Monday, June 14, 2004
The rain in Spain
Tim and I arrived in Barcelona in the late afternoon, after a 90-minute flight. For our entire time here, we would stay with another friend of Tim named Rita. She lives a block away from La Rambla, an avenue in the Old Town that is the city's most popular tourist destination.
To get to Rita's apartment, we took a train from the airport into the city proper and then transferred to the Metro. I was extremely impressed with Barcelona's public transit. An attendant at the Metro station gave us pocket-sized Metro guides and the most user-friendly bus system map I had seen in my life. Further, the train platform has electronic signs that indicate the arrival of the next train, down to the second. The trains are spic and span.
Rita's place is on the fourth floor of a walk-up apartment. When we arrived, she gave us a hearty welcome but apologized because she had to hurry off to the library to prepare for a final exam. (Rita is studying to become a translator.) Before she left, though, she gave us an idea for something to do. This was a walk that took us through Barri Gòtic, a maze of narrow streets and tourist shops in the heart of the Old Town. The neighborhood's layout reminded me of New York's Chinatown, but a lot cleaner. Many people we walked by were tourists from the States — indeed, they would be a recurring theme for the rest of our trip. (Tim explained that Europeans usually take their vacations in August.)
Cathedral of Barcelona, Barri Gótic
After we had had our fill of winding alleys, we returned to La Rambla. This promenade teemed with visitors and locals, street vendors and entertainers. It's a great place for people watching. I loved it. Again, there were many American tourists, mostly college students.
Las Ramblas
We followed the avenue until we got to the Plaça de Catalunya, then turned around and headed back to the Old Town. We stopped in an Irish pub to watch Sweden drub Bulgaria in the first round of the Euro 2004 Championship soccer tournament. It was getting late — past 10 PM — so we started looking for a place to eat, but just then a light rain began to fall. After a quick sweep, we found Mamacafe, a fusion restaurant with modern decor in Raval, another neighborhood in the Old Town. Tim and I agreed that the food was quite good (my veal, excellent) and reasonably priced; two entrées and a bottle of chardonnay cost less than 30 € ($35).
 |
 |
| Plaça de Catalunya | |
On this first day, I was impressed by the people I encountered. Most were friendly and spoke English, which helped me because my Spanish was very rusty. Barcelona is a real melting pot. I saw many people with blond hair and blue eyes (and they weren't tourists) along with the more typical dark-haired Spaniards. As in Paris, people were generally thin, but the fashion — bare-shouldered tops and flip-flops — has a little American influence. (I even saw a few locals wearing the pleated skirts that were all the rage in the States in the summer of '04.)
I was impressed by the planning of the city, too. Barcelona is dense, but there are green spaces all over.
