If I Were A Spaniard: Barcelona

Very typically of how I run my life, within less than 24 hours I planned a trip to Barcelona. My aunt and I decided on Thursday that it was a good idea for me to go and on Friday morning I flew to Barcelona.

I was staying with my aunts mum who lives in Barcelona and within the first day I had figured out the metro system and started the process of gallivanting around. I stayed a total of 5days and to go into detail about everything that I did and saw would be very long as I did and saw absolutely everything that I could but perhaps I'll just point out the highlights.

First of all it is very difficult to attract help when you look like you should know what you are doing. I appear to look Spanish and this got me into trouble a few times when people started making conversation with me in the streets and at first I would politely smile and nod my head at them until I realised that they were asking me a question and I had to do the whole "ohhh me no hablo Espanol" and smile politely again before looking in the other direction. One guy in a lift tried to start conversation with me and when I gave him the "I don't speak Spanish" line he said to his family "Todos Americanos" to which I corrected him that I was in fact Australian.

That brings me to another point, Barcelona is tourist central and it's packed with Americans. I heard so many American accents if you closed your eyes and just listened to the conversation on the streets you might have sworn you had taken a magic pill and ended up in the streets of New York or Chicago or somewhere. The worst part was that most of the accents I was hearing weren't those tolerable American accents, the one's that you don't mind hearing because they sound like all the people in the movies we see all the time but they were those bimbo girl sounding accents. The ones the use in movies for the pretty but dumb girl that always says "like, like, like, you know, like...". Sometimes I had to stop myself from laughing when I could overhear their conversations. Like one time in the metro a girl with one of these accents was telling her friend about how her room-mate lost her bag which contained within it her wallet and house keys when suddenly something dawned on her.."Oh my God, like I should email my landlord... and tell her to change the locks. Like Oh my God really, the bag had her wallet and her keys in it. Someone could fully have our address and the keys. I should email my landlord."

So aside from the heard of tourists who were in Barcelona from all over the place I had myself a great time. There is something great about travelling by yourself and that's the absolute freedom to do what you want when you want but at the same time, everyday there is a moment where you wished you had someone with you to share it with. Barcelona was filled with couples and groups and families. I barely saw anyone else doing it solo like me. I am most definitely not the type to give up on experiencing something just because I'm by myself but sometimes you could really use someone sitting across from you at the restaurant or telling you to pose while they take a picture or listening to you while you complain about how much your feet hurt. There were times when I would be looking for a place to eat and as I would pick a table and sit down I would look around hoping that there would be someone else, sitting at a table for one, enjoying their solidarity, just so that I could feel that I wasn't alone being alone. I would get excited when I would see this, a man or a woman sitting at a table on their own, looking up and down the menu and I wouldn't feel the loneliness so much but then disappointment would come in the form of their partner or friend who would eventually walk in and take the seat across from them and together they would talk and laugh and taste each others food and I would sit again, alone in my loneliness.

Barcelona is a very beautiful city and I think it has knocked Paris off from the top of my favourite cities list. It has a bit of everything, beach front, mountains, parks, museums and galleries, beautiful old streets filled with amazing European architecture, churches and cathedrals, shopping, great food, markets and of course the architectural works of Gaudi whom the Barcelonians are very proud of.

My favourite part of Barcelona was Montjuic. There the Magic Fountain lights up and dances along to music. Not only is the fountain beautiful but the whole strip both behind and in front of it is amazing. The main road leading up to the fountain is lined with smaller fountains and on either side are buildings which complement the rest of the architecture of the area. Behind the fountain is a waterfall of water and stairs which lead up to a beautiful building. The stairs are also lined with flowing water and the amazing building which stands at the very top of the hill is the Palau Nacional, National Palace. The energies of each feature of this area complement each other and create an atmosphere that is both simplistically beautiful and awe inspiring. Surrounded by fountains, a sense of tranquillity and calm surrounds you and yet the majesty of the main fountain and the Palace behind it as well as these 4 huge pillars which stand, watching over the fountain make you want to stare in amazement.

For now I will leave you with these glimpses of Plaza Espanol which is the name of this entire area, a place I just kept going back to.