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Published: June 14th 2007
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New Friends in London
HJ, Lawrence and I on Lawrence's Happy Birthday. I’ve realized this year’s trip is not about the places I’m seeing, but about the people I’m to meet. And I’ve also realized this trip started before I left California. A couple weeks before I left, I went to a 10-day Yoga Intensive in Encinitas and the biggest gift I received out of the 10 days was meeting John Harrison, a chiropractor who was one of the guest lecturers. It doesn’t seem right to label him a “chiropractor” because he is so much more, but now I hope to just call him my friend. When I told him about my upcoming trip he said I need to meet his friend HJ who lives in London. I didn’t ask any questions I just said “OK”.
HJ invited me to meet her and her friend Lawrence at a cafe in London. Within minutes I felt like I had known her for years. HJ and Lawrence are two of the most insightful and wonderful people I’ve ever met. We all spent another afternoon together before I left and HJ and I even went to see the musical “Wicked”. As my cousins back east would say, “It was wicked good!” Highly recommend it.
Old Friends in London
Nichol and I at Ffionas. We still look like we're in college, right? I also got the chance to have dinner with my friend Nichol from college (it takes going to another country to actually catch up!). And yet again, we went to Ffiona’s for dinner. I can’t help it, the food is good and she’s so cool. I feel like it’s my local joint away from home.
Ok, Barcelona, and more “blind friend-dates” . . . (so much better than the other kind!)
HJ introduced me to Heather, a girl from San Diego working in Barcelona for two months as part of her International business degree (and also a friend of John). We had a great Tapas dinner with Sangria and then topped off dinner with a walk down the Rambla for some churros con chocolate (sorry Barcelona, I still prefer the churros from high school!) Heather arrived in Barcelona less than a week ago, so our timing was perfect to do some sight seeing together. We spent Saturday doing the tourist thing (yes, the double-decker bus) and the Sagrada Familia. WOW is all I can say about this building. I would LOVE to come back to see this building finished one day, if it’s finished in this lifetime
Placa de Catalunya
Across the street from my hotel (which makes it sound fabulous, but it was more of a jail cell type room). (they’ve got a long way to go). Whenever people talk about Spain, they always say, “Oh, you’ve gotta check out Gaudi’s architecture” . . . NOW I get it! What a creative genius. And another creative genius . . . Picasso. The Picasso Museum has a great chronology of his works. I’m just amazed at his abilities at such a young age. . . I’m in my 30s and still haven’t mastered stick figures.
I also met Wyatt, a friend of a my friend Guillaume’s, and his friend Alex from Germany. They’ve both been living here for many years. They took me to a great lunch place along the beach . . . a fully nude beach. And as at every other nude beach I’ve seen, it’s not the people you’d think would to be at a nude beach. Interesting visual over lunch. Wyatt, with his impeccable Catalan, helped me get set up with a local cell phone and then gave me a ride on the back of his motorcycle to the Immunization place for my second set of shots. He says it was a moped, but it wasn’t like a moped I’ve been on before and we were
Randomness on the Ramblas
There are street performers and such all up and down the Rambla on major highways, so I’m counting this as my first ride on the back of a motorcycle - in between traffic and everything! It was a little unnerving at first (even rollercoasters have seatbelts!), but after I started to breathe and stopped thinking about being splattered on the road or bugs in my teeth, it was actually pretty fun.
Immunizations Part Two - I’ll equate paying for shots in London to buying antiques in China . . . I WAY overpaid, but I like what I got (antiques) and I did need to get the shots. At the Immunization place in Barcelona the receptionist spoke no English so it took me a while to explain what I needed (I have to say I was pretty proud of my Spanish abilities at this point). When we agreed I needed two shots total, and she asked me for seven euros I thought for sure she at least meant 70 euros. No, she meant seven (about $10) . . For two shots! I paid about $100 per shot in the UK! They then went on to tell me that most of the locals complain that they have to pay the seven euros.
I almost kissed her!
I’m leaving Barcelona to head north for a little solitude at a Castle in Girona. No, I haven’t seen all the Barcelona sites, but as I mentioned, this time around, I can see this trip is about meeting new friends and having new experiences and not necessarily how many sites and museums I can fit in. I also now know that it’s never going to be my only or last trip to xyz country or city . . . . I’m a traveler and know I can always come back. :-)
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Kat
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Ahhh Spain~!
That tree man is sooo ONE WITH THE EARTH;) Great shots! Love reading your blogs and seeing your pictures!!!