sunny friday

I forgot to say on Thursday that I got a message from Erwin saying that a school had called BCN to ask about me. They wanted to interview me for a job. I was already mentally set on leaving though so I didn't even call them back. I have accepted Asia again!

I woke up at 10 and went online to arrange going to Tibidabo with Mikaela. She bailed on me so I decided to go to the Parc de la Ciutadella instead. I snuck back into my room becasue Tom and Young-ja were still asleep and got some clothes and then went to school. Erwin had sent me a message to say I had gotten a package! When I asked at the desk, the receptionists started talking about a packetita or something that sounded very cute like that. It turned out to be a box of See's from Dad. Yum! On the way back, I took a good picture of the tower in my square.

I waited around for a little bit, hoping Tom and Youngja might just wake up on their own. Around NOON I decided it was time for me to start my day reguardless of what they wanted to do with theirs. I went in and got my stuff.
I took the metro to Barcelonetta because it appeared to be the closest stop to Parc de la Ciutadella. When I arrived, I decided I'd have lunch before going to the park so I walked along the edge of Barcelonetta that overlooks Port Vell-- near where Steph, her brother and I had our feast. I found a shop that made things like quesedillas, but sealed on the ends. The perfect to go lunch!

I found a bench to sit on that overlooked the port. It was a really nice sunny day. The weather wasn't warm, but it was warm-ER than it has been. There are lots of palm trees along there and I always like to be by the water. I kept thinking how perfectly serene it was (except for a strong wind, but that didn't affect my mood).

After I ate my sandwich-y thing, I walked to the end of Barcelonetta to see what was around the corner. I kept thinking about how perfectly nice the weather was and how happy I was to be out and about for the day.

When I got to the end, I found out the Mar Mediterrania is over there. The BEACH is next to the sea.


I took off my shoes and rolled up my pants and walked along the place where the waves meet the sand. The water was colder than I expected and a couple of waves got the end of my jeans, but I had a really nice time strolling in the sun on the sand (even though it's winter!)

The buildings facing the sea were really adorable. They were nice sort of warm neutrals and pastels. There were scattered palm trees and a nice place to walk next to the sand.

The beach sort of ended a sidwalk sort of thing that went up over the sea. It had rows and rows of palm trees. I sat on the edge of it for a while and soaked in the scene.

Then a creepy man started staring at me. When I got up, he followed me. I stopped and he passed right by me and stopped a little further on. I pretended I was going down a side street and he watched me to see if I was actually coming back out. I gave him the finger and made a shooing motion. He blew me a kiss. I decided that I was going to have to REALLY go down the side street. I was bummed because I wanted to walk along the water more to the other end of Barcelonetta and then cut up to the park. I went through Barcelonetta instead and found out it's not so nice on the inside.

I wanted to see Parc de la Barcelonetta. I found it and found out it was dull. Then I found out I COULDN't cross the main street. I had to walk all of the way back to the subway stop I'd come out of.
Then I cut in and made my way up to Parc de la Ciutadella. Along the outer edge, it had a row of little fountains and a row of trees and a sidewalk and then another row of trees then a fence around the outer edge of the park.

Inside, there was another row of trees down a pathway that led to a little clearing with a statue. The row of trees was orange trees. I continued on and made my way past several statues and loads more trees, orange and plam and various others.


Then I found the Parlament de Catalunya building. It looks OLD. It's pinkish but also rather brown. It looks a little dusty. It has a nice set of hedges around a fountain out front. I went that way and found out it also had a collection of kids on fieldtrips. They were all screaming and running around-- more like an American field trip than a Korean one, or even worse!

When I came around the edge of the hedge, I found about 8? boys who had literally piled themselvces on each other. I thought it was pretty funny. I kept walking away from that chaos and came on the pond. It was a strange overly green color that looked very tropical. It had lots of birds floating in it and palm trees around the edge. There was even a group in a row boat!

I kept going past that too and finally came to the most important site of the park that I'd really come for.

It's like a fountain COMPLEX. It's a little pond in front with fountains and behind, there is a big arch structure with stairs coming up both sides. On top, there are golden horses and in the center of the arch, there are several statues. It's amazing.

I tried hard to get a picture of myself with it, but essentially failed, even when someone else offered to do it for me! She didn't really look so I'm blocking the bulk of the scene! So I have to settle for solo-fountain shots.

I went up the stairs on the side into the arch-y part of the fountain and looked out over the rest of the park. It was cool because you could still sort of see some of the statues even from the inside.

Then I had a seat on a bench for a while to evaluate my situation. What do I want to do next? I decided I was hungry, but it wasn't time to go home yet. I walked out of the park and passed the Arc de Triomf again.

Then I went through the side of El Born, I believe, and found the Picasso Museum. The district around it is really neat. It definitely feels like another era.


When I got inside, I almost immediately went to the cafe. I hadn't seen anything appealing on the way and decided I was hungry enough to pay whatever Picasso food costs. I got a cheesecake and a lemon-lime-ginger drink.

Inside the museum, I read the plaques about Picasso and looked at the paintings, obviously. I decided he was primed to be a painter from the beginning. His father was a painter and sent him to art school! I'm sure that's the main reason there are so many things around still that he created. They KNEW he was going to be an artist.
Some of his work made me chuckle, especially the early stuff. You could tell that he enjoyed what he did. It was interesting to see how his style changed after he went to Paris and met other artists. I liked most of what I saw until the end. They had a big exhibit on his impressions of one of the masters' works that he translated to cubism. That's what he'd grown up doing-- copying. He put his own twist on the works-- showing the light in different ways. He said himself that what he did would make someone who copied the masters cringe. I don't understand why he wouldn't start his own composition from scratch. If I were the master, I might be offended by how "my" work turned out. I think Picasso knew that and did it to be cheeky in a way. Also, it seems that unlike most artists, Picasso caught on during his life. It seemed like he had an entourage to encourage him. Regular people don't get that. I think he was rather priviledged.
The museum was in a really neat building that used to be a palace. One of the rooms is still palace-y with green and yellow decoration on the walls and ceilings with chandeliers and statues on the walls. No photos allowed there though, sorry.


From there, I went home and had a nap. When I got up, I showered and looked for Steph online. We decided to meet for dinner. I'd told Tom and Young-ja that we usually go out around 9 or 930 and they didn't come back until 9. Then they said they were staying in. I sort of realized they didn't come to see me, they came to stay in my flat. I felt a little used.
Steph and I met at Cafe Salambo. I had ravioli and she had a burger that didn't have any bun. Then we went back to her house to drink the champagne that Kenny had given her for her birthday. We convinced Mikaela that she wanted to go out just by listening to fun music and having fun ourselves. Her friend had been hit by a car and killed in Ireland that day, but she needed to think about something else for a bit.
We went to Placa Real, just off the Rambla to meet the Swedes. There were lots of people handing out flyers, trying to get you to go to their club. We let one guy talk us into going to la Roma. It had good music and was in an stone arched basement. It was neat. Then Mikaela wanted to see the Swedes so we crossed the square to Jamboree. On the way, we ran into the right guy again. This guy took us straight past the line to get in and we got a nod and someone moved a rope. VIP status! Inside, we danced and danced.


The Swedes and Mikaela went home, but Steph and I stayed out. We met ANOTHER Swede on the Rambla looking for cigarettes for Steph. The Rmabla is not a nice place late at night. Our new Swede almost got into a fight-- someone punched him lightly. Then he took us to another club to meet his friend. He told us it was crazy inside and then changed his mind, saying it was just Spanish. It seemed normal to me! We chatted with him and his friend for a while and then got a taxi home. It was 6:15 before I was in bed!