In Which I Conquer Barcelona

Originally, I was going to get all photo-y in this post, you know, explain some of the photos in my slideshow, but then my life turned into a vortex of busy, so that isn't gonna happen. But the fact that I wanted to do that kept me from posting this for over a week. Oops.

On with the post.

A couple Saturdays ago, I decided to do something completely out of character.

On a typical weekend, I hide in my house/dorm/lair of chaos, spend an inordinate amount of time of the computer, listen to music, go running, basically stay within a nice little comfort zone.

But no. Not this Saturday. This Saturday, I decided to do what people would expect me to do in a foreign country, on a weekend, with time on my hands.

I took several maps, a guidebook, a camera, a train ticket, and enough euros to feed me for a month (literally. I took all the euros I have which I will use to feed myself for a month). And then, I went where several million tourists have gone before.

I took on Barcelona.

So, I get off the train at the Plaza de Catalunya. And step directly into the aftermath of the gay pride parade in Barcelona. There were a lot of men in spandex. Screaming songs in what might have been Catalan. Could have been Spanish, or even English, but they weren't exactly enunciating, so hard to say. After getting over my initial confusion, I pulled out my map in true tourist style, and then proceeded to wander around aimlessly like an idiot for twenty minutes. Where did I end up?

SUPERMERCADO: LABERINTO O TIENDA A LA ARMADA?

(Supermarket: Labyrinth or Shop in the Style of the Spanish Navy?)

Yeah. My inner shopaholic compass disregarded the map entirely. I was vaguely aiming to find the Museo Picasso. I ended up inside a megamall.

Now, you probably looked at this title, and thought...what?

Exactly. That was what I was thinking in this mall.

It was a lot like every other mall I've ever seen. So I won't comment on that. What made this mall VERY unique is that it was blessed with a fortitude of emergency exits, elevators, escalators, and bathrooms.

There just wasn't any way to actually leave the building without setting off alarms.

After a half an hour of getting lost in the mall's grocery store, cosmetic aisle, bookstore, candy store, purse section, and pet's mart, I found my original entrance and ran to it like someone lost in the desert runs to an oasis.

Clearly, in response to the recession, the Spanish have decided to retain consumers in their stores by making it physically impossible for the consumers to leave.

After escaping the Labyrinth of Shopping Death, I spent another half an hour wandering around Barcelona, taking lots of photos and generally making quite the tourist of myself. At one point, I look up from my map on a whim, and what do I see?

BIG, RUSSIAN, ONION DOMES

I had no choice. My inner Russian was like PIROSHKI! (I was going for like EUREKA or MOTHERLAND! in Russian...but I don't know those words. So I'm going with piroshki, which is a type of Russian pastry. Very delicious). Point being, I immediately stopped my aimless wandering and pursued my inner Russian.

Turns out, it wasn't a Russian dome. In fact, the entire building was the Catalan Music Hall of Barcelona. So, actually it really, really wasn't Russian. Whatever, beside the point. I got to look at the outside of it and then I was thrown out of the actual building by people who said I needed "tickets" to get in. What are these "tickets" of which they speak? Yeah, they were sold out of tickets to get in, so I was like, forget it, I'll just take pictures and move on. So I did move on, to the

MUSEO PICASSO

Which is awesome. I'm just gonna say, I'm fond of Picasso. Not so much his abstract work, but some of his earlier works. My favorites: Mujer con mantilla, Rosas, and The Guernica (which is abstract. I like to contradict myself).

Fyi, Guernica is definitely not in the Museo Picasso. Which I knew already. It's hanging in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, but a tapestry copy of it can be found in the foyer of the UN Security Council. Bush had the painting covered before the UNSC voted on whether or not to support the Iraq War. Why would Bush do something so nonsensical? Well, he never really liked Iraq...OH, oh, you mean why would he cover the Guernica. Well, it's a very illustrative painting on the horrors of war that Spain suffered during the Spanish Civil War and what would ultimately be part of WWII. I find it interesting that a painting can have so much power and influence, even decades after the artist has died.

Anyways, it rocked. There were paintings. Picasso was a friggin genius.

So, at this point I'm like, okay, I've had enough museums and walking and being lost for one day, I'm going to go home.

Or not.


...BARCELONA HAS TWO TRAINS???...AND TERRASSA HAS TWO STOPS? ...shooooooooooooooooooooot...

Yeah. Definitely took the wrong one. But it's okay. Only had to walk an extra half an hour and spending an inordinate amount of map bonding time. But I made it!

THE END