Beach and Views

Yesterday we went to the beach!! It was about 75 degrees here. We took the subway for about 10 minutes and we were at a marina. From there we took a little walk, maybe 15 minutes and we were at the beach. People were out there tanning and frolicking in the water. None of us has a bathing suit with us, but I did stick my feet in the water. We walked along the boardwalk, which is not chockfull of stores and arcades like say, Seaside Heights. There were a couple of shops and a few restaurants, but mostly it's empty. At one point while we were walking Gus and I saw an old white-haired man riding his bike on the sidewalk, not so odd, but he didn't have a shirt on, not so odd, and then we realized he didn't have any pants on!! Or shorts, or underwear, or bathing trunks, or speedos or anything!!! His little man was out for all the world to see!! Only in Barcelona. (Un?)fortunately I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of that.

We came back to the apartment to rest for a little, then Gus and I went back out to walk to a comic book store that was listed in my guide book. It was pretty big and they had a lot of graphic novels and stuff. You're almost spoiled for options. I saw a couple by a writer named Manu Larcenet, who I've read before, but had never seen this books available in the U.S. But I didn't buy anything. Gus and I walked by Barcelona's Arc de Triomf and through a park. Then we went and had a big beer in la Placa Reial and then went to the grocery and bought some food. At which point, I had to pee so badly there was almost an international incident. We saw lots of people buying Halloween costumes or overheard people talking about Halloween, so hopefully tonight there will be lots of great pictures of crazy outfits.

Some stats from yesterday...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 10298 (forgot to take it for our walk to the comic store)

Number of beers drunk 4

Today Gus and I went to Montjuic which is a hilly area in Barcelona at the sea's edge. There are some museums up there and a botanical garden. There are also very nice views of the city and the port. We took about 2 hours to walk up and we got to a nice place with outdoor tables where you could sit overlooking the sea and have a couple of beers. A trend I've noticed about restaurants and beer here--they only ever have one. We've been to at least a 1/2 dozen places and Gus always asks, "What beers do you have?" and they only ever have one beer. It's been different in each place, but it's only ever one. So we had a couple of beers and then made our way back down the hill.

We've been back at the apartment for a couple of hours and we are going to go out to dinner later and then try to see a flamenco show. I can hear people shouting and drums playing already, so I'm guessing tonight might be a bit of a party around here.

Countdown

This the end of our first night in Barcelona. There is a lot to catch up on. And now that I'm here it actually feels like this vacation is almost over. I guess because it's the last city and well, this vacation IS almost over.

Wednesday we ended up not going to the museum. We did a lot of walking around, starting with the area that Gus and I stayed in on our last trip. We ended up back in the Latin Quarter at Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore--both well known cafes because of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. And you could tell they were well known by the outrageous prices--mon dieu!! So we didn't end up getting anything there but walking to the river. We crossed over this bridge which had all of these locks on it. Most of the locks had the names of what I am assuming is a couple. It seemed like a relatively new tradition. There were a lot of them there, so it doesn't seem like the cops know about it, or more likely aren't bothered with taking them down. But there also wasn't any plaque or anything explaining the tradition of putting a lock there. We walked along the river and then went back to the apartment.

After having a late lunch we went to do some last bits of shopping and when we got outside our street was blocked of and there were police in riot gear in the middle of the street. We had seen some police and military there a night or two before but didn't know what was going on. Apparently, there was a protest of some sort happening. The group is la CGT. And from what I can gather it is related to employment in the industrial sector. I guess some sort of union maybe. Anyway, the protest really cramped our style since we had to figure out how to get around it. By the time we were ready to head out for the train station the protest had moved on and our street was clear.

The unfortunate part to this day is that time was not on my side and I didn't even get a chance to try on the boots, much less buy them. But from what I've seen today there are some definite alternatives, with better prices, so maybe it's a blesing in disguise. But I really did like those boots.

So we managed to haul of the stuff we'd brought with us and all of the newly purchased items to the Gare Austerlitz for our overnight train to Barcelona. We had a "tourist class" room to ourselves. It's basically a room with 4 seats and 4 beds that fold down and a sink. It's not bad if you are traveling with 4 people or can afford to pay for all 4 beds (which we did). Otherwise you can get stuck with whatever schmuck they decide to put in your room. And if you are a mixed sex group they split up the sexes if you don't have the whole car, so at least I would have had Mabel, but Gus would have been stuck with who knows.

When the conductor or whatever you call that person came by he took the tickets and my passport to keep until the morning. I guess since we were a family they only needed one person's. I guess it's so if something outrageous happens they have some documentation. I do have to say security was much more lax than at the airport or even when we were going from London to Paris. In London, to get on the train there was an x-ray machine for the bags and metal detectors to walk through and passport control where they had to check and stamp each person's passport. In Paris, they barely looked at the ticket and didn't bother to make sure the travelers were the people listed on the ticket. On the other hand, it made it much easier to get on and get on with the trip. Especially when you have so much crap you don't want to have to drop everything to take off your shoes. Anyway, it was nice and relaxing and the beds are surprisingly comfortable.

Some stats for Wednesday...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 18406

Number of cops in the street 15 (at least)

Number of books purchased in Paris 10

Number of glasses of wine 5

(photos from just outside Barcelona)

When we got into Barcelona about 12 hours later, Mabel decided she didn't want to have to deal with the subway so we took a cab to the hotel. It was a nice change. One day I hope to take cabs everywhere...It was 9AM and already very warm. At least 70, I'd say. We got to the hotel, but it was too early to check in. We left our bags in the luggage room and went-a-walking. Found a great shoe store (where I'll probably get my boots) and then we sat out in the Placa Catalyuna and had coffee and croissants. The coffee is delicious and strong, but tiny--like the size of a triple espresso. And we were pretty instantly harassed by the same gypsy type women as in Paris. This time though the waiter shooed the lady away. After coffee we went to FNAC!! Yup, there's one right up the street from us. And what did I find there?!!? The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest in English. It was cheaper than in London and I couldn't resist, so I bought it. Then we went to another restaurant on the Placa and Gus and I had massive beers. We walked around Las Ramblas to kill time then checked in.

The outfits here are...interesting. I wonder if these people have someone to tell them not to go out looking insane...I guess not. Each city has been more outrageous than the next. And I have nothing against outfits that are a bit eccentric, but some of this stuff is just "what?"

The apartment is great. We have tiny balconies that overlook our street and a nice little dining/living room area and a ginormous shower. This place is maybe 3 blocks from Las Ramblas which has lots of restaurants and stores. And it's the biggest apartment we've had so far. Along with the apartments they have normal hotel style rooms which I've stayed in twice before. It's been a long time since I've been here, but the place has kept up pretty well.

After we checked in we napped for a bit and then went to walk on Las Ramblas. Nightlife in Barcelona doesn't start until late and there were tons of people walking around. On Las Ramblas there are outdoor pet shops with birds, turtles, rabbits and hamsters. Artists were out with their paintings. And there were, I don't even know what to call them..."tableaux vivants"? Those people who are in costume and are mostly frozen but occassionally move. They're usually dressed like Egyptians, or fairies or something. There are flower shops and of course your standard souvenir shops. Most of the restaurants also have outdoor seats in the pedestrian walkway so people were sitting out having dinner and sangria--which I tried for the fist time tonight. It's yum, but I could see myself accidently getting too drunk on that.

We went into a place called La Boqueria which is like an outdoor market--fresh fruit, seafood, candy stalls. Gus and I got ice cream that was really delicious and creamy and we walked around taking pictures of fish heads and whatnot.

Tomorrow we are going to go down to the marina and see if we can get to the Mediterranean.

Some stats from today...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 11181

Number of crazy outfits 10 (at least)

Number of cervesas drunk 5

Glutton For Punishment If Punishment Equals Food

Can't...Stop...Eating. It doesn't even matter if I'm hungry. Cheese, bread, wine, chocolate...I must have it all.

So first of all, yeah me for writing this tonight and not tomorrow. If any of you read the previous blog, I finally got some pictures posted, including the boots. I almost can't bring myself to do it--buy them. They are for sale at Esprit and I even went to the website to see if I could get them for cheap and they weren't even listed. And I checked shoes.com and overstock.com. I really shouldn't though....

We went to Versailles today. Don't know much else about the city but the Chateau. It's kind of like Ann Arbor, MI or the place where Mt. Rushmore is. It's someone's town, people live there, but it seems as if the monument sucks up the whole town and you can't get around it. So the line to get tickets was about an hour and 10 minutes long and the line to get into the palace (after you'd been on the ticket line) was 40 minutes long. So that in itself was a friggin' nightmare. But I did get to finish Wicked while I was waiting. Good book, not what I was expecting. I guess since they've turned it into a musical I was looking for some more light-hearted areas. The book is generally pretty dark. But I would definitely recommend it.

So we went through the Palace and then we walked around the gardens a little bit. By the time we'd finished with the lines--there was a nice long one to the bathroom too (And two ladies tried to convince the female bathroom attendant to let them use the men's room. If that had happened there surely would have been a riot by all the women who had been waiting in line.) and made our way back to Paris, the whole trip had taken about 6 hours, half of which had been spent getting to and from the palace and in waiting in lines. But we had really good weather so it wasn't too bad being outside and the gardens were nice.

Whenever I am traveling it is always weird to hear another American accent. There were a couple of teenage girls in front of us in line--discussing the relative merits of the Twilight series--apparently Bella gets all whiny and clingy after the first book. And there was a group of about 4 middle-aged women in line behind when we took a food break. And our accent just sounds so weird to me when I'm away. I don't notice it at all when I'm home really, but when I'm abroad it just sticks out. It could be that romance languages to me seem to be very flow-y

--words running into each other and musical and English, by comparison sounds so staccato. At least in the sense that I can distinguish between words.

So, maybe it's just me, but why is it that people feel it is necessary to be in their own vacation pictures? Isn't the fact that you have the picture proof enough that you were there? Do you really need to stand in front of the painting/sculpture/monument that about 50 people would like to take a picture of--without you in it--for a minute while your dingus traveling companion figures out how to focus the retardedly expensive digital camera you have? I don't know, I don't like to take pictures all that much. I think every picture I ever took in college had me sticking my tongue out or picking my nose so that I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not I looked good in the picture--of course I didn't, I was making a ridiculous face... Anyway, when I take pictures of things, I want to see it, not myself and not someone else. Any person in the picture isn't the most attractive thing there and they are essentially blocking part of the thing you really want the picture of.

After we got back we went to Monoprix again and got some more wine and cheese. Don't know what's on the agenda for tomorrow. Maybe a museum, maybe just some shopping. We leave tomorrow night for Barcelona. Ole!

Some stats from today...

Number of steps according to my pedometer 17887

Number of days left (not counting the day we fly home) 6

Number of glasses of wine 4

Let them eat cake and processed cheese.

I keep telling myself that I should do this blog on the same day. And each day I start the blog with, "Yesteday..." So now, that I've gotten that out of the way...

Yesterday was an extremely abbreviated day. We started by going to the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up because Gus' mom didn't want to wait in the line that was over an hour long, but we walked around the Champs de Mars. And he and I have both been up already, so if she doesn't want to go I'll gladly keep the 13 Euro in my pocket.

After that we went to the Forums des Halles, which is basically a large underground mall. I went to FNAC (again) and bought some books (again). I am obsessed with French graphic novels. Unfortunately a lot of them aren't translated into English or even available at Amazon.com in French. So I've either got to buy them here or pay ridiculous shipping to get them from Amazon.fr. What to do? What to do?

I have another shopping dilemma. There are a pair of boots that we pass every day on the way back to the apartment which I am in love with. The problem...they are 140 Euro=$210. I've only got tomorrow left to decide... These aren't the best pictures, but for some damn reason I really like these slouchy boots.

After Les Halles we came back to the apartment. Gus wasn't feeling really well since he hadn't slept the night before for coughing. His mom and I both went out separately and did some shopping. I went and bought...wait for it...another book. Now, listen, it's part of a series and I had gotten #1 and then found #2 and #4 at Les Halles. I had to get #3!!! Then I went to Monoprix and got some groceries--mostly because we were out of wine.

I've been reading Wicked and for the life of me can't figure out how this book was turned into a musical. But now I definitely want to see it.

So there are a lot of American things that have come to France that I personally could do without so that France stays France and America stays America and it stays worth the expense to make a trip over here. Things I could do without--McDonald's, Baby Gap, The Disney Store. I'm okay with Starbucks--I like to be able to take my coffee to go. And one other thing I could use--preservatives. I bought some cheese a couple of days ago and after one night in the fridge it was starting to mold up. Now, I know the French like their little local shops and don't have many supermarkets and all, but I need food to last more than a day. I don't have time to (well, I do, but I don't want to) go to the grocery every day. I wouldn't if I lived here and had to work. Give me cheese that lasts a week. I like fresh bread, but sometimes I want a sandwich and don't want to drag my lazy ass all the way to the grocery just so I have something to go with my peanut butter! Okay, rant over.

Gotta have breakfast. Going to Versailles.

Stats from yesterday...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 1528 (pathetic, but forgot pedometer on my night walk to Monoprix and Virgin megastore)

Number of glasses of wine 5

Number of books purchased 3

Shop, Shop, Shop, Spend, Spend, Spend

We started the day out in Montmarte. We took the metro to Abbesses and walked up to Sacre Coeur.

Anyone who's seen Amelie will be familiar with the area since it was prominently displayed. It's a really cute part of Paris (but what isn't?) with cobblestone narrow streets and lots of "-eries"-- boulangeries, patisseries, fromageries....Then after taking some pictures of Sacre Coeur I bought a dog made of wire and fuzzy piping off a guy in a wheelchair for 2 Euro. I remember him from the last time we were here. There are a lot of street performers in the area, because there are lots of tourists in the area, at least on weekends. There were people dressed as Egyptian mummies who don't move until you give them some change and then they bow. There was a guy playing the violin. There was even a mime to make sure we had the cliche. We walked to the Place du Tertre where the artists set up their painting and stuff and there are lots of restaurants and of course places to buy souvenirs. I really wanted to buy a painting, but I can't bring myself to spend the money. Paintings the size of a postcard cost 45-80 Euro. I know that's probably not much for original hand-painted art work, but I haven't won megamillions yet, so it's still out of my price range.

We got crepes. I had beurre sucre--which is butter and sugar. Gus had strawberry jam. They were delicious. We filmed the lady making them. I think the film runs kind of long, but it's cool to watch.

After Montmatre we got back on the metro and went to the Marche aux Puces at the Porte de Clignancourt. It's like Camden Markets in London. Gus says that Marche aux Puces vaguely like Camden Markets in how it's designed, but is filled with thugs, unruly youths, and hustlers, whereas Camden Markets is a bit more Village-y--goth shops and trendy get-ups. Lots of outdoor shops selling cheap-ish clothing, jewelry, and souvenirs. But they also have an amazing antiques section in an indoor area. They have beautiful old furniture and books and stuff.

Gus and I have both come down with slight colds. That hasn't stopped us any--no siree bob. We are going go out and see sites and drink wine (we're doing a bottle a day) as if we are healthy as hogs. Gonna try to upload some video later. This thing is being difficult.

Tomorrow...Eiffel Tower and more shopping (?)

Stats for today...

Steps walked according to my pedometer 9871

Number of times I tried to upload video and it took too long 6

Glasses of wine 4

Cans of beer (50 cl=1 pint) 1