¡Adven-tourista!

(May 22, 2010)

I saw the Magic Foutain at Montjuïc for the last time before I leave Barcelona. I braved my fear of heights and joined Linda on a staircase ledge overlooking the series of fountains leading up to the MNAC, watching as the twilight set in. I thought of the first time I saw the fountain, empty on a weekday, the day of my Orientation for the Auxiliares program. The first time I saw a show, I arrived just in time to hear Freddie Mercury's "Barcelona." The music blared from the speakers and the lights changed color beneath the gushing water. The fountains immediately became my favorite place in the city. It was the perfect beginning to my life in Barcelona. Today, as I walked away from the fountain, Dvorak's "Hungarian Dance" was playing, and the water, tinted a deep yellow, was shooting into the sky in an intricate pattern.

So back in February (yes, February!) Sarah, Linda and I went to Girona. Every Catalonian I've ever met insists that the city is one of the prettiest in Catalunya. It's not very big, but there's plenty to see!

We arrived late Friday night, so we just had time for dinner, and we just happened to stumble upon a Bruce Springsteen themed restaurant called The River. Everything on the menu was named after a Bruce Springsteen song. The food was delicious and we became regulars for the weekend (the cute Spanish American waiter was just a bonus, I promise!)

The next morning we were off to Figueres, where Dalí was born, to see his theater-turned-museum and his jewelry museum. The Theater-Museum has a lot of Dalí's famous works and sketches. Even when she doesn't appear in his paintings, Dalí dedicated them to his wife and muse, Gala. He wrote dedications to her in different languages on the bottoms of his canvases. Dalí himself is buried in a crypt in the basement of the museum.

Although Dalí didn't make the pieces himself, he designed the jewelry in the Jewelry Museum. Each piece was extraordinary and some were designed to move, like the beating heart piece.

(Don't the petal tips look like hands?)

First thing upon getting back to Girona? Eating at an Irish pub, naturally! Done with that, we went to the old Call, or Jewish Quarter, that used to be one of the most prosperous in Spain before the Inquisition. The buildings here still have the niches where mezuzahs used to be. The Jewish Museum has tapestries, artifacts, and grave stones that were salvaged from the Inquisition.

We ended our last day in Girona with the Museum of Film and a last trip to The River, where our waiter miraculously got us seats although the place was packed with football fans.

Next morning, we took the bus from Figueres to Cadaqués, the beachfront town where Dalí built his home. The house is in Port Lligat, and to go inside, you need reservations in advance. When Dalí first bought it, the house was more of a shack. He expanded it into a house full of natural light, though he also had workrooms with no windows. It's filled with gifts he received from his patrons (sometimes very odd things, like a stuffed bear), and there are a few of his signature lip-shaped couches as well. 

~ Renfe train crew handout on Dia de Sant Jordi/World Book Day (April 23): the day when men give women a rose and women give men a book.

Composición de una bolsa de Happy Pills:

5,2% Azul cielo, 3,05% Amarillo limón, 2,85% Chiste verde,

1% Humor negro, 4,95% La vie en rose, 7% Cosquillas,

1,75% Naranjas de la China, 3,5% Fino humor British, 2%

Retranca gallega, 4% Acento andaluz, 3,8% Gol en el

último minuto, 8,05% Carcajada descontrolada, 4,2% Esencia

de amanecer, 7,5% Ho ho ho, 4% Algodón de azucar, 9,45%

Agujetas de reírse, 2,5% Con faldas y a lo loco, 5,5% Río de Janeiro,

3,45% ramo de margaritas, 2% Siesta del Mediterráneo.

The best way to pass Valentine's Day if you're single is to get away to a beautiful city with your friends...and stay at a hostel run by two hot Argentinian brothers! Five hours and a Simon Pegg movie later, Linda, Sarah, and I arrived in San Sebastian. Our hostel was in the lovely Parte Vieja neighborhood, and thanks to a wonderful recommendation from the brothers, we became regulars at a pinxto (Basque for "tapas") bar called Astelan. We had at least one meal a day there the entire weekend, and we were their last customers before they closed to go on vacation!

The three of us spent three days in San Sebastian and Sarah and I took a day trip to Bilbao on Sunday. It may have been Valentine's Day elsewhere, but in Spain, it was Carnaval. People in costumes were everywhere, day and night throughout the entire long weekend. On Saturday in San Sebastian, there was a huge parade through the entire city with floats and music and dancing. It made the city even more lovely. That night, it snowed. Even though the snow didn't stick to the ground, watching snow fall onto the beach by the Bay of Biscay was gorgeous.

On Sunday, Sarah and I took a bus to Bilbao, where we saw the one thing that was open on Sunday: the Guggenheim Museum. Other than that, the city was completely dead! The Guggenheim was amazing, from the giant flower puppy at the entrance to the foggy fountain at the exit. There was an exhibit of Frank Lloyd Wright's work, an exhibit of giant metal sculptures symbolizing the fluidity of time, and some traditional paintings from the impressionist to the modern eras. No photos of the inside were allowed, but this is Spain and rules were meant to be broken:

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city. Most places were closed, but we could still admire from the outside.

When I left for work yesterday morning, it was raining. I never imagined that the drizzle would develop into Barcelona's biggest snowfall since 1962.

The first sign of trouble came while I waited for my train. Over the loudspeaker, an attendant announced that due to trouble on the tracks in Sants, Barcelona's busiest train station, my train would be late. Fortunately, fifteen minutes later, I was on my way. No big deal, I thought.

A few minutes later, the rain turned into snow. I hadn't seen a proper snowfall in years, and was really excited! The train came closer and closer to Vilafranca and the snow was still falling, and it was looking like I'd get to walk in the snow! Woohoo! Then, the train got to Martorell, a stop halfway to Vilafranca. It stopped. Ten minutes went by. Then, the train started heading back towards Barcelona.

Panicking, I got out at the next stop and waited for the next train, which came soon after. Meanwhile, the snow started to fall like it meant business. When the train got to Martorell again, the conductor announced that this was as far as this train would go. People had to get out and wait for yet another train to continue further. Ultimately, I was an hour late for work. At least I walked through the snow!

That afternoon, I had my Catalan class. Maybe if I had skipped, I would've been able to get home. Then again, maybe I would've had to sleep on the train. Anyway, by the time class ended at 5pm, the snow had accumulated enough for my boots to make that wonderful crunching sound as I walked. I saw some of my students having a snowball fight, and was in a great mood until I got to the train station. Where I found out that all trains and buses had stopped because of the heavy snow. Apparently unprepared for the weather, all public transportation in Barcelona, except the metro, stopped running.

I was stranded, my feet soaking wet in icy water. Ironically, it's hardly been two weeks since I moved from Vilafranca to Barcelona. Luckily, Esther, my tutora, lives in Vilafranca and let me spend the night. Good thing she called me before the mobile networks all crashed from the overload of everyone else trying to contact each other!

And so, I experienced my first heavy snowfall since I was six years old. Thanks snow, but I think I've had enough of you for a while!

Many years ago, the town of Valls harvested the world's first calçot. It looks like a leek and tastes like a leek, but it is not a leek. Now, between late January and throughout February, in the area around Valls "Calçotades" take place. Tons of calçots are roasted on metal racks over a fire and wrapped in tight bunches in newspaper or aluminum for about 30 minutes before serving. To eat them, you peel off the charred outside layer by holding on tight to the green top part and pulling down on the white bottom part. The next part is the best. You dip the calçot in the most delicious sauce in the world, romesco sauce, and lower it into your mouth! YUM! It's a messy affair and that's why everyone is supplied with bibs! (The four of us also got a bottle of wine, bread, nuts, and an orange each! That and 12 calçots with sauce for only €6!)

After the food and parades were over, we headed back to Vilafranca, but made a couple of pit stops. The first was in Santes Creus, an old monastery where many Catalonian kings are interred. We couldn't see the tombs, but the views were gorgeous and there were free samples of cheese and meats!

We were driving back to Vilafranca after leaving Santes Creus when we saw an interesting looking church not too far off. It stood on a hill all by itself, completely separated from the nearest town. Jordi and Montse agreed to stop there. It turned out to be the Santuari de Montserrat, and was designed by Josep Jujol, one of Gaudí's students.

"April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes via Old Poetry.

The ticket to get into the museum is an actual bar of chocolate. And not cheap, crappy chocolate, but quality 73% cocoa dark chocolate! The best part is that you can chomp away while wandering around among all the chocolate sculptures. They also have chocolate making lessons once a month.

Don Quixote in chocolate! (There was also Ben Hur!)

One way to make a seedy neighborhood cooler? Make a verb out of it and stick the conjugations on a concrete wall. Sarah and I started out 2010 by venturing to the "other side" of Las Ramblas into El Raval. Although considered pretty unsafe at night, it's not too bad during the day, but I still clung to my bag with more paranoia than usual.

The verb (in Catalan) is pasted on a wall next to MACBA, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (more about that once I've actually gone to see an exhibit. Which I will do. Even though I'm not a huge fan of modern art.). El Raval has a few other gems scattered throughout it, for example the Biblioteca de Catalunya and Gaudí's first ever project, Palau Güell. And this little gatito whose whiskers sometimes get ripped out by vandals.