Funky Kingston in Barcelona

I finally made it to Barcelona, and I’ve been looking forward to these few days long before I stepped on Spanish soil. There’s something about Barcelona that always intrigued me, perhaps starting with when I saw my favorite French actor, Romain Duris, move there to pursue a writing career in the movie “The Spanish Apartment.” Something about the way he described the unfamiliarity of the street names and metro stops, the beauty of the wildly creative Gaudi architecture, and all the other madness that goes along with being in an unfamiliar city where you don’t speak the language. Now was my chance to see for myself.

For three nights and four days I stayed with my friend Suzi-an American girl from New York that I met at the Nowhere festival. Her building was old and beautiful, and despite the cockroach graveyard that lay just at the foot of the aging wooden staircase, the building was in fairly good condition. When I arrived, Suzi and her friend Amy-who was also at Nowhere, were getting ready to meet some friends at a nearby tapas bar. So I threw down my bags, took a quick shower, and head down with them to meet their American friends from San Francisco, Paul and Rose. For hours we sat drinking sangria, eating tapas and discussing our experiences in Spain thus far. After three jugs of sangria and a hefty bar tab, we went our separate ways and called it a night.

Early next morning Amy had to catch a plane back to San Francisco, and slipped out quietly before the sun rose into the cloudless blue sky. Suzi and I woke up around noon. Since I hadn’t tried authentic Spanish paella yet on this trip, we decided to go to old town to get some for lunch. We ordered two kinds to share: original seafood paella with crawfish, oysters, squid and shrimp, and paella negra-which is black in color from squid ink! Both were really delicious-except for the crawfish. It’s hard for me to ingest anything that can make constant eye contact.

After we walked off the five pounds of rice we inhaled at lunch on the long walk to the beach, we laid down our towels and enjoyed the relaxation only a beautiful summer day in Barcelona could bring. We spent the whole day sunbathing and reading our books as people came and went, kicking up sand as they passed. By the time we finally got up to leave, the beach was quickly dispersing and the sky was turning pink from the setting sun. As we ate ice cream on the long stroll home all tired from the sun’s rays, we decided to have a night in and watch Vicky Christina Barcelona on her big, not so comfy but homemade couch.

The next day I set out early to explore the city solo and admire the beauty of the Gaudi inspired Catalan architecture overlooking Barcelona’s bright and bustling streets. With my iPod on shuffle, I headed towards Casa Mila-one of Gaudi’s most well known architectural masterpieces. The outside of the building was surreal to observe in person. Almost everything Gaudi designed looked to me like something out of Alice in Wonderland. I have never enjoyed the architecture of any buildings as much as I did Gaudi’s in Barcelona. And my favorite was Park Guell.

Built originally as a housing development, Gaudi’s breath-taking Park Guell is full of brightly colored mosaics, open air gardens, endless staircases, countless musicians; and at the very top, gives you a beautiful view of the city. I spent hours wandering its vast corridors. listening to the street performers and absorbing my surroundings like a sponge. Eventually, when my enchantment with the building finally weakened, I head back down the hill it sat on and hurried back home to meet Suzi. She and I made plans with Rose and Paul for later in the evening to go to a Toots and the Maytals concert, and I had to get back home in time to get ready.

Despite the long walk, I made it home with plenty of time to spare. A few hours later, after relaxing in the apartment for a while, the four of us head to the Razzmatazz club to enjoy one of the best reggae shows I have ever attended! Honestly! Throughout the concert, regardless of being 65 years old, Toots Hibbert danced up and down the stage as if he were James Brown in his prime. He sounded great and so did the band, and my god did we feel the vibe! The energy on the tiny sauna of a dance floor was unmistakable, and I’m pretty sure 70 percent of the crowd knew every word he sang by heart. We all were pouring sweat by the encore-especially Suzi, who looked like she was dipped by her shoes into a swimming pool and insisted on leaving early out of sheer embarrassment. Nonetheless, we all walked out of that club utterly and completely satisfied. I had a wonderful time with my new friends in Barcelona, and I can’t wait to return for a visit! Luckily, these friends are American. For some reason, Michigan to California just doesn’t seem like a far distance after this nearly three month trek across Israel and Europe.