Barcelona

Wow this was an amazing time and I am so thankful that Angela was my buddy for this journey. Sadly she came down with a random case of food poisoning or food allergy so that was lame but she was a trooper. Seriously if I was as sick as her I would not want to get on a train, bus and a plane, oh and let's not forget Xavier's car. We had a full day of traveling the first Lunedi of the break and so I started my day with a hike. Angela was to join me but I let her sleep which was amazing for the both of us. I had alone time and she had zzzzz time. My hike was quite random and I had no idea where I was going. At this time I was still in Bardonacchia and so I was up in the mountains of Italy. It was a beautiful day, a little foggy but it made for a great walk. I just had some time to think and time to connect with God, it's quite majestic when you are surrounded by mountains and you feel so humbled being so small. I walked for a good hour through the town but that was not that eventful, I wanted nature not streets and cars. Finally I found a beautiful path that lead me to a Castle, it was wonderful. I could not have asked for a nicer time to take a walk because I had to sit for almost the entire day because I was stuck on many transportation vehicles which do not allow standing.
So Barcelona, first Angela and I were so blessed with the couchsurfer we picked. He waited at the airport for an hour because we couldn't use our phones and didn't know how to work the phone teamed up with his number. We are so glad we finally got a hold of him because he took us to his house and it was so nice to finally rest and to rest in a home of someone. I would have not liked placing Angela in a hostel for the night especially in her condition. Xavier and I stayed up a couple hours just chatting and he worked on his English and I just spoke not trying to try Spanish or Italian. I know, I was lazy but he needed the help more-so than I did. It was chill but when we woke up in the middle of the night it was clear that Angela and I not having a blanket would be a problem. Spain had a big cold front come right through and we got the most of it. The next day was raining the entire day and so Angela was still out of commission and we just walked around Barcelona and took it easy. Xavier met up with us later on in the day and took us back to his house. I went out and bought some soup fix'ns; celery, carrots, peppers, potatoes, chicken broth, noodles, and the secret ingredient; lime. I took the mother roll and made us a nice big pot of chicken noodle soup and it was wonderful. We all hugged a warm bowl of it and sat in for the night, just what the doctor ordered in Angel's case. It was great to be settled and have access to a kitchen.
The next day Xavier took us out for a little day in Barcelona, first we stopped at a bakery called La Panera which was a small little cafe' and we had chicolatta caldo which is basically hot chocolate pudding. We headed out and went straight to Park Guell which is the park with the super long mosaic park bench and it was beautiful. Besides the lame weather once again, we had a fun time running around and checking out all the beautiful mosaics. I want to make one when I get back or sometime soon because they are wonderful and they seem pretty practifal, take old broken things and reassemble them to make something new. We also went to La Boqueria which is a huge central market in the middle of town and it has all types of items and some charming little places to stop and grab a quick lunch. We were pretty cold and I just wanted to go someplace and eat something light and steal their heat for a few moments. We wound up going to some genaric place that had the front door wide open and I ordered pizza, not exactly what I wanted but it had to do. I would write down the name but more for the fact that it should be detoured. So after lunch Angela and I headed to the MACBA, which is a contemporary art museum. It was great and the metra took us right there, it is quite close to La Boqueria so th estop is Leica or something like that and you just head down l'Hospitale street. I could not have asked for a better place to get lost in with so much photography, I was in heaven. It was cool to see what Barcelona's contemporary art scene looked like and how they compare to the rest of the world. There was one exhibit where the photographer took portraits of the latin kings in Barcelona and is researching about their culture and how they fit into the whole makeup of Barcelona. Sadly there is a large drug problem in Barcelona and we witnessed it head on and it was quite depressing. I think it is important to understand where these individuals are coming from and see that they may not know of any other options, so prayers for them are important to just give them a boost in the right direction. Following the museum visit which lasted the rest of the day, we went back to Xavier's and again I made a big soup for everyone. I am on a soup kick and I have no problem with that.
The highlight of the night was when Xavier's friends came over and it was just obvious that he was pleased with our visit and his friend's all had the chance to practice their english and enjoy a change of pace. They enjoyed the soup but more so they enjoyed the cookie cake that we made. Angela was just wanting to bake and so we conjoured up a random recipe and it turned out both a disaster and a master piece. First we boiled some cloves and then added some ingredients to that; butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and then we added flour, baking soda and cinamon. The last thing we did was break up a dark chocolate bar because chocolate chips are pretty much not a thing over here. The only baking dish we had was a caserole dish and so we added the mix to that and baked it for a little bit. The problem was that the bottom was burning and the top was pretty good but the inside was not getting there. Xavier told us to nuke it which we were hesitant to do but it turned out pretty good. We just had a pretty gooey cookie cake which was a hit for the spanish people. Xavier told us that they talked about the cookie-cake, which they named it, the next day at work which is hilarious. We all sat around and ate the cookie-cake and two of his friends really didn't speak English so there was some translation going on but the two Xaviers took off and let us with the spanish speakers, that went way better than we expected. We talked for a good hour and yet we spoke only a small amount of eachother's language. I think that was great and I know that is how I need to learn a language. I just need to have no crutch from people being able to speak English.
The following day we headed up to Xavier's roof and it was a beautifully sunny day and it was great to just hang out with his friends and I got to play around with my Medium format. Xavier's friends treated us like best buds and it made all the difference. Since the day was so nice Angela and I headed to the parks close to the sea and they were enormous and really pretty. I love walking and I love it even more without the rain. Xavier's friend Xavier met up with us and he took u son a personal tour through the Gothic District which has the houses of Gaudi and some other beautiful works of arcitecture. He took us around and it was so easy because he knew where to go and he spoke to people if we needed something, it was great. After that we all met at La Sagrada Famiglia which is the church that Gaudi started but it will not be done for another 20 years or more, it is crazy. From there Xavier drove us to the top of one of the mountains in Barcelona, to the Olympic village and this super cool fort. It was closing so that trip was kinda quick.
That night Xavier took us to this amazing Tapas bar which was totally authentic and we enjoyed some really great Spanish Tapas. Everything having to do with tapas is fried but we had potatoes, green chiles, calamari, and what looked like blood sausage. It was delicious and we enjoyed the Spanish atmosphere.
So yeah if you want to go to Barcelona do it and don't let rain stop you because there is some real beauty to be found there. Both in the people and in the scenery.
Early in the morning Angela and I headed to the bus station to catch one to Madrid. xavier walked us to the Metra and it was sad little goodbye but we had a good time so all is good. The tain ride lasted about 5 hours but it wasn't too bad, just the act of sitting for that long was killer. Once we got to Madrid we had no idea what we were going to to. I had contacted a couchsurfer but we needed a number to call and that meant we needed internet so we headed toward the University stop on the metra. The metra is overwhelming at first but then it is a breeze once you get it. In no time I just brought up to Angela that we should just skip out on couchsurfing; enjoy a night at the museum and a long dinner and just head to the Airport a numch early because we had a 6 am flight. That was the plan and so we went to the Contemporary museum which has a bunch of Picasso and Salvador Dali among others.
Right around the corner of the Museum there is a super authentic little bar that we snatched a quick lunch from before closing ourselves in the Museum. The guy behind the counter spoke no english but served us this delighful Potato ball thing stuffed with Spinach. It hit the spot and we were good till we stopped for Thai food after the Museum. Over all the plant to no-mad for a while worked out perfectly but left us with only an hour of sleep and so we were done by the time we reached Florence. So Fall Break was a Success, and Angela was a great buddy to travel with.