Friday, June 29, 2012

Cappuccinos, Coquettes, Churches, and Clubs.


That’s what the first day Barcelona, Spain had in store for us.

I would recommend to everyone who has the opportunity to travel to another country, to first set eyes on it at sunrise. Every port, I wake up for sunrise as we sail into the harbor and catch our first glimpse of the beautiful new land I’m about to explore. This port was no exception, I woke up at 6am just as the sun was coming up. It was a great way to start off a long, action packed day.

The ship was cleared a little later than we expected, so we finally departed into the city around 11am. Hope, Emily (another UVA student we met on the voyage), Elsie (a marine biology student from Maine) and I all got in a cab to visit Emily’s friend, Marissa, who has been living in Barcelona for the past 4 years. Armed with a map, a few euros and some broken Spanish phrases, we frantically searched for Marissa’s apartment in a more alternative part of the neighborhood. When we eventually found it, we were extremely hungry, so we were happy to hear that Marissa wanted to show us around town and take us to a local Spanish restaurant. Marissa has an adorable 8 month old baby girl, so we strapped her in a stroller and headed out to explore.



It was great touring around the city with a local because she knew all of the history and culture of the town that we never would have discovered just walking around ourselves. We learned that most people in Barcelona live and never move away, so she lives within 2 blocks of her husbands family. The neighborhood is traditionally more independent- especially about their Catalonia roots. Marissa took us to a local olive oil shop, some fun clothing stores, and helped us order some of the best cappuccinos around. I’m not usually a huge fan of coffee, but it tasted a lot like coffee cake and wasn’t too bitter. Marissa’s baby is one of the most well behaved children I have ever seen, so it was easy to continue walking until we reached the restaurant.

 Much like I tried to do in Germany, my goal for this trip was to try everything before I found out what is was, so I ordered off the menu a “coca con jabon et queso” and a pitcher of sangria. All of the food was to die for. The bread was fresh, the tomatoes were sweet, and a coca is just bread with ham and cheese melted on top. The group also ordered a sample plate with all sorts of seafood delicacies and traditional Spanish food. Though I wasn’t a huge fan of the mussels, I did LOVE the coquettes. Coquettes remind me so much of hush puppies but with more of a gooey center. They can have anything in them ranging from pork, to salmon, to just cheese. It was by far my favorite snack and my southern self wants to bring them back just to compare them to the comfort country cookin’ of hush puppies.



We ended our local tour by going to Sagrada Familia church, designed by the world renowned architect, Gaudi. Apparently he the entire church has symbolic Christian themes, but it was difficult to decipher what the amalgamation of ideas was supposed to represent. With lizards crawling down the sides of the walls, piles of fruit topping off steeples and the nativity scene wedged between angels and dripping concrete that looked like teeth, I wasn’t sure if it was a stroke of genius that the church came together, or if it was an epic fail. The church is still being completed, a century later, and it seems each façade has a different theme depending on the time period of gothic architecture to modernism and geometric shapes. I was so surprised to find such a unique building in the center of European city, but apparently his work is all over the town.



We topped the evening off after practicing siesta and taking a nap, by watching the Spain vs. Portugal soccer game at a local pub called “Dusk.” Spain won, which made the night that much better. Though Barcelona is the team of choice around here, everyone has a love for their national team. I’m bummed we won’t be here to watch the finals of the Euro Cup where Spain will play either Italy or Germany.

From Dusk we got in a cab and went to a EuroClub. Having never really been clubbing before ever, I had no idea what to expect. I honestly came in with the expectation of something like an exaggerated frat party, complete with dubstep music and crowded rooms. Boy was I wrong. The club we went to was named Opium, apparently one of the better clubs in the area, just along the beach. I was right about the loud music, there certainly was that, but it was a huge open space, flashing strobe lights in one room, with the others glowing different colors of blue, orange, yellow, pink. Shots were being taken on every surface, though they were expensive and drinks were 13 euro a piece. I personally stayed away from the pricy drinks because I was fairly overwhelmed, and only found a bit more chill scene when going outside where one could buy a table for a couple hundred euro. Had I been in a different mind set, it could have been fun, but knowing I needed to get up for snorkeling at 7 made me keep my wits about me- which I was so glad I did because 6 people had their iphones stolen and one person was mugged at knife point in the club! All in all, a fairly overwhelming place in my opinion. I probably would stick to the bars and other fun venues rather than hit the clubs every night… but personally I just prefer meeting people rather than wandering around a loud club. Still, it’s well worth experiencing once and I now have a whole new respect for Europeans who can rage at clubs till the sun comes up.

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