As our plane was taking off from Paris, the blood moon rose up over the horizon. It made for the most beautiful flight I've ever taken, and was a much needed omen of better things to come. When we arrived at the airport in Barcelona, we realized that we probably should have figured out directions to our airbnb beforehand. With no wifi, we decided to wing it and use our street smarts (lol) to find a bus that we though might possibly take us in the direction of our place (though how we knew that, I do not know, seeing as we didn't actually know where we were trying to go.) Because I was apprehensive about using my "half-spanish" as Rachel called it, I was of no help at all. When we arrived at the street where we thought our Airbnb should be, we realized that, in addition to not having written down directions, we had also not written down the street number, nor the apartment number. 10 streetwise points for that. So the evening consisted of us pacing around up and down the street for a while, until someone shouted from a 5th story window, "Elizabeth! Hello!" By some miracle, our airbnb host had walked out on the balcony and saw two idiots pacing the street. So that is how we found our place. In the warm, humid air that night, I felt independent and strong. ^^ These cute lil guys are real succulent magnets! ^^ View from our balcony. ^^ Because I am a horrible fangirl, I forced Rachel to come with me to a Sufjan Stevens concert in Barcelona. (It took all my willpower not to attend his other concerts in France and Switzerland. But I didn't want to come off too desperate, you know?) Bonus- Austra was headlining, so it really doesn't get any better than that! Sufjan + Austra + Rachel + cheap wine made for a perfect evening. By the time the concert was over, there was just 1 more train running back to the city center. So we all ran to the metro station and crammed in. The entire train was full of people from the concert, and everyone was singing Sufjan songs. It's funny how experiences that are so silly and trivial can mean so much; but as I swayed, squished between strangers, to the oscillation of the sweaty train, smiling at Rachel from afar and listening to a mescla of rapid Catalan, Spanish, and accented Sufjan songs, I felt content. We all had this thing in common. I don't know. It was small, but it made me feel really alive. ^^ Sagrada Familia is absolutely incredible! ^^ So incredible that I tried to sneak in after hours. ^^ I had been craving these waffles since Jon and I visited Barcelona a few years ago. Yum! The day we had to leave our Airbnb, it rained. My backpack felt extra heavy that day, but I made it. We wandered into Satan's coffee shop for shelter, sipped on cappuccinos, and ate tasty croissants with marmalade. You guys. I left my heart in Barcelona. I would have stayed forever if Rachel would've let me. I am determined to find a way to live there. It's not like I just moved or anything. But really. Links to my favorites of Barcelona:
Satan's Coffee Corner La Boquería (my favorite market in all the world. read more about it from this old blog post.)
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ELLEfeminist. linguist. traveller. foodie. crafter. ARCHIVES
January 2018
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All photos are the property of Elizabeth Cheney and may not be used without permission.
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