Barcelona: The First Few Days

I was awoken by an alarm at 5:30am! My Hostel room was empty except for this Spanish speaking couple that had come in yesterday. Now it’s one thing to wake up early like that, but the asshole TURNS THE LIGHTS ON AND STARTS READING!!!!! Until his girlfriend gets out of bed half an hour later! Times like these I sincerely wish I had a better grasp on the Spanish language so I could say something along the lines of…” Hey shit for brains, its 5:30am, if you wanna read go to common area downstairs! Otherwise turn the fuckin lights back off and get ready quietly! Did you by chance see the sign on the back of the door, 8 lines down about respecting your roommates or did you miss that part?” I was wide awake with rage at this point. Not even my blindfold and ear plugs could calm me down. Finally an hour later they left, I could get a few more hours of sleep in before I had to take off.

I awoke again at 10:30am, 3 hours until my train left for Barcelona. I gathered my belongings double checked that I had everything and headed downstairs to check out. I hoped on the internet for a moment to check my reservations in Barcelona as well as email and Facebook stuff. I arrived at the station way earlier then I should have but better safe than sorry. Finally around 1pm the train started to board. Luckily my seat was a window seat and no one was sitting next to me. I stretched out, leaned my seat back and watched in great anticipation as Madrid slowly faded from my peripheral and into insignificance.

The Spanish countryside was completely stunning. Trees and green fields made way to limestone mountains and rolling hills with small villages dotting the scenery every now and again. The unfortunate part of the matter was that my camera battery was dead. Otherwise I probably could have taken way too many pictures of the scenery; it was awe-inspiring, dramatic, and breathtaking. In an interesting way it was as if I were taking a train across the US; the abridged version. You start with the greenery of the east coast area (just outside Madrid). Next to the “heartlands” but instead of boring farmland in the Midwest it was olive groves and wineries. Then once through that area it was mountains, hills and valleys all the way until you reach the other coast (Barcelona).

Once in Barcelona I hoped the metro up to the Gracia district where I was staying. Then, as always came the interesting part, finding my hotel. This took almost an hour as I wondered up and down the main drag of Travessera de Dalt. Finally I was directed down a neighborhood street by a local but still didn’t find it. I kept walking around and finally victory was mine! I found my hotel, checked in and took a much needed nap.

Later, around 10:30pm I decided to trek around for some dinner. Go figure my first night in Barcelona and I go with Asian food from this fast food type place called Woki, which was set up in a natural food market. 7.5 euro’s gets you a plate of rice with 2 ingredients (chicken and broccoli for me) and sauce plus a drink, not too bad. So that was my dinner. I brought it back to my hotel, ate and then decided to read for a while until I shut off the light.

I arose from bed around 10:30am, showered, and set out with the intention of being a tourist today. I ventured all the way down Torrent de L’Olla, stopping only at a pastry shop for a tasty croissant. From there I turned left but soon just started wondering in the general direction of where I wanted to go. My first sight would indeed be La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi’s famous church that is still under construction over a hundred years later. The hell with the Grand Market Place in Brussels, you wanna talk about spectacular, about something no picture or string of words can truly describe? Here it is buddy, in its entirety. The west and north side were impressive but it’s the east side of the structure with all the detail that really caught my attention. I had to grab a seat from the café across the street, sit down and just marvel at this creation for a good half hour. There is nothing in modern industrial/architectural design that could even compete with this. No Empire State Building, Twin Tower, hotel on the Las Vegas strip, Zakim Bridge or Burj Dubai. They have nothing on this structure and this one is still being built!

Yes, it is a masterpiece; a work of art unto itself but I feel the best way to truly describe this building is to compare it to a Jimi Hendrix song. Yes it’s a masterpiece, it’s something you may have listened to hundreds of times but every time you do, you notice a subtle difference that you didn’t before, a small tonal nuance or a note that you never knew existed before. Every time I looked up at the east side of the church I noticed a new detail I hadn’t before. That, to me, is the mark of true artistic achievement.

It took a while to finally convince myself to keep going but I finally did. I decided to be even touristier and headed down to Les Rambles, the main tourist street in Barcelona. I wondered some more, heading in the general direction of the street, just letting my feet take me where they will. I ventured through some small neighborhoods and beautiful narrow backstreets until finally I found my way to Les Rambles. I didn’t really see what the big deal was with this street. It was nothing more than souvenir shops, overpriced outdoor restaurants and street performers. The one highlight though was unquestionably wondering the aisles of the Mercat de la Boqueria, the largest market in Barcelona (at least that’s what I was told). Once inside, it’s like food overload. I honestly wished I lived here in Barcelona so I could buy food from here and take it home to cook. Every kind of meat, every kind of cut imaginable was here. Hell, you could even buy pig heads, skinned lamb heads, livers, intestine, stomach lining, and brains; if it was part of the animal it was being sold. All kinds of fruits and vegetables, spices, nuts, legumes, wines, I mean you name it; it was probably being sold here somewhere. There were 2 or 3 bars in the market all serving alcohol and tapas, the problem was they were all full and each seat had at the very least one person waiting to sit down. From what I saw the food looked amazing; Razor clams, mussels, shrimp etc… I was hungry and needed to eat, pronto. But of course every restaurant around the market was severely overpriced. I bought a package of mango, strawberries and kiwi for 1.5 euro’s, sat on a crate and devoured. This would not do the job though, and kept on walking up Les Rambles. I finally found a place to eat but I am too embarrassed to share what it was. Let’s just say that if Anthony Bourdain was with me he probably would have bitch smacked me. That’s all I will say.

After “lunch” I got on the train and went back to my hotel for a siesta. When I got up I went to the market around the corner and picked up some bread and a thing of Spanish sausage for a snack, tasty would be the word to describe it for sure. After walking around the neighborhood a bit more for no particular reason I decided to get dinner. I went with, once again, Woki. I learned that if something is truly good, don’t have it two nights in a row, it wasn’t as good tonight as it was the previous night. I sat in my room eating dinner and watching the one movie I brought with me; Casino Royale. Do I love James Bond? I do, and Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Connery. That one scene where he gets poisoned, goes into cardiac arrest, dies, comes back to life and then goes straight back to the table and says “Oh I’m sorry, that last hand, nearly killed me.” Pure fucking Genius! I could watch that scene on repeat and never get bored of it.

Enough about James Bond, this is about lady Barcelona and how good she’s been to me. Following dinner I headed through the streets to Bar de la Perla. A small rock n roll themed bar suggested to me by my friend Adriana who lives in Boston currently but is from Barcelona originally. I grabbed a Corona and sat at the bar but everyone was speaking Spanish around me. I left afterwards and headed to an English style pub I had seen earlier in the day. Not much of a scene there but the music was decent and the bartenders were somewhat friendly. I started with a pint of Paulander and afterwards went with a Guinness. They have no idea how to pour a Guinness here in Spain. It was placed in front of me within 1 minute. Everyone knows you fill it ¾ of the way let it settle for 2 minutes then fill to the top.

After my 2 beers I decided to head back to the hotel as I didn’t want to get carried away with the drinking considering my stomach condition is somewhat still apparent and I don’t want to make it worse. Though, it was not like it had been my first few days in Madrid, I have plenty of energy and no longer dealing with constant dehydration. Not a bad first full day in Barcelona, lots more to come and plenty more to see.

Day 2
I got out of bed somewhat later then I had been due to not going to bed until roughly 4am last night. I got dressed and wondered down Torrent de L’Olla to find a quick breakfast. As I walked I found an internet shop. I grabbed 2 croissants from a bakery (mighty tasty might I add, these were cereal croissants with crunchy flakes of cereal baked inside). After devouring the croissants I headed into the internet shop to check up on things.

After conducting business and such I made my way up to Parc Guell, a large open park on a hillside in the Gracia District up the street from my hotel. I made the trek uphill and into the park. Once inside it was a cesspool of tourists (I should have known this, but….) I made my way through the crowds, taking the standard mosaic lizard photo and such. But it wasn’t until I got high up enough to be able to see the entire city all the way down to the Mediterranean that it dawned on me how truly beautiful and completely enthralling Barcelona really is. First off the Mediterranean has this amazingly deep azure blue color that is hard to describe in words. It was somewhat synestheasic . I could almost feel the blueness or even taste it. It’s nothing like any of the other oceans I’ve seen. On America’s west coast you have a crystal-esque blue water, same thing off the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. On the east coast it’s an ugly dark blue especially in the north; from Old Orchard Beach down through Long Island Sound and down to the sunshine state even. The Mediterranean’s color truly defines the region and adds an incredible contrast to the rest of the colors you see over the city, the way in which the terra cotta roofs and stucco/plaster walls of different but similar colors all blend together. I was having a hard time picking out colors as it all seemed to blend together. I’m sure an artist would have no problem separating but I’m not an artist, just a musician and in this case I guess I can call myself a writer. But put a blank canvas and some tubes of paint in front of me and I can probably paint you a stick figure or some horrible looking abstract piece.

I wondered around the upper levels of the park for a while longer and then decided to head back to base for a nap. As I made my way down the hill I stopped at a small shop and bought a chorizo and cheese sandwich, a lemon Fanta and a bottle of water. I found a stoop to sit on and quietly ate my afternoon snack as people strolled by. I made my way back to the hotel and shut my eyes for a while. When I got up I decided that some more strolling would be in the works for tonight.

This time I made my way down to Passieg de Gracia, a large thoroughfare of a street. This was apparently where most of the high class shopping was done. Gucci, Valentino, Diesel, Burberry etc... Most of the restaurants and food establishments seemed to mirror the area so I headed back to Gracia to regroup. I ended up having dinner at a small restaurant towards the end of Torrent de L’Olla called Caliu. This was an older style, more traditional Spanish/Catalan establishment. Since my Spanish is quite limited I had to go with what I recognized on the menu. I started with a plate of cut Serrano ham that was excellent. Sliced just perfectly so that the fat had a bit of chewiness to it but was not overly tough. I enjoyed my plate of ham and then was met with a four cheese, Spanish style pizza. The waitress then came over and asked me a question in Spanish that I did not understand except for the word “picante,” hot sauce. Yes please. Though this wasn’t like a Tabasco or Tapatio type of hot sauce. This was hot peppers marinating in olive oil in a carafe. Not overly spicy, just the right amount of bite. For refreshments I had a pitcher of house made sangria. Honestly how was I going to come to Spain and not have any sangria? That’s like going to New England and not having lobster, going to Texas and not having BBQ, or going to Ireland and not having a Guinness. It’s practically a sin, or a crime against humanity!

My dinner was excellent, and filling. I couldn’t even finish the pizza to be honest. I asked for the check and was surprised that the bill was just north of 20 euro. Not bad for a filling meal like that. I made my way back up to the Hotel as it was about 1am at this point and I was exhausted from all the walking I did today.

Day 3
I awoke somewhat early today but lounged in bed for a while until about 10:30 when a loud, harsh buzzing noise from the room next door made me practically jump out of bed. Did I mention that like Brussels, the walls are paper thin? It sounded like a cross between a sink disposal and a heavy duty drill. Can’t I just stay at one place where I’m not rudely awoken by some kind of construction or human idiocy? Is that too much to ask for while on a European journey? I got up, showered and headed out the door. Most things were closed today considering its Sunday. I found a bakery that was opened and got a croissant filled with ham and cheese. For a beverage I walked into a small convenient store and to my amazement they had Guarana; a Brazilian soft drink that I am a huge fan of. Not a bad breakfast. I then headed into my internet shop with flash drive and camera ready but was unable to get either one to read properly. So now I have to find a café with Wi-Fi.

I proceeded to head back down Passieg de Gracia as Adriana, my tour guide back home, said I needed to see two things on this street. The first site I saw was La Pedrera de Caixa Catalunya; a building with an oddly wavy exterior finish and abstract metal sculptures for balcony fences. Next, a ways down the road was Casa Batillo, a Gaudi designed building with a colorful mosaic exterior façade, trippy exterior appointments and details and an odd looking roof. For 16.50 euro you could tour the entire building including go onto the roof with its abstract designed chimneys but I decided I had other things I wanted to spend that kind of money on, none the less an amazing looking building indeed. Once my sights had been seen I decided to head back down to the Les Ramblas area for some lunch. I was going to try and get a seat at one of the bars inside La Boqueria but it was closed. I wondered around the side streets off of Les Ramblas and came to two conclusions. The first being that if you are walking south, down Les Ramblas, if you want to venture into the not so nice/Arab/whatever neighborhood take a street to your right. I went down one and was propositioned by a prostitute “Hello……Sexy” No thanks honey: If I want a souvenir from Barcelona I’ll go back to Les Ramblas. Now, I didn’t say this, but I kind of wished I had (Jesse, Darls where are you guys when I need you). I got back on Les Ramblas and this is when conclusion number two came in. If you want food that is not overpriced, take a street on the left but be prepared to shop around before sitting down to eat.

I walked into a place called Acoma for lunch, after searching around for far too long. Their menu looked decent and so did the prices. I had a plate of sliced potatoes, chicken burrito and a chicken sandwich with cheese and avocado, and a coke to wash it all down. The food was not dramatic or anything to write home about but it did hit the spot. I left and decided to walk all the way back instead of taking the train. On my journey back I stopped for some ice cream from a place called Farggi. I had a double cup of strawberry ice cream and mango raspberry sorbet, which was quite good I must say. I made it to the hotel in one piece and laid my head down.

Those who have been with me on trips to foreign places (i.e not in New England) know that I’m very indecisive when it comes to picking an establishment to have a meal. I may see 10 different places but will want to keep going. This has been a problem for me here in Barcelona, so many restaurants to try, so little time. I wondered around for an hour around Gracia looking for a place to have dinner. Finally I ended my search at Ramon. A small eatery on Torrent de L’Olla, next to my internet store, that was asian owned but served mostly Spanish style food. I ordered a plate of sliced chorizo and a dish called Sopas de Fros. An Asian inspired ramen dish, in fact it tasted exactly like a bowl of chicken Ramen but dressed up with vegetables. Apparently, today was not my day for extraordinary culinary adventures.

Day 4
Today I decided I would lay low, for the most part. After a quick breakfast and a trip to the internet shop, I headed back to the hotel to lounge and write. Finally I got bored sitting around and decided to go try my luck at getting a seat at one of the tapas bars inside La Boqueria. I got on the train, got off at Drasseners which is at the very end of Les Rambles, close to the port and headed north towards my destination. About 3/4s of the way there I was met by a familiar face pointing at me. It was Tay! My buddy from Madrid, he was hanging out in Barcelona! He was with two people he’d from his hostel; Brenda a cute half black, half something or other girl from Vancouver and Dan, a guy from Texas. Tay asked me if I wanted to grab a drink with them. As I was feeling much better I decided it was time to slowly start drinking again. I obviously joined them. He informed me that they were on their way to meet up with a whole group of people at some bar down the street. We walked into this very crowed and narrow bar, never caught the name of it though. There must have been about 12 of us know. We all stood around severely cramped, but in good spirits introducing ourselves to each other. This is where I met Bryan, go figure he’s from Manch-Vegas. I met everyone else in the group, everyone was actually very interesting and chill to be around. Everyone in the bar was drinking these small glasses of sparkling red wine. We all got a glass and to everyone’s amazement it only cost 80 cents! We also passed around some ham and machengo cheese. We left and headed to another bar but since there were so many of us, we left and went somewhere else.

The next bar we went to was called the Black Sheep (that’s what it translated to) somewhere in an alley off Les Rambles. We found a large table in the center and the pitchers of Sangria started flowing. I have no idea how many we ended up going through, but it was a lot. By the time we were getting ready to leave I was practically shooting it, it went down so easy. Sangria here in Spain doesn’t get you crazy drunk, it just makes you really happy and social.