i'm writing this, in a short space of time that I have in a hostel common room, in order to get the ball rolling again with this elusive blog that slips in and out of my routinely-non-routine life like an eel between a fat man's fingers. These last 3 weeks have been full of travel: a trip to reunite with my old pal, James, in Barcelona, to a small town in Galicia for a wine festival with my roommates, and now finally on a 6 day road trip along the coast of Portugal. And the curtain lifts...
Barcelona
My first visit to one of Spain's premiere cities; it left me almost as content as a plate of curry, naan bread and a mango lassie. I went because James was going to be there and we thought that it would be cool to meet in Europe. He was going to visit his cousin, who is studying in BCL, and wanted to know if I felt like crashing on the couch for the weekend. I bought the ticket and arrived at 5 p.m. on Friday. * a note on food: you can eat a big sandwich of spanish tortilla, which is basically an egg pie infused with lightly fried potatoes, for 2.70. You can then add pork tenderloins to it for only .30cents more. bomb.* That's what I ate for lunch. bomb. The airport in Barcelona conveniently has a train that takes you to directly to the city center for only 3 euros, and so I hopped on that bad boy and stepped out of the metro to the bustling streets of Barcelona only to be greeted with La Pedrera, on of Gaudi's many architectural gifts to the city. I passed this building that seemingly melts into the street on my way to meet James in the main plaza of the city. I was unaware and pleasantly surprised to learn that his mom, 2 aunts, and cousin Jack were also staying with him. They were extremely nice and i passed a luxurious weekend in a loft-style apartment in that same plaza in the middle of the city. I couldn't have asked for a better dose of random good luck. Thank you James and Co. once again.
The city itself is magical. It's cosmopolitan and you can hear any number of languages walking down the main tourist drag through the old part of town. This is where the hustle and bustle is, where pick-pockets and prostitutes thrive and immigrants from Pakistan sell 6-packs out of plastic bags until 5 in the morning. bomb.
I was approached my first night by a pretty, kind-looking african lady that asked me for the time. I was congenially reaching in to check my phone when she subtly whispered her elegantly-worded proposition to me: "Can I suck your dick?" I was taken aback and quite amused by this unexpected turn of events, and found myself laughing with my phone still in my hand. She looked offended that I found humor in this friendly exchange and so I apologized and thanked her for the kind offer. Some would call me a gentleman, but i would say a naive country boy form Lafayette, although it reminded of a certain similar happening outside of a Popeye's in Grand Coteau.
To sum things up: James and I had a good time catching up on old memories and chatting about new events in our lives. We had some nice meals with his family and the two of us went on Saturday and met some nice people. An acquaintance of mine, Cynthia, from the Y met us that night as well and we stayed out talking to locals in the plaza until about 6 a.m. Refreshing to be in a big city again, although I do enjoy the small town atmosphere of La Coru~a. I spent the rest of my time traversing the city by foot and gazing at the many architectural jewels that one man took upon himself to bestow upon his hometown, thus single-handedly transforming it into a tourist attraction. I'm excited to return there in July with Mike and Danaya, and to delve deeper into the city.
La Feria de Vino
No comments:
Post a Comment