Sissies in Spain

The day began with a 4:45am cab pick up with a driver in too much makeup switching the station the minute she saw that I was enjoying, “Pass the Dutchie” on the radio. Adios grumpy Holland. Hello cheerful Spain.

Beautiful, warm sun and palm trees outside the airport made me wonder if I had landed in a mid-March trip to LA from 10 years back, but the Spanish on the radio quickly reminded me that I was is Catalonia, not East County. I managed to piece together the general theme of the talk-radio show that the cab driver was listening to (suffice it to say, los Estados Unidos are not popular), which was cool. It seems like my two weeks of Dutch class has actually caused me to remember more French and Spanish, though LeeAnne noticed that I now say “good” with a long oo, like “cool.”

We passed two Startbucks on the way to the hostel. I nearly clawed my way out of the cab. Four months without a Chai Tea Latte!

Once we dropped our bags off, we started wandering around Barrio Gotic. The photos will say it better than I could. Amazingly cool old apartment buildings with iron railings and peeling paint on the shutters. There are little shops or bars/cafes with old men hanging out inside on the ground floors and a general feeling that there could be treasure around every corner. So it’s like the world’s best estate sale, only without the smell of pee and the general creepiness of digging through a dead person’s belongings.

We went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which was quite amazing. The building was kick ass and the collections were, from what we understand, great. Neither LeeAnne nor myself are connoisseurs of the contemporary art, so we wouldn’t necessarily know what was what. But it definitely had it’s moments and made me appreciate living in a world where so much randomness not only exists, but is put on walls in places that charge admission. I felt a wee bit of kinship with some of the artists – living out on the skinny branches or seeing humor in things that no one finds funny – it made me happy.

And speaking of funny. When we went walking through the Barrio Gotic on Wednesday night, we came across the remains of the Roman battlements shining in the moonlight (shut it. They were shining.), both LeeAnne and I cracked up when I said, “This doth represent a wall.” Does anyone else find that funny? Did anyone else’s family have a collective joke based on a line from “Midsummer Night’s Dream?” No? See. We are freaks. Freaks!!

Gaudi. Amazing. We went to the Casa Mila around 7 and were shuttled onto the roof quite quickly because that is what closes first. We arrived in time to see the sun go down and a storm roll in. Incredible light on incredible structures. We kept saying, “This is so cool. This is so cool.” Over and over. Except LeeAnne thought I was saying, “This is so good,” because of my new Dutch accent.