España Numero Uno
We docked in Barcelona on Friday. A tower of Christopher Columbus greets you at the port. I forgot he was Spanish. I promptly saluted him and thanked him for discovering America. We had the entire day to explore the city before meeting with the Carrano's (missionaries) the next day. I cried a lot as we hopped on and off the bus tour, seeing as many sights as we could and getting an overall scope of the city. It was beautiful, and overwhelming and a lot of other emotions that I couldn't really process at the time. The most prevading of which was the feeling of "I made it!" You see it's been much longer than a seven day journey for me. Read more about that here
https://jeepgirladventures.blogspot.com/2018/07/barcelona.html
and here
https://jeepgirladventures.blogspot.com/2018/07/barcelona-part-2.html
Barcelona is...well it's all the things I said about the other cities and more. It's very much like New York City, even more so than Rome. It has all the quaint nooks and cranies and side streets like Italy but it also has long wide tree lined avenues. The buildings are colorful like in France, but every block or so you'll see an intricitely tiled facade, which gives the whole street a dressed up feel. It's filled with towering Cathedrals and other stately buildings. Most of the city is laid out on a very percise grid, which should make getting around a little easier. Except the coners are all cut off. So the blocks don't have 4 facades (as they call them here), they have 8. They are all oblong octagons, which so far has proved a little confusing for me. You are never really walking in a straight line. You are constantly rounding corners just to cross the street.
Though the buildings are almost all very old, it is a completley modern city. In many ways much more modern than Nashville. I wasn't expecting that! We visited a department store called El Corte Ingles. It towers nine stories tall. It reminded me of Macys in New York, but BIGGER! It has all the normal department store wares, but also a full grocery store in the basement, a gelato counter, a Nespresso store (everyone here drinks Nespresso), a wine cellar, a raw oyster bar, a salon, a spa and the top floor is a fancy cafeteria with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. I could have stayed there all day, in fact I plan to on my next day off.
Outside the department store there is a grand square with park benches and fountains. Pigions rule but in a romantic sort of way if that's possible, or it could just be that everything feels romantic here. Children are chasing large flocks of them and laughing and there is an asian man dipping large strands of string into a soapy bucket and blowing bubbles so large that I expected "Glinda the Good Witch" to float down at any moment. There are balloons shaped like animals and of course a gelato stand or two. You step right into a musical when you walk through it all, and I had to resist the pressing urge to start dancing and singing. I'm not sure what Penny would have done with that, but just for kicks and giggles, the song would have said something like "There's no place like Espana, no no place like Espana, Where the children chase all your cares away. Gelato will make it better for all of those go getters, Oh Espana is the place I love to play." Or something equally as rediculous, but know this, I would have defintelty ended up in the fountain at some point and the finale would have had me stepping into one of those bubbles and floating away.
Penny and our other traveling companions and I deceide it was time for some tapas! Spain is all about the tapas. (Small plates that you share with the table.) This is my favorite kind of dining experience. I eat like this a lot at home becaue I love to have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I like the variety. We found a cafe bordering a wide open placa. (plaza, courtyard, square, piazza or whatever country you're in!) I ordered for the table and it was so good that we ended up ordering another round of everything. First the olives. I could write an entire blog about them. I love olives anyway, but these are by far superior to anything I've ever had. They're green, not stuffed with anything and they are dressed with oil and course salt. Yep, salty olives with more salt and they were delicious! They don't just taste salty like most, they actually have flavor which I can't quite describe because I've never tasted it before. They were a big hit. The whole table wanted more! Then the croquettes (deep fried mashed potatoes with ham), a cheese board, and about 8 other things I can't recall.
While stuffing our faces....I mean 'dining,' four Spanird males dressed in black positioned themselves in front of our table. They started stretching as if getting ready to run a race. One man ran up a wrought-iron light pole and did a back flip! Then I saw a speaker and we started to get a clue as to what was about to happen. They promptly all ripped off their shirts and started tumbling down the entire length of the placa which was about 50 yards. They jumped over each other and under each other and stood three men tall on eachothers shoulders! It was terrifying to watch actually. They were struggling a bit and we were so worried that they were going to break their necks, it was hard to enjoy. Not to say it wasn't entertaining. It was, but in a cringe worthy kind of way. A sassy blonde cheerleder probably from Texas, walked out in front of them and did a no hands back flip and tried to steal the show. They obviously did not like that. So they stepped it up by bringing some pretty tourists girls into their show and flipping over their heads.
It was hard to sleep the last night on the boat, knowing tomorrow I would meet the worship team and find out where I would be living for the next three weeks, and start the next leg of my adventure. I didn't know what to expect. My mind pictured a quaint apartment with tall windows that opened onto a terrace, but honestly for all I knew I would be sleeping on the floor with 15 other people. I didn't know if it was a 5 story walk up or something I would have to take the metro to get to. I didn't know if I would be able to communicate with the musicians in English or not. I knew I would figure it out, but the excitement was less fearful and more like the feeling you get when you're 8 (or 38) and it's Christmas eve.
I fell asleep praying. "God I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what you have in store for me. I don't know anything right now, except that I have done what you've asked of me. Please help me not to be distracted while I'm here by things that don't matter. Help me make a difference, and to stay in tune with your spirit." I hummed the song "Oceans" which seems a little bit more appropraite when you're on a boat, and I dreamt of Spain.
XOXO
Jeepgirl
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