Monday in Barcelona

Monday morning we woke up in Barcelona around 10am and went straight to the cold meat, cereal and stale croissant breakfast. While eating we sent out some Couchsurfing requests for Northern Italy hoping to get a bite for Thursday and Friday night… so far no such luck.

After breakfast we took much needed showers and got ready for our day downtown. On our way to the metro station we bought a watch from a resourceful shop owner. She cleverly pointed us to a vacuum sealed Spanish Marie Claire which contained a stylish blanco watch. Excited about our new, more defined sense of time we boarded the metro at Les Corts and headed into the heart of Barcelona.

When we emerged from underground we quickly oriented ourselves and headed straight for the beach. On our way we bought some jewelry from street vendors and stopped at ….. for lunch. The hostess lured us in with the promise of fresh caught seafood and we went for their specialty, paella de marisco. This dish was everything I hoped for in Spain, it was rice with vegetables seasoned with tomatos and spices, topped with prawns, mussels, and squid. It was filling and flavorful. While we were paying our bill the friendly, English speaking waiter referred to Kaitlin as Ms. Los Angelas and inquired about a boyfriend. Sorry Senor we aren’t here for the boys, we are here for the food.

After lunch we laid a towel out on the topless beach and Kaitlin went for a swim. While we were collecting rocks from the sea floor I submerged our brand new timepiece, which instantly filled with water and came to a stop. Once again, without a sense of time we ventured down the narrow roads of Barcelona hoping to come across a treasure. We were captivated by the balconies and old buildings. Kaitlin led the way and eventually we stumbled across a huge church, in the courtyard street performers were hip hop dancing. After enjoying the show we maneuvered in out of streets and stops in hole in the wall shops to get gifts for family and friends. Eventually we made it back to the train station and our hostel where we decompressed, glued to our computer screens.

After an hour or two we decided to head to a local grocery store to pick up dinner.  It is here that I should mention Kaitlin’s lifesaving techniques brought the watch back to life, she literally sucked the water out… Kaitliin is certified in CPR for watches now; unfortunately we left the revived watch in the bedroom- we are convinced we are not meant to know the time. At the store we bought beer, wine, tomatoes, goat cheese, avocados, lemons and corn chips. You can check out the video to see what happened during dinner, believe me it is worth it.

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After dinner and alcohol we hung around the community room, uploading pictures and videos, checking on emails and our blog and chatting with some of the hostelers. One man we met, Tao Huang, was particularly chatty, he had two more days on his 50 day trip. He is from Chengdu, China, a town known for its extremely spicy food, so spicy he says that you won’t need anesthetic for surgery after eating it. We chatted with a few others before heading up to bed, tiptoeing into the dark room of slumbering French and falling asleep. Tonight we sleep with the French and tomorrow depart for France.