Mas de Barcelona...

We were told that there would be promoters on Las Ramblas handing out coupons to clubs, so we were not surprised to receive many discuentas and ofertas. As usual, we made a battle plan of which places to hit to receive the best possible discounts…we ended up being approached by two promoters who offered to put our names down on a list to go into this club for a jazz show. When we arrived there was a huge line of people all dressed to the nines, but instead of getting into the line, I grabbed Natalia and took her to the front where I told the bouncer we were on “la lista, Estela y Natalia…” and he unhooked the red velvet thingy and let us in! It wasn’t that great, as usual a case of a huge line of people and semi-empty club.

We began to look for a taxi to the hostel, which we could have walked to, but decided to be safe and get a cab. After a while of searching we got into a cab and told our cab driver the street. He was this nice looking elderly man, but was confused and didn’t understand our street. So we explained it to him a few times, and Natalia even got out her map to show him. (he should have known it’s a pretty important street) He started yelling at us rudelyfor some reason to get out of his cab and basically pushed us out into the street. We were so shocked I said, “Gracias, senor, gracias PARA NADA!” (thanks for nothing) then as Natalia got out after me she said quietly under her breath but loud enough so that he could hear… “Jodete.” Which means…well, a profane expression. I laughed so hard because coming out of cute little Nata it was fairly hilarious.

6 Octubre 2007, Sabado

This morning the first thing we did (after much complaining from me as we got up at 8 am) was visit el Museo de Xocolata. (chocolate museum!)The lady working told us it opened at 10 (we got there at about 9:58) and continued to smoke her morning cigarette grumpily. She let us in at about 10:03. It sounds cooler than it actually was, maybe because the workshops which we were so looking forward to doing were only for people under 12. Come on man, just because you’re 20 (or 80 for that matter) doesn’t mean you don’t want to play with chocolate to make statues and stuff. The museum had the history of chocolate and lots of different chocolate structures, like a chocolate corrida del toros. We took as many free samples of the chocolate (or xocolata in Catalan) as we could without the grumpy lady noticing and headed off into the gothic quarter. We walked around searching for a beautiful bakery like the one yesterday, walking through tourist shops and wandering musicians. As this walking around for hours trying to find the ideal place to eat thing was getting a little old, we opted to eat at the same place from the day before. By this time it was around 11 and I was hungry…so I ordered a bocadillo de atun (tuna sandwich) with café bonbon, which was an interesting mix of coffee on top of condensed milk. (oooh yeahhh Pamela, I was thinking of you the whole time). Natalia got a chocolate croissant, so of course, we shared.

Ready to take Barcelona by storm, we headed to the Russian store we found the night before. It was a typical Russian store, a little bigger though and with less products. I read about the significance of being named “Stella” in a name dictionary, which was really interesting. Apparently I am cold and success oriented, and won’t stop until I get what I want. Also, I take trust in friendships very seriously and hold grudges. Now that doesn’t sound like me at all does it? Also, apparently Jonathan Swift (of Gulliver’s Travels fame) was obsessed/married to a girl 15 years younger than him named Stella….hmm….We were so tempted to buy something, like the frozen pilmeni or ice cream, but decided carrying stuff around all day might be a bad idea.

In the store window there were little notes posted by people searching for jobs, written in Russian for other Russians to find, and as we were leaving, there were a bunch of people looking…

We decided to walk to Plaza de Espana because Andryusha had informed us the day before that were some nice marketplaces to explore…so we walked….and walked….and walked….I noticed a little store with Stars of David so of course I went in…to find a grypsy/fotune tellers shop, selling devil worshipping stuff, tarot cards, crystal balls along with menorahs and Talmuds. There was incense burning and little dolls dressed up like witches standing on the shelf above where they sold Torahs. I thought it was quite funny, and a reflection of the fact that they had no clue what any of the Jewish things meant…

A little creeped out, we ventured further until we hit the Plaza de Espana. As we neared the street we saw there was some sort of street festival going on, and found it was Medeival Fiesta day in Barcelona, something that happens only once a year, where vendors line the street dressed up in medieval clothes selling their old-fashioned wares. There were little booths of people selling olive oil, pickled food, fresh baked bread, jewelry, cheese (this cheese was home-made and the best I have ever had) (the free samples of everything was the best part) fresh baked desserts…

We first tried an exotic dessert in the Exotic Orient tent, which was a rip off because it cost 1 euro and we ate it in about 1 second. Then we neared a tent where a lady was piling on fruit on a stick, then dipping the whole thing in chocolate, finished off with sprinkles. It took about a split-second for Natalia and I to agree we wanted one…it was ammaaazzziinnnggg

We saw an avery and my first ever up close bald eagle (in Spain, oh the irony). We tried champagne for 1 euro from a local bodega which was fabulous. There were basket weavers and burro rides for the kids. The next thing we ate (we shared a lot) was this amazing crepe like thing, then we bought some home made sweets (chuchos) for later. It was all in all, the best random find possible, and we toasted to our random luck…may it lead us to more world tourism days and general free stuff… J

After thoroughly stuffing myself and lamenting the fact that I could not buy a huge round thing of cheese to take with me (Natalia insisted it would not pass security damnit) we decided to go on the funicular by the sea, which is supposed to have great views of Barcelona. Being extremely far from anything and already noticing a gant blister forming on my foot, I insisted we take some sort of transportation. We decided to surreptitiously try to enter the Bus Touristic since the day before they NEVER checked our tickets, and we already knew the route. As soon as we got on the bus, the first time ever, the bus driver asked for our tickets to which I began to search furiously through my bag for the nonexistent ticket (“Damn, where did I put it?”) and got off the bus. We took the local bus to the port right next to the statue of our old friend, Colon. There was a little market right by the sea so we took a look. They were selling antiques and I almost (almost!) bought these beautiful wooden castanets. The seller played his guitar and told me to play the castanets (I can actually do it! Though somewhat pitifully). He complimented my “playing,” but I think it was a ploy to sell the castanets. I also saw some bronze menorahs among the trash..ahem, antiques…
OK i realize the picture is upside down, but i have no clue how to turn it, so use your imagination...the funicular tower

As we were walking…and walking…because of course we could not find the station for the funicular, we saw a bike taxi and decided to ask how much it cost. The driver (?) was a German guy who started chatting with us, and he asked me about my Star of David. I told him I was Jewish and he was like, “me too! My mom is an Iranian Jew and my dad is a German..” Interesting combination, of course this whole conversation was in Spanish with heavy German accent…so I think that’s what he said..

We finally found the funicular tower and began climbing to find that the elevator was not functioning and we could not take it. I sat down to rest my little aching toes on the funicular tower and cursed Barcelona. The day was beautiful however, and we were sitting on this huge tower overlooking the sea. After finally agreeing to walk further, we went to Maremagnum, a huge shopping center by the sea which I remember visiting before, as my dad had ordered “beero” in a restaurant on the second floor. We visited our old favorites like H and M, Mango, and Stradivarius and headed back for a coffee on Las Ramblas. We walked around for a bit more, buying some souvenirs and just enjoying the breeze.

Paella was for dinner in a nice restaurant. We each opted for menu del dia which consisted of gazpacho, sangria, paella, and espresso for 12 euro. Not too bad. The paella was really good, and I cannot WAIT to have some real paella in Valencia…

Our flight was at 6:45 am the following morning, and our lovely travel partners did not want to pay for a night at a hostel since we had to get up so early, so we had to go to the airport before the last bus left at 12:15. We bought a tuna sandwich and some magazines to prepare for the long night ahead. After arriving in the airport, we found a nice little corner and set up camp. I realized how thirsty I was, and luckily, saw a water vending machine nearby. I put in money, and after about 20 seconds of pounding I realized I would not receive my water. “Great start,” I thought and began searching for someone to complain to. (Don’t you worry, I ended up getting some)

7 Octubre 2007, Domingo

The night was long and awful. The other girls knew they were going to pass the night in the airport so brought towels to lay on. Natalia and I did not have that luxury, so we tried to make the most of our belongings my using our bags as pillows. We both had our boarding passes and could have gone into the terminal, but we (Natalia) decided we should be nice and stay with the other girls on the hard, cold floor. We also decided to take turns sleeping, but at around 3 AM I noticed everyone was sleeping but me and Natalia…we were chowing down on tuna and reading a Spanish tabloid…

At around 4 AM, I decided I could not take anymore and passed through security to fall asleep on a nicely padded couch by the gate. I was woke up at at 6:30 to take the flight home…

As I walked back into good ol’ 22 Francisco Pacheco, I walked straight into the kitchen to turn on the hot water to shower. Of course I looked into the fridge and saw that senora had made my favorite seafood salad, obviously I had to have some. As I was chowing down, senora walked in to find her American boarder eating leftovers at 8:30 on a Sunday morning looking quite frazzled…I mumbled something like “gracias, buenas dias,” showered, and passed out until about 4 pm.

Later, I walked through parquet Maria Luisa which is one of the most beautiful places in Sevilla. I honestly felt like I had arrived home…