Barcelona!
(Sing it like ya mean it, Freddie Mercury style!) Well, what a couple of days. I'd never been to Barcelona and I'm so glad I decided to go - it's a lovely city and my makeshift host for the day was fantastic. I find in life that there are some people you just click with - there's no awkwardness, you're on the same wavelength with everything and the whole thing just feels natural. Troy is definitely one of those people, with an extra something special on top.
Soon after we met in Placa de Catalunya and found a quiet little place for coffee, the conversation turned from the usual catch up chatter to the random everyday observations of two friends who meet up regularly, rather than once a year. Topics ranged from American politics and global warming, to turtles and philosophy, with plenty of laughter and jokes thrown in. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much in one day!
Talking only ceased to be interspersed with lots of "oohs", "aahs" and "wows" as we toured round such sites as the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's extravagant and still unfinished 19th century church in the heart of the city. And believe me when I say that "wow" was used every other word, but still doesn't fully express the magnificence of this building!
More site seeing under the guise of a pub crawl filled the afternoon and from the way were just wandering into any bars, cafes and restaurants we came across and still being treated to superb coffee and excellent food, I'd say Barcelona is a fairly good city for all of these things. And pretty cheap too. It's also small enough to be able to walk around without any real destination and bump into the various churches, museums and architectural masterpieces of Antonio Gaudi that Barcelona is famous for.
The Spanish eat late, so we went to the popular, exotic La Fianna restaurant and cocktail bar and soon made ourselves at home on the huge cushioned seats sitting cross legged with our shoes off (no, it wasn't just us, this is the style of the restaurant, honest).
Many hours and a few more drinks later (ahem) and the day was well and truly over. Troy had to leave early Wednesday morning to catch his flight and I was sad to see him go - but I don't think my liver was. The day was spent taking in more sites in the cool sea air and then it was time for me to leave.
An extremely successful and fun little adventure that I'm unlikely to ever forget and a tenuous friendship well and truly cemented; hopefully for a return trip in 12 years to see the finished Sagrada Familia. That would be awesome!
Soon after we met in Placa de Catalunya and found a quiet little place for coffee, the conversation turned from the usual catch up chatter to the random everyday observations of two friends who meet up regularly, rather than once a year. Topics ranged from American politics and global warming, to turtles and philosophy, with plenty of laughter and jokes thrown in. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much in one day!
Talking only ceased to be interspersed with lots of "oohs", "aahs" and "wows" as we toured round such sites as the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's extravagant and still unfinished 19th century church in the heart of the city. And believe me when I say that "wow" was used every other word, but still doesn't fully express the magnificence of this building!
More site seeing under the guise of a pub crawl filled the afternoon and from the way were just wandering into any bars, cafes and restaurants we came across and still being treated to superb coffee and excellent food, I'd say Barcelona is a fairly good city for all of these things. And pretty cheap too. It's also small enough to be able to walk around without any real destination and bump into the various churches, museums and architectural masterpieces of Antonio Gaudi that Barcelona is famous for.
The Spanish eat late, so we went to the popular, exotic La Fianna restaurant and cocktail bar and soon made ourselves at home on the huge cushioned seats sitting cross legged with our shoes off (no, it wasn't just us, this is the style of the restaurant, honest).
Many hours and a few more drinks later (ahem) and the day was well and truly over. Troy had to leave early Wednesday morning to catch his flight and I was sad to see him go - but I don't think my liver was. The day was spent taking in more sites in the cool sea air and then it was time for me to leave.
An extremely successful and fun little adventure that I'm unlikely to ever forget and a tenuous friendship well and truly cemented; hopefully for a return trip in 12 years to see the finished Sagrada Familia. That would be awesome!
Labels: holiday, non-cycling, story
posted by MTB Girl at
04:04
2 Comments:
Sounds ace! Jetsetter.
i loved it
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