Barcelona - Part 1

The streets of Barcelona were bombarded with tourists and the smell of the salty air with it's healing power fortunately had the ability to clense my pores from the toxins that my body acquired last night at the discoteca. It was a night that ended at 5 AM, and was one that consisted of exotic tourists, a $50 cover, a $100 Euro bar tab, and five floors of utter insanity. It was an American nightclub on steroids... or maybe on ecstacy... yeah that is probably more accurate. Techno music blasted until the wee morning hours, and that is all I remember. Not sure if that's a good thing, I have a sneaking suspicion it's probably not. My liver is screaming at me, as my head whispers angrily into my subconscious......

We awoke at noon attempting to sleep off the hangovers from last night's insanity. Glass was shattered on the floor beside me - how it got there, I have no clue. I am trying to piece back together the night. I fail miserably. Shots of absinthe coupled with local Spanish wine clouded my mind as we discussed our plans for the day. We decided on Park Guell - a park that sits atop Barcelona looking down over the beautiful, ever changing, though historic city with the water of the mediteranean as a backsplash to this wonderous setting. Extraordinary mosaics, and statues line the park that was created by the Spanish artist Gaudi - it is marvelous and an inspiration to every tourist that ascends those steep steps to the top of this park that gazes down on the world below. Cars are tiny ants, trees are blades of grass, and buildings, I suppose they are pebbles. The ocean is bluer than blue, and a pencil thin strip of white is the beach - the last bit of land before the vast, endless ocean. The view from atop is spectacular and my girlfriend and I wandered the park, hand in hand with a crisp white wine, that wasn't nearly cool enough. This didn't matter though. We were content, and without a care in the world.... nothing else seemed to matter.....atleast for the time being.

We wandered down to the bottom of the park, and in my broken Spanish I told the cabbie we were heading to Las Ramblas, the entertainment district - he smiled and responded in English, nodding his head. We weaved in and out of the narrow streets of Barcelona at a frightening pace and he pointed, showing us all of the local attractions that we wouldn't get to experience since we were leaving Barcelona in the morning. We would be off to a new, and different city on this cultural adventure through Europe. We arrived at our destination where the streets were lined with vendors, restaurants, bars and boutiques. The area was congested, overcrowded with tourists and full of energy. Locals and tourists alike lounge on patios sipping sangria and eating appetizers of pulpo, tortilla and an assortment of olives paired with local cheeses and artisan breads. The sun is decending upon this beautiful city as we decide to venture off the beaten path in hopes of finding some authentic cuisine... something real.... We find an alley that seems to lead to know where - exactly what we are looking for. The cobblestone streets are rugged, seemingly centuries old and are ill-suited for vehicle traffic. There are no street lights, and the only sign of life is restaurant employees - we are apparently on the back side of a restaurant and they are on a smoke break, joking in Spanish, living their ordinary lives. We smile and they motion for us to enter. Why not? We are lead into the restaurant through the back door, the chef glares at us as he diligently sautees local seafood in their undersized kitchen. The restaurant is dark, with wood, and stone..... one thing is missing though.......


This is the end of Today's Blog - Tune in tomorrow for the =continuation.......