Muchath grathiath, Barthelona

Barcelona…perhaps the most unique, bizarre, earthy, wild city I’ve been to so far. Such a contrast to Paris, and only a 1.5 hour flight away…Paris is old and austere and romantic and aloof. Barcelona was hot, dirty, sexy…more Old World. More Third World. The architecture was like a fairy tale on acid. It’s funny, you worry you’re becoming jaded when traveling but then you go somewhere with hardly any preconceived notions or mental images and get pleasantly surprised. I’m actually glad I did no research on the city. Because when we walked out of the metro and I saw the Sagrada Familia…I actually felt a little dumbstruck. That occurs less and less the older you get. It was like the first time I saw the Epcot Center at DisneyWorld in second grade. My friends Erin and Rachel thought it was hideous, but I loved the way the church looked so bizarre and unsettling—rather like it was melting in the hot sun and demons were trying to escape. Take that, Notre Dame!

From there we walked to Parc Guell which was also a treat. I could have spent all the day there squelching my sandals in the mud and taking pictures, but the girls didn’t last long. It’s funny, I spend so much time by myself now, absolutely on my schedule doing whatever I want whenever I want for however long I want…sometimes it’s tough to hang out with other people and give in to their suggestions. Two and a half full days with them and I was ready for some alone time. It was really nice to hang out with some fellow Texans though. Sadly, we didn’t find any amazing tapas bar…more like medicocre. And some decent but not extraordinary paella. Twice we went to a supermarket and bought Rochefort cheese and dried ham and 0.80 Euro wine in a box (which was awesome) for our dinner.

Besides walk a shit-ton and look at churches and panoramic views and take a million pictures, we didn’t get into too much trouble in Barcelona—a first for me. We went out to some bars, drank awesome Estrella beer, had some marvelous olives, 3.50 mojitos, met dudes from the British Army, walked along the beach and looked at old boobies. The weirdest part was probably walking back to our hotel around 4pm and seeing a deranged man approaching us. There was something…weird about his crotch. After we passed the girls and I exchanged looks of horror. Apparently he was exposing himself, but it looked really weird because he was holding it straight up. Needless to say I didn’t really give it a good look, but it was still mentally scarring. Less than two months in Europe and I’ve already experienced two weird public penis situations. Please god, don’t let there be a third.

Rachel (one of the girls from Houston) is coming to stay with me on Wednesday. I’m worried I won’t be able to show her that good a time. I can’t afford to really go out, and I’m not at that point where I know where to go and when. I suck at being a Parisian. Hopefully my au pair friends will rally and we can show her a decent time. And I wouldn’t mind her hanging out with me and the kids…maybe they would behave with a stranger around.

Oh, and apparently if you google “Paris au pair help” you might find my blog…again, I forgot that anyone in the world actually reads this. It’s kind of disconcerting. I’m so whiny and moody and pity party that I fear I don’t give off the best impression. But, I randomly got an email from another au pair in Paris that reads my blog! What a pleasant surprise. We’re meeting for coffee tomorrow. Thanks, Internet, for finding me friends!