I spent almost all day on a bus traveling from Madrid to Barcelona, which was a marvelous trip. We drove past mountain ranges, vineyards, red cliffs, scrubby arid areas, poplar trees and palm trees, thunderstorms, and beautiful sunshine to make it to the Mediterranean coast in the early evening. It is a testament to the loveliness of this country that I was captive on a bus for eight hours and never opened the book in my lap! :) Oh, and we passed the biggest wind farm I´ve ever seen and a large solar panel farm. Also cool in their own way, right?
As soon as I stepped off the bus, I could feel the wet breeziness, smell the fish, and hear the seagulls. I love being near the Mediterranean, and one of my bucket list items is to visit every country that borders it. By the end of the summer I may be adding Morocco, Italy, and/or Greece to the current list of Egypt, Turkey, and now Spain. As far as I´m concerned, though, a project like that is only worth doing if the execution is leisurely and informed. So I will take my time and see what I can get to comfortably. And when I am done with this trip, no matter how many or how few of the countries I´ve added to my list, I will enjoy the fact that there´s still so much left to discover.
We passed the port and the docks on the way into Barcelona, and even though it wasn´t Marseilles, when I saw some sailors walking with their duffel bags over their shoulders, it made me think of The Count of Monte Cristo. If you haven´t read that one yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy, and I bet you´ll want to start a Mediterranean adventure too. :) It´s a fantastic old French revenge saga set in cities all over this area. It´s a historical swashbuckler, a romance, and a psychological thriller all rolled into one. It´s so good that even having to read the abridged version of it in high school didn´t ruin it for me. And that is saying something.
Although it´s great to be near the sea, I have to admit that Barcelona is going to have to grow on me--which I´m certain that it will. But as I´ve been reading about the city and listening to podcasts about it, every source has included semi-hysterical warnings that the pickpockets are out of control here and that petty crime (of the non-violent persuasion, Mom, I promise) is a serious problem. I had to withdraw cash from the ATM this evening and I felt unusually on edge, even though I´m always careful (I live in DC, for crying out loud). I hated how defensive and closed up those warnings made me. A middle aged French guy walking by with two women and another man bumped into me when I was standing in line at the ATM, and my first thought was that he was trying to pick my pocket. I glared at him and clutched my bag tighter, and as he made a quick apology and kept walking by, I realized that they were just deep in their discussion and he hadn´t been looking where he was going. Guh. That is not the way to spend my time here.
I should know better than to blow these kinds of warnings out of proportion, but I always take advice like that too seriously. I did it before visiting Turkey and Egypt too, and then when I got there I felt like the hype was way too shrill compared to my own observations of the place, and they actually scared me when they should have just tweaked my internal level of alert. The bottom line is that you have to be vigilant and smart everywhere, all the time, but if you can´t do that while also enjoying what you´re seeing and doing, you shouldn´t be there in the first place.
To make matters worse, I took a quick walk among the hordes of foreign tourists and because the warnings intimidated me, I stayed with the crowds and pretty much only passed big glassy storefronts for Bennetton, Foot Locker, Starbucks, KFC, McDonald´s, Burger King, etc etc etc. I ducked off the main drag briefly to find a little pub, and I was just starting to enjoy my tapas when three women came into the bar with four small children who sat beside me and started screaming while the mothers did nothing to comfort or quiet them. They did not stop. My ears are still ringing. I cut the meal short, paid up, and came home. So much for that.
So, hey, Barcelona, you´ve got to redeem yourself tomorrow. I´m counting on you and your cheeky Gaudi architecture and your modern art museum and your legendary food not to disappoint me. I will be up early and cheerful to behold your awesomeness. The ball´s in your court. Love, Peg. :)
As soon as I stepped off the bus, I could feel the wet breeziness, smell the fish, and hear the seagulls. I love being near the Mediterranean, and one of my bucket list items is to visit every country that borders it. By the end of the summer I may be adding Morocco, Italy, and/or Greece to the current list of Egypt, Turkey, and now Spain. As far as I´m concerned, though, a project like that is only worth doing if the execution is leisurely and informed. So I will take my time and see what I can get to comfortably. And when I am done with this trip, no matter how many or how few of the countries I´ve added to my list, I will enjoy the fact that there´s still so much left to discover.
We passed the port and the docks on the way into Barcelona, and even though it wasn´t Marseilles, when I saw some sailors walking with their duffel bags over their shoulders, it made me think of The Count of Monte Cristo. If you haven´t read that one yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy, and I bet you´ll want to start a Mediterranean adventure too. :) It´s a fantastic old French revenge saga set in cities all over this area. It´s a historical swashbuckler, a romance, and a psychological thriller all rolled into one. It´s so good that even having to read the abridged version of it in high school didn´t ruin it for me. And that is saying something.
Although it´s great to be near the sea, I have to admit that Barcelona is going to have to grow on me--which I´m certain that it will. But as I´ve been reading about the city and listening to podcasts about it, every source has included semi-hysterical warnings that the pickpockets are out of control here and that petty crime (of the non-violent persuasion, Mom, I promise) is a serious problem. I had to withdraw cash from the ATM this evening and I felt unusually on edge, even though I´m always careful (I live in DC, for crying out loud). I hated how defensive and closed up those warnings made me. A middle aged French guy walking by with two women and another man bumped into me when I was standing in line at the ATM, and my first thought was that he was trying to pick my pocket. I glared at him and clutched my bag tighter, and as he made a quick apology and kept walking by, I realized that they were just deep in their discussion and he hadn´t been looking where he was going. Guh. That is not the way to spend my time here.
I should know better than to blow these kinds of warnings out of proportion, but I always take advice like that too seriously. I did it before visiting Turkey and Egypt too, and then when I got there I felt like the hype was way too shrill compared to my own observations of the place, and they actually scared me when they should have just tweaked my internal level of alert. The bottom line is that you have to be vigilant and smart everywhere, all the time, but if you can´t do that while also enjoying what you´re seeing and doing, you shouldn´t be there in the first place.
To make matters worse, I took a quick walk among the hordes of foreign tourists and because the warnings intimidated me, I stayed with the crowds and pretty much only passed big glassy storefronts for Bennetton, Foot Locker, Starbucks, KFC, McDonald´s, Burger King, etc etc etc. I ducked off the main drag briefly to find a little pub, and I was just starting to enjoy my tapas when three women came into the bar with four small children who sat beside me and started screaming while the mothers did nothing to comfort or quiet them. They did not stop. My ears are still ringing. I cut the meal short, paid up, and came home. So much for that.
So, hey, Barcelona, you´ve got to redeem yourself tomorrow. I´m counting on you and your cheeky Gaudi architecture and your modern art museum and your legendary food not to disappoint me. I will be up early and cheerful to behold your awesomeness. The ball´s in your court. Love, Peg. :)
It looks like the Barcelona skyline may be helping to make up for a less-than-spectacular start. At least we know that unruly children in restaurants are universal, or at least no specific to the United States.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the first really hot day of summer. Trust me, it's worth missing :)