Spanish eyes and french kisses

 In a word, vacation was wonderful!  It's totally different to go to Europe when you live in Bangladesh than to come from the United States.  I appreciated the cities in a way that I didn't before(public transportation, hot showers, ability to move around alone at night; fantastic!).  But I also found myself laughing at some of their uses of technology.  For example, in France, they have these nifty electronic signs in parking garages that tell you which floors are full, so you don't go there.  We just have a person in the parking lot to direct you in Dhaka.  Cheap labor can go a long way.

In Barcelona, I was mainly alone during the day.  And lacking my own guide book, I had borrowed the one sitting in Camilo's apartment.  Only one slight problem: it was in Italian.  So while useful for the prices, hours, and locations, I was less than perfectly informed about where I was heading at most times.

Nonetheless, I found the Sagrada Familia.  It's not finished yet even though the architect died decades ago!  I'm not sure how the purists feel about it.  I loved how light it was inside (none of that dreary feeling often filling big churches and cathedrals).  I sat down on one of the pews to just enjoy the scenery and ended up taking a siesta.  No one seemed to mind too much.  Refreshed, I got up and headed to another Gaudi creation, El Pedrero.  Upon reaching it, I realized it was 15 euros to go in this house!!  Too much, I decided.  So I enjoyed the view from the outside, and the gift shop, and headed across the street.  To Starbucks.  Like I said, when you are coming from Bangladesh you have a different agenda.  Starbucks reminds me of home and I miss mocha frappucinos (no offense to my coffee shops here).

Other highlights of the Barcelona portion of my itinerary include:

1.  Going for a run in Parque Guell--Gaudi designed a whole park and it's amazing!  And, conveniently located near Camilo's place.  It's like a desert plus disneyland minus the rides and slightly more tasteful.  I went early to avoid the crowds and had the place mainly to myself.  Getting home was a little challenging; I had come in through the forest, and it was easy to go out of the forest; figuring out which of the forest entrances I had used to come in was trickier.  Luckily, being illiterate in Bangladesh has sharpened my sense of direction rather remarkably, and I figured it out.  Darwin would be proud.

2.  Eating a Jamon iberico sandwich at Cafe Viena (thanks Neil for the recommendation!).  While it looks like a fast food place (it is), Mark Bittman wrote that it had the best of these sandwiches in Barcelona.  And if Mark Bittman of the New York Times said that, I had to try it.  It was pretty tasty, but I think I disagree with the premise--t was bread with ham and olive oil.  No matter how good it is, it's still missing some crucial ingredients that would be necessary for the best sandwich in the world!!  I think I'm more of a BLT girl (or BLAT gal, as my mom would say, since she adds avocado when she makes them for me and it's amazing!).

3.  When Camilo got stuck working late on homework, I ended up sitting at the bar of a swanky tapas restaurant alone.  It reminded me of what I always wanted to try at Ten Tables, at the bar overlooking the chef.  I knew one of the servers, so my glass was always full of good tinto, and I was interrupted from my sociological observation frequetly for short bits of conversation.  I couldn't help but have a "Toto, we aren't in Kanasas" moment.  There are no bars like this in Bangladesh that I know of--small, intimate, tasteful.  Serving up dishes involving tartare (you'd be an idiot to eat it here!), fried goat cheese, curry ice cream (ohh wait, that one we might have....).  I don't mind most of the time, but given the opportunity to just sit and savor the experience, alone, I was quite happy to do so.

So my takeaways on Barcelona: fun place to spend a lazy week.  Much funkier than, Paris, say.  Lacking the crowning jewels, but looking quite nice in the artsy flair.  Lots to see on foot. Plenty to eat.  Helpful to know Spanish but everything is written in Catalan, so good luck.  Although the Museu Picasso helpfully has 70% of signs in Catalan, Spanish, and English (the remaining 30% are just in Catalan and Spanish).  Not a lot of bargains (although again, I get paid in taka so it's hard to know if everyone would feel that way.).  A lot of people are just living there--granted it's not a random sample, but I met a lot of English people studying Spanish, and Latin Americans working and/or studying.  So it's an international city (again, in contrast to a place like Paris that feels very French).  But plenty of soul, character, and opportunity to have fun.  At all hours.  My final night at 4AM I was wandering looking for food (my soul may have been fed by observing all the tapas but my stomach was less satisfied!), and options abounded.  I settled on a kebab sandwich from a Pakistani guy who had grown up in Turkey and now worked in Spain.  Everyone has a story.  And coincidentally, everyone I met had a story that led them to Barcelona!  What are the chances?!  And yes, my  kebab was delicious.

I intended to write about Paris here as well, but that was only because I've forgotten how much fun Spain was.  So I've save that for next time.  If you can't wait, there are pictures here with some short captions.