Chillin wid da locals

During our desert trek in Morocco, we met some great people from Barcelona who invited us to call when we got into town to try to get together. This turned into an invitation to stay in their flat for a few days. Samyaa and Jordi took us in like family and we've had a blast seeing Cataluna through the eyes of a local.

It couldn't have worked out better as Samyaa just happens to work at the head office for youth hostals in Barcelona! They graciously picked us up from the bus station and when we got back to her flat there was a plethora of maps, guides and tourist info available for us. Did I mention that she's an awesome cook and that Jordi's family has a vinyard with a cottage built in the 1800's nestled on a scenic hilltop location in Albinyana (near Tarragona city, in Tarragona province, in the Cataluna region - phew - got that?) that smacks of a postcard picture. The next morning, we had a typical Catalan breakfast. Toast which gets smeared with the juice of a tomato, which then gets a tasty pouring of olive oil and then a slice or two of ham. It was such a nice break to eat breakfast in a home with a friend, instead of a cafe or restaurant.

Samyaa played tourist with us and took us to Guell Park and to the Sagrada Familia where we saw the buildings, artwork and statues of Antoni Gaudi. You can see from the pictures the surreal architecture and innovative designs this artist had running through his mind. Most of the colour in these pieces are made from mosaics. Usually the substrate was broken ceramic tiles but in other places like the roof of the Temple of Sagrada Famillia or the benches in Guell park, he used things like the bottom or the side of broken pop bottles. He truly was a genius in art, architecture, nature and interpretation. The variety and shape of his works made it impossible to capture the magnitude and minute details in any one photo. Basically, to take a photo, you step back about 50 paces to get the whole building in, then realize you've lost the wacky view where the building looks like melted candle wax and come closer again only to realize you can only squeeze one quarter of the building in the frame. Sometimes it's better to just put the camera away and be in the moment... ¨Whoah!!! Check that out... quick pull out the camera."

After a hard day of sightseeing in perfect weather, there's no better way to finish the day than by attending a surprise birthday party for someone you've never met. Jo and I got to hide in the corner of Samyaa and Jordi's friends' house and surprise Monica (another friend) for her 26th birthday. The surprise worked out nicely, as the song Cumpleanos Feliz (Happy Birthday) scared her half to death, and the first person she saw in the room was me... Naturally, she had the reaction most people do when they see me for the first time; she screamed, turned away and fell to the floor. Once her blood pressure returned to normal the ten of us hunkered down for more traditional Catalan fare. We ate the tomato juiced, oiled up bread, along with small fried potato nugget thingys, home-made potato omelets, cold cuts and chicken nuggets. I would have taken careful notes on the proper names of these tasty treats but the massive container of sangria strong enough to sedate a small horse made this task sightly more difficult. So I just put the pencil away and enjoyed the moment... "Whoah!! did you taste that sangria? Como se llama eso? Gotta remember the name of that."

After dinner, Jo and I played a great game. It's called "guess what our new friends are talking about now". It goes a little something like this.

Rich: "Hey Jo, want another small fried potato nugget thingy? I just heard the words police and car."
Jo: "Sure! I think they´re talking about piercings."
Rich: "What are these potato things called again? I just heard hospital."
Jo: "I don´t know. He´s moving his hands really fast and she's pointing frantically at her neck... must be an awesome story. Could I have more of the tomato juiced, oily bread?"
Rich: "Is David mumbling or is that a sound effect for the police siren?"

Naturally, this game includes lots of smiling and watching of the person talking too fast for us to understand. Of course, if you really want people to think you know what they're talking about, it´s important to laugh when they laugh.

Rich "HA! HA! HA! That story must have been funny. Maybe they're laughing because of the sangria."
Jo "HA! HA! I don't know, just keep smiling".

That night we slept at Jordi's house beside the vinyard. To say it was quiet is an understatement. We slept like logs. The next day, we all went to Sitges to have lunch and relax at the beach. We were happy to infect one of our new friends David with the frisbee addiction. He was like a little kid with a new toy. Maybe the next time we visit Barcelona, he'll have started an Ultimate league!!!

Barcelona has soul. Its locals are more than friendly. The mediterranean revives you but most importantly, we have learned from our new friends that Catalunya is it's very own country ;)
Spain, ain't so bad either.