Hola part 3! I'm Back from Catalonia

Wow, I can't believe someone from Spain was mad enough to leave a comment on my first post about Catalonia. I can't believe someone from Spain actually found my blog in a timely manner and read it and commented. Whatever the person said in Spanish seems to be exactly what the Catalonians try to distance themselves from. Anyways, more about Barcelona....

Getting around - Barcelona sort of reminded me of San Francisco. Everything is close, but occasionally you'll want a cab. If I moved there, there's no way I'd get a car, but I might get a scooter. Just walking in some parts of the city is an obstacle course. Driving in the city is nuts. Poorly marked one way streets, a lack of obvious street signs, and crazy frontage roads for bikes and cars turning right make Barcelona a nightmare for tourists to navigate. If you mix that with narrow streets and scooters coming out of nowhere to pass you, driving is a disaster in the making. If you go for a visit, never drive. A six-Euro cab drive, or 30 minute walk can get you anywhere.

Walking was almost always pleasant. Often we'd find the side of the street with shade and just saunter down to our destination. Along the way you can stop for drinks and snacks. Cab drivers will be glad to take you to any major destination because they know they can pick up new riders once they drop you off. They'll really hustle because they can restart the meter on the cab.

We (dad) did drive out of Barcelona on 2 occasions. Once we went to Montserrat (which isn't very well marked, but we found it) and another time we went to Figures near the French border to see the Dali museum. On the way back we traveled a bit down the Costa Brava. Gas is expensive, and if you want to use the freeways, you'll pay a toll. Generally, you'll pay to drive anywhere worthwhile.

Shopping - Shopping as in fashion, was all around our centrally located apartment. A couple blocks to the Northwest (the Passeig de Gracia) were all the trendy designers like Gucci, Prada, & Armani. Directly to our west was the start of La Rambla which was filled with Spanish shops, some international chains (H&M, Puma), and independent boutiques. To the Southeast, (Calle de Balmes) was a fairly luxurious side of town full of boutiques, expensive restaurants, and mostly upper class stores.

The residents of Barcelona generally dressed very well. Most looked like they had just shopped at a fashion show. The dress wasn't pretentious though. It was a sensible and simple style. It was weird seeing guys in suits driving around on scooters. Kids in the city were slaves to American styles. Most either dressed like hip hoppers, wore obnoxious witty slogan shirts, or did an Abercrombie impression. Of course many wore Barcelona FC jerseys too, and I did see a few Pau Gasol Laker jerseys.

The Chicas Hot. Fit.

Television - Early in the morning and during siesta I watched a bit of TV. Spanish TV swung from either loud like Telemundo or quiet like PBS. There wasn't anything in the middle. Most of the time I ignored it and turned on the satellite to watch BBC, SKY, CNN, and France 24-English.