Barcelona!: Days 2 and 3!

Saturday

After sleeping until almost 3pm, John and I finally wake up, and walk around La Gracia looking for a place to eat breakfast. I’m pretty sure that breakfast doesn’t exist in Barcelona since everyone wakes up so darn late. John and I were so hungry but really were having problems finding a cheap and normal sounding place to eat. We walked all over and the streets were pretty dead because it was during siesta, but it was good to see all of the quaint shops and little neighborhoods that surrounded Pepe’s apartment. It was a beautiful day too, so it was just nice to be out and about. We found a little outdoor café and sat at a table in the sun. Our waiter looked us over and immediately said “what do you want?” I had eggs, some kind of mystery meat, and potatoes. Food here is centered around meat and carbs…so it’s taken some getting used to. After that, we headed back to Pepe’s apartment and hung out until the soccer game (futbol) that night. It was Barcelona vs. Sevilla, and if Barcelona lost then they would be out of the running for the Spanish League Championship. We waited for Pepe to get home then we walked to this hole in the wall bar a few blocks from his apartment to meet up with his friends. The place was so crowded that we ended up sitting on beer crates practically underneath the television. I felt like a little kid watching a cartoon, but it was so fun. I loved hearing all of the people yelling and screaming at the television. I really felt the passion they had for their team, and how much it meant to them that they won. F.C. Barcelona is a club team, and the team is owned by tons of actual fans who invest their money rather than one single owner….. Two of Pepe’s friends are members, Uri and Jordi, so they were on pins and needles watching the match. Barca (which is the nickname for Barcelona) was up 3-0, then Sevilla came back and lost 3-2. It was extremely intense, and even though Barca won in the end, all of the fans were bummed that they didn’t demolish them 3-0. Their win wasn’t worthy enough for a huge going out celebration, so we went with Pepe’s friends to one of their favorite Tapas bars and shared drinks and food for a few hours. Pepe had to meet up with some other friends for dinner, but John and I didn’t feel awkward at all because we were already so close with all of his friends. It was great to learn about their culture, more about each of them individually, and it was funny to compare what we do in America vs. what they do here. I was completely impressed by how well each of the friends spoke English. It really makes me mad that the U.S. doesn’t emphasize learning a second language. After the tapas bar we headed to another hole in the wall bar in Gracia. It was more of a late night place; louder music, more of a party atmosphere. It was fun. They even gave us free food that was left over from a party they had earlier. Anything to save money! It was more of a low key evening, but it was still such a wonderful learning experience. We got to bed around 3 or 4.

Sunday

We slept in again until about 2:30, with the mission of seeing the beach and locating potential bars we would visit the following day when they were open to look for jobs. On Sunday, Barcelona pretty much shuts down. Barely any restaurants/shops are open and people roam the streets to check out the sights. Pepe was generous enough to take us around Barceloneta, which is the beach side of the city and show us around. But, we didn’t just walk everywhere…no no…Pepe went and got his Dad’s classic Porsche to cart us around. I was in awe. He obviously comes from a wealthy family and I felt like a total stud zooming down the streets of Barcelona in a sports car. I was amazed as to how much he knows about the history of the city. He’s very intellectual and finds beauty in many things that I do. I was just overwhelmed by the amazing architecture of the buildings. He first took us to a cathedral in the Barri Gottic district, which is the old, historic part of Barcelona. It was unreal. The cathedral was huge, with beautiful stain glass windows, old-timey pews, and romantic candles lit all around. I could sit there for hours that’s how beautiful and relaxing it was. America is so young, and our churches cannot even come close to the architectural and structural wonderment of Barcelona. After a long day of walking around and taking it all in (we must have walked about 10 miles) we got a mini car tour of the city and Pepe drove us all the way up to Mt. Tibidabo. It overlooks the entire city and it was just about dusk when we got there. I couldn’t believe how huge and spread out the city is. Pepe pointed out the landmarks of where we visited, then we headed back down the mountain to reality. Pepe’s friend, Uri, invited us to stop by his apartment and watch the end of the Barcelona basketball game vs. Greece. It was for the European Championship, and since basketball is the second most popular sport in Spain, the guys were pretty pumped about it. We had to walk up about 6 flights of stairs to get to his apartment, but we made it in time to see the last half. His apartment is super nice too. It was very clean, organized, and covered with bookshelves. When I hang out with Pepe and his friends I feel like I’m amongst the elite crowd and they’re so fun to be around. I truly enjoy every time we get to see them. Barca won the game, and after a couple glasses of wine we headed back to Pepe’s apartment. It was about 11:30, and we hadn’t had any food since about 4pm. John and I were starving! Pepe made us a great dinner (rice, small veggies, and shrimp bowl with Gezpacho—a traditional summer soup in Spain) then we crashed. It was a fabulous day with many adventures. We enjoyed every minute of it and still couldn’t believe all that we had done in 3 days!

Pepe's Kitchen. We're so spoiled.

Where John and I sleep. I get the luxurious couch to the left and John had the couch to the right!

The beautiful Cathedral we went into first.

Pepe, Me, and John. Look how massive the Cathedral is!

We got to see some real authentic Spanish dancers in the courtyard of a different cathedral.

I'm probably looking up at the sky wondering why it continues to rain EVERY DAY!!

Look at this architecture!!

This cool bridge connecting two buildings was very interesting to me. Later on, John and I were looking at some postcards and they had one with a picture of the same bridge on it!