Barcelona, Spain

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Normally ‘travelling’ doesn’t feel as good as a ‘vacation’. In fact there is a huge difference (which a lot of people don’t recognize) between ‘travelling’ and taking a ‘vacation’. Taking a ‘vacation’ normally involves a guilt-free way to spend time doing whatever, whenever with whoever. With vacations there is no concept of time or money and it is essentially driven by the seven deadly sins- namely sloth (lazing around is primarily why people go on vacations in the first place), lust (people have this crazy thing about finding ‘holiday romances’), greed (everything is about souvenirs & shopping), pride (beauty treatments-manicures, pedicures & massages are always on the agenda) & gluttony (who are we kidding? The best thing about being on vacation is the food!) Also, with vacations sightseeing is not strictly on the agenda. So while vacations are basically pleasure trips, ‘travelling’ on the other hand is about seeing & learning as much as you can, discovering the unknown, soaking up the atmosphere, meeting interesting people, immersing yourself in the culture & pushing boundaries. I’ve travelled within Italy, France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland & Northern Ireland. And recently took a vacation in Spain.

Now I’m not saying I’m guilty of ALL the seven deadly sins. But according to Dante I’d at least be in the seventh circle (look to Dante’s the Divine Comedy for reference). My confessions:

Sloth: We leisurely walked around the streets of Barcelona without a care in the world. After being in a European winter for so long Spain’s weather was heaven sent- we were addicted to the beautiful sun. We would grab a baguette or croissant for lunch and find a sunny place to sit or lay in the sun. We strolled by the Mediterranean Sea and had lunch & coffee at a nearby café. We were also staying at Miguel’s house (an exchange friend) which made us even more relaxed.

Lust: Catalan people are very good looking- females and males! They have striking features: light eyes and dark hair. The boys have sharp jaw lines & good bodies (soccer bodies) and the ladies have gorgeous locks of hair and beautiful soft eyes. I’d be lying if I say I didn’t look. Besides, Stephanie and I were shocked at the amount of attention we were getting from the Spanish men-these guys have no shame! Not only do they stop, stare and make it obvious but they have the audacity to whisper “sweet nothings” or “dirty something’s” in your ear while walking passed. For the whole weekend I was “Aye, Mamacita!”.

Greed: I learned only one new sentence in Spain, “Cuanto Questa?’ which means “How much?”. I’m guilty, I shopped- my conscience says maybe too much but the devil inside tells me maybe not enough. The fashion in Spain (or Europe for that matter) is obviously far superior to that in Australia hence I go weak in the knees, my palms start sweating, my eyes grow bigger & I start salivating when I see beautiful clothes and gorgeous shoes. I saw authentic Valentina and Badgley & Mischka wedding gowns. I visited the Harrods of Spain, El Corte Ingles and I frequented the many Zara stores that were situated all over town amongst other shops & boutiques. I was so impressed with the shopping in Spain after the first day I did some research and found that Spanish markets were held every morning. Naturally, I went crazy with all the vintage jewellery and bags and found the most darling silk/satin vintage cocktail dress. It’s so Sex in the City! I love it! I told my mum & dad before leaving that this whole shopping obsession might leave me bankrupt and if so I would need to take out a loan as soon as possible so I could continue that obsession. To my absolute surprise, they agreed. Hopefully this whole “loan” will eventually turn out to be one big Christmas present (okay, Christmas presents until 2010 but a present nonetheless). Unfortunately, I foolishly didn’t pack light so when I packed to go back home I was left with bags and bags of shopping filled with all my Spanish treasures.

Gluttony: they say gluttony is an over-indulgence and over-consumption of food & drink. If so, I’m definitely not innocent. We’d finish breakfast & then plan what we’d be having for lunch. When lunch was over we’d dream about where we’d be having for dinner. It was ridiculous. First day we ate Paella in Girona. It was a three course meal with coffee. We had traditional soup, then fresh squid, then paella & finally traditional Spanish coffee. As a tea drinker I found the coffee potent & didn’t enjoy it at all however the food was to die for. The next night we stuffed ourselves with Tapas - special mentions include potato bravas (my favourite- potatoes & garlic) and the famous spanish omelette. We also frequented the bakeries (all of you should know my weakness is bread) and to provide some statistics we consumed a total of 11 baguettes (with cream cheese of course!) in three days between three people. That’s a lot of carbohydrates! We also drank copious amounts of Sangria & Kalimotxo with every meal we ate and every pub/club we frequented. We had to be careful with that stuff because it’s so delicious that it’s dangerous. Needless to say I’m on a strict diet now and attend the gym four times a week.

During this ‘vacation’ we did choose the option of sightseeing. Of course I saw the many works of Catalonia’s famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. We first saw Casa Mila, Park Guell, Casa Batllo & lastly the reputed La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi’s style is like no other. His style is both modern yet gothic. He is freakishly detailed and extremely inventive. His buildings are irregular but ingenious. His architecture brings character to Barcelona- a distinctive Catalonian character. His La Sagrada Familia is a masterpiece. The entire building is organic, mimicking forms found in nature. Sadly, the La Sagrada Familia was not completed as Gaudi was hit by a tram while admiring his masterpiece in 1926. It is under construction and is expected to be completed in 2030.

We visited the Picasso Museum. Most of the exhibits featured his early works. The most fascinating part of the museum included three rooms where sketches and paintings illustrated the emergence of the style for which he best known. We also visited Tibidabo, a hill overlooking the whole of Barcelona. During the day I enjoyed the view and how one could see the meeting of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea. At night, however, we had a brush with death as four wild boars chased us into a corner of the lookout. All of us screamed & sprinted to the nearest tree, fence or car-top to get away from these massive beasts. As clumsy as I am I tripped over my feet before I sprinted to a nearby fence about half a meter off the floor. As we all fumbled to get our legs off the floor and over the railings (or as high as we could) the boars lingered, sniffed and prodded until Miguel’s friend bravely distracted them by calling out to them in the opposite direction to us. He eventually climbed on top of his car until they waddled away. Interestingly, this is the very hill that is mentioned in the Bible (Matthew 4:9 or Luke 4:6) where Jesus looked down from “an exceeding high mountain upon all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them”. In these versus (within the Latin version) the name Tibidabo is present.

And for all you soccer fans out there: we saw Lionel Messi in Barcelona near Port Vell. I had this sudden urge to throw myself at him and never let go. But my judgement got the better of me and I didn’t (damn common sense). I thought the robust man in the black suit standing firmly next to him would seriously hurt me if I did that. Oh, umm, yeah, the busty blonde holding his hand wouldn’t have liked it either.

Another thing worth mentioning was the “sleepover” we all had at Girona airport. We all arrived at the airport at 11:30pm as our flight left at 7:30 the next morning. All 17 of us joked, played cards, learned some circus tricks, read & then all finally fell asleep on the airport floor. The highlight (hands down) was checking into my flight in a sleeping bag while half-asleep. Ah, the joys of travelling.

Thanks for all the emails. Missing you guys! I love hearing all the news from home so keep them coming.

Salute!

Love Natalia, xox.

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Photos

La Sagrada Familia
Gaudi masterpiece