hull in my head

1. David is not a fan of walking long distances.*

2. Renting bikes seems like the coolest way to get around but is far more complicated for tourists then it should be. *

3. About a third of all the girls on the beaches will go topless. And ALL people on the beaches will be far more tanned then any American tourist.*

4. Debbie would make a good mom.*

5. Gaudi is pure genius. And may have been abducted by aliens at some point in his life.*

6. Spain doesn’t believe in thrift stores.*

7. It’s good to carry a Watchtower on the subway.*

8. It’s easy to get pick pocketed on the subway.*

9. Barcelona, of all places, has the best Kebabs in the world.*

10. When Spain has just triumphed over Germany in the Euro Cup and you’re white and wearing a German army jacket, chances are you will be mistaken as German and ridiculed.*

*1) After a few days in London and walking around in Barcelona for an afternoon and David was simply done walking. By his count he hadn’t walked this much in, well… ever! It didn’t help that he was blistered and sore. So as we walked the 2 miles to the train station (rather than take a taxi because I’m poor) he began to really hate me.

*2) Barcelona, like many European cities, has a cool borrow a bike program. For something like 5 Euro a month you can use these bikes. You login to the machine, get the bike for an hour, and then return the bike to one of the many many drop off points located around the city. If you need it for more than an hour you simply are charged a little bit more. A great idea indeed! However if you want to use this feature you must be a resident, and no amount of tourist scheming could get David and I the bikes we desired. Shame to, because to this day, biking around Barcelona seems like the way to go! Plus the bikes are just so cool and photographable.

*3) At first I didn’t realize what I was seeing, I mean you’re not used to walking onto a beach and seeing attractive topless women scattered all about. I really took me a minute to comprehend. And once I did I quickly tired to cover the impressionable eyes of my little brother. This wasn’t a nude beach, these topless girls were not old, flabby, or ugly, it was all completely the opposite of the stories I had heard about European beaches.

I felt unprepared for how to handle the situation. So I tried to vacantly just look past everything out towards the water so as not to seem like a pervert. But be warned, doing this while walking can cause you to blindly stumble into a topless girl. As innocent as you are, THAT, looks way more condemning.

Also be prepared to have all eyes on you as you will undoubtedly be mistaken for that white Crayola crayon they lost back in 2nd grade. (hint: get a tan, even if it’s fake, unless you what to bask in looks of disbelief and disgust from all the brown and toned pretty people sharing the sand.)

*4) It’s true. She put up with David and I and took the lead in finding directions, reading the map, etc. It was really nice not to have to be the tour leader. Though I did feel bad for her doing all the work.

*5)  If you don’t know who Antoni Gaudí is then look up his life story and work immediately! It’s the most original, oddly captivating, and unearthly architecture I’ve ever seen. So often I was struck with the feeling that it was the set of a futuristic  Sci-fi film. His work just doesn’t seem to be of human origin. I’ve never be so moved by architecture before, but Gaudi left me comply entranced and I HAD to see and know more. Even David, who is admittedly not “into” those sorts of things, was mesmerized by the beauty and wonder of it.

*6) After much much searching I finally found the ONE vintage shop in all of Spain.
I kid you not. I was on this quest because somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to buy a matador’s jacket. I figured I’d wear it all the time with jeans and such. It would just be my thing… But these elaborate jackets are typically custom made and are VERY expensive. So I thought I could find one in a thrift or vintage store but apparently it’s just as hard to find a thrift store in Spain. Melissa said it just isn’t part of their culture.
But after much searching, traveling, wandering around lost, and then waiting outside the store calling the phone number repeatedly until the owner would open the door,  and we did it. No matador jacket, but I did find a really sweet German army jacket that fit perfectly. It wasn’t exactly cheap but I had to have it!

*7) Here is the story. Debbie, David and I decided to have a picnic dinner on the beach. We stopped by the store to get all the necessary ingredients for our Spanish dinner. Namely: bread, jamón serrano, and sangria (the holy trinity of Spain). Then we boarded the subway bound for the beach, David and Debbie sat and I stood. A little ways into our travels and a very stylish man boarded the train accompanied by a stylish girl. The stood opposite of me and began to stare at me and obviously be whispering comments about me. Then said stylish guy, stepped forward to say something to me. David and Debbie, observing from the sidelines, started giggling, thinking for sure that this man was gay and hitting on me. Turns out however he saw my Watchtower and he and his stylish wife are fellow witness. The whole gay confusion comes from him being Finish and a tailor, an honest mistake really… (no offense Yari). Anyway we started chatting away, had some laughs, and realized that we were headed to the same beach(where they were meeting up with other friends). So we joined them, shared our dinner, met loads of great new people, and had a fabulous time. We even made plans to hang out again the next day and Pili said if we came to visit her at work she tell us the best places to visit in Barcelona. All and all a brilliant night!

*8) In 3 days of being in Barcelona we were around at least 4 people who were thieved from while riding the subway. On the last night our newly acquired friend Simon unknowingly had his back pocket cut with a knife and his phone stolen. Luckily, neither Debbie, David, nor I were burgled.

*9) Seriously, Yari showed us this place, they were AMAZING! I know it sounds crazy, but it was one of the best things I’d had all year.  Kebab aficionados head to Barcelona immediately. And get chicken. Mmmmm…

(It was at this point that David fell in love with Kebabs)

*10) Pretty self-explanatory really. My new jacket was fodder for heckling. I think if Germany had won Imay have been beat up…