¡Buenos Noches!
Today was a somewhat stressful day. Jeremy and I woke up around 11, having no idea what time it was. We were expecting to be woken up early, but were not. We rushed to get ready (and I ordered my iPhone 5), and managed to leave the hotel around 12. A little to late for my liking.
We walked down to the Gothic area of Barcelona. It was a nice walk, and the area was great. There are a lot of small, winding streets filled with stores. We passed a big Cathedral and tried to go inside, but they closed right as we arrived. Instead, we continued to walk around and found a music hall. We wanted to go inside, but they only allow people to take tours. They have a restaurant area and it was decorated very ornately. There was a lot of stained glass, and the large polls had flowers going around the top, near the ceiling. The ceiling also had a nice crisscross pattern. We all split up for a bit to wander around, and I spotted a man carrying a pug inside a bag. The pug was so cute!! She was 13 months old, and weighed 8-9 kilos, or about 20 pounds. He said that they had been walking for a few hours and she got tired. We were able to pet her, and fell in love. Wishing Pudge was here with us!
After we found the music hall, we started walking towards the Mercat de la Boqueria, or the market. This market is amazing!! There are probably 50 stands crowded in a square. The stands offer meat, fruit (and juices), candy, nuts, cheeses. It was so overwhelming how much was there! Jeremy had a coconut, banana, kiwi juice, and I had a raspberry juice. They were both delicious. Since the places that had counters and chairs to eat at were full, we found a restaurant on the edge and ate there. We ordered so much food: tuna carpacio, paella, cheese, mussels, and I´m pretty sure I am missing a few other things. Everything was so good, and it was relaxing lunch.
When we were finished, we walked back towards the old city and went to the Picasso museum. There are so many pieces of artwork in that museum! It´s insane how much Picasso did in his lifetime. The museum in Barcelona focuses on his early life, so we saw paintings and drawings from when he was in his pre-teens until he was in his mid-to-late twenties. They had pieces from his blue period, as well as ceramic pieces that he made. Usually when I think of Picasso, I think of those crazy paintings that make little to no sense. These were not like that. Most were portraits, and some were landscapes. It was very easy to read the artwork. The museum did not have small descriptions next to each piece of work, and Jeremy said that is because Picasso wants people to think. Glad he is keeping our brains sharp!
Leaving the museum we headed towards the fountains at monjuic. Robin and I were here, and I fell in love with the whole place. Every night except Sunday, the park puts on a fountain show. It is definitely not as good as the ones in Atlantic City, but they are pretty cool. Last time the fountain show used different colors, like red, orange, yellow. But this time it was all in red. They made an announcement at the beginning that they were trying to raise money/awareness for blood banks. The music for the show we saw was old Hollywood. They had a Louis Armstrong song, the theme to the Odd Couple, L-O-V-E, etc. Of course the music for the show after, when we were leaving, was music that Jeremy and I enjoyed. They had Destiny´s Child and other music like that.
The restaurant was near the montjuic, and we only got a little lost finding it. The restaurant was called Rias de Galicia. Apparently the downstairs section has been around for almost 26 years, and the second floor just opened up 2 months ago. The first floor is typical food in Barcelona. The section where we ate, upstairs, was different, more like sushi. The menu was split into two sections: before man had fire, and after man had fire. We order a mix of raw food (tuna and salmon) as well as cooked food (beef, shrimp, crab). The fish was probably the best, most fresh fish we have ever had. My mom said that she could have lived on that salmon, and I whole-heartily agree.
Now it is after mid-night and Jeremy and I are catching up on facebook/emails. We were debating going to a discoteca but they are pretty far from the hotel, and we have a busy day tomorrow. Instead I think we are just going to grab some drinks and hangout! Adios amigos!
In high school I had a friend who loved to always be busy, and always have plans for the next few weeks. Of course I enjoyed that as well. I loved being able to fill in my planner, decorate the date if it was something special, and being able to tell people that I had to "double-check my schedule" to see if I was free. At the age of 25, I am lucky if I remember to fill in my planner (luckily I have never forgotten to show up somewhere). I still enjoy filling in my planner, but now I don't decorate. I just write down the event in the little calendar box, look back, and reassess how much "free" time, or me time, I have. Honestly, everything that I have been doing recently, I absolutely love. Seeing shows, going to dinner with friends, seeing college friends, playing kickball. All that stuff is awesome, but what I'm beginning to realize is that the best times are the ones that are unexpected.
