in some places, and I have seen the “Catalonia is not Spain” signs and flags scattered about the city. Carla was telling me all about the independence movement, and pretty much all the signs here are in Catalan first, Spanish second, and English last, for all the tourists. In any case, I sat down with my menu in Catalan, which honestly is not that hard to understand if your Spanish is decent. There are also some things about it that remind me of French. I ordered a salad, a pizza, and a glass of wine. The super-nice waitress returned a few seconds later to tell me that the portions were pretty large and to ask if I still wanted all of that. Basically, I think I was ordering dinner for two people. I thought about telling her she might be surprised at how much I could eat, but instead just said I was hungry, but not sure if I was that hungry. Ultimately, she told me I could just take home whatever I didn't finish, which ended up being half a pizza. I noticed a sign toward the end of my meal that said “no cards,” but fortunately I had cash on me, and more than enough as my whole dinner cost a little over $20, the cheapest part of it being the wine, which was less than $3! Awesome!
Some the other highlights/observations so far:
- The weather is beautiful! Hot and sunny. You definitely need a good sunscreen and water, plus some well-timed breaks in the shade, preferably close to a bakery.
- People are generally very friendly and will speak to you in Spanish if you make the effort. I’ve been mistaken for Dutch, but when that doesn’t work they’ll revert to English. I just keep responding in Spanish and once they realize you can hold your own, they’ll go with it.
- I can't really do the Castellano accent. Occasionally I’ll say something that sounds more like “grathias” than “gracias” but that’s about it. I'm sure if I spent more time here, it would come more naturally, but for now I’m pretty sold on the Mexican accent.
- The vast majority of tourists here are Russian, or Russian-speaking. It’s incredible, really. Most signs near the major attractions are in Russian, in addition to English. At this point my Russian is pretty rusty, but I was able to understand that the angry man yelling at his 10-year-old son today at Gaudi’s Park Guell was not impressed that the boy was not impressed. Something along the lines of, "Your mother and I both appreciate this place, why can’t you?" Poor kid probably just needed a pastry and some shade.
Speaking of which, I had my first real meal in a restaurant on Friday night, in a little place just two blocks down the street from the apartment named “El Bar”. I was definitely the only solo diner there, but true to Barcelona form I sat down to eat around 9:45 p.m. They asked me if I wanted a menu in English or in Catalan, and stupidly I asked if they had one in Spanish, which they informed me they did not. "Really?" I asked in Spanish. "Really," they replied, but kindly offered to translate anything I needed help with. I should not have been surprised at the lack of a menu in Spanish. I had been told this might be the case in some places, and I have seen the “Catalonia is not Spain” signs and flags scattered about the city. Carla was telling me all about the independence movement, and pretty much all the signs here are in Catalan first, Spanish second, and English last, for all the tourists. In any case, I sat down with my menu in Catalan, which honestly is not that hard to understand if your Spanish is decent. There are also some things about it that remind me of French. I ordered a salad, a pizza, and a glass of wine. The super-nice waitress returned a few seconds later to tell me that the portions were pretty large and to ask if I still wanted all of that. Basically, I think I was ordering dinner for two people. I thought about telling her she might be surprised at how much I could eat, but instead just said I was hungry, but not sure if I was that hungry. Ultimately, she told me I could just take home whatever I didn't finish, which ended up being half a pizza. I noticed a sign toward the end of my meal that said “no cards,” but fortunately I had cash on me, and more than enough as my whole dinner cost a little over $20, the cheapest part of it being the wine, which was less than $3! Awesome!
Some the other highlights/observations so far:
- The weather is beautiful! Hot and sunny. You definitely need a good sunscreen and water, plus some well-timed breaks in the shade, preferably close to a bakery.
- People are generally very friendly and will speak to you in Spanish if you make the effort. I’ve been mistaken for Dutch, but when that doesn’t work they’ll revert to English. I just keep responding in Spanish and once they realize you can hold your own, they’ll go with it.
- I can't really do the Castellano accent. Occasionally I’ll say something that sounds more like “grathias” than “gracias” but that’s about it. I'm sure if I spent more time here, it would come more naturally, but for now I’m pretty sold on the Mexican accent.
- The vast majority of tourists here are Russian, or Russian-speaking. It’s incredible, really. Most signs near the major attractions are in Russian, in addition to English. At this point my Russian is pretty rusty, but I was able to understand that the angry man yelling at his 10-year-old son today at Gaudi’s Park Guell was not impressed that the boy was not impressed. Something along the lines of, "Your mother and I both appreciate this place, why can’t you?" Poor kid probably just needed a pastry and some shade.
Close-up of one of the sculptures of Sagrada Familia.
Close-up of one of the doors leading into Sagrada Familia.
Inside Sagrada Familia. Indescribably tall ceilings and amazing columns,
fashioned after tree trunks, making the inside of the church like a forest.
La Padrera, another one of Gaudí's masterpieces.
so cool wish I was with you!!!!!!
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