Weekend Recap

OK, where do I start?! Where did I leave off? I don't know. Anyway, arrived in Spain Thursday afternoon, went out for a few beers that night. Friday, worked then wandered around town in the evening. I ended up running into one of the stewards from Shadow so he and I walked around a bit then grabbed a beer before heading back to the ship. Pretty sure that was if for Friday.

Got up early on Saturday to feed the fish and do any tank maintenance that was required for the day. Made - the chef - made me some delicious pancakes for breakfast!! At 10 AM, Miro, Bryan and I headed into town to catch a train to Barcelona. Miro had been there before so he was our tour guide. When we got off the train we came up into one of the main shopping areas in the heart of the city. Something about Barcelona immediately reminded me of San Francisco but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because it's a port city on the ocean, maybe it's the hills, maybe it's the way the streets were designed, I don't know but I got a good feeling about the city, it made me happy!

We walked down the main street, or Rambla, which was blocked off to cars but it was packed to the gills with people. There was a big festival all weekend called Merce which celebrated the city and the patron saint so there were more people than usual for the end of September. Along the Rambla there were all these "street performers" dressed in crazy costumes posing with people for money. It was like the guys in SF that paint themselves all gold or silver and then pose. There was a cowboy, some reapers on bicycles, Cleopatra, a demon, all kinds of crazy outfits, all begging for money. We soon turned off the Rambla and headed toward the main Cathedral - which, just like every other historic building I visit in Europe was being restored so it was covered in scaffolding. Luckily, we could still go in and look around. These things are amazing, so massive inside they make you feel like a tiny little ant. It's truly a testament to human ingenuity that so many centuries ago, we were capable of building something like that. I guess that's why now, hundreds of years later, they are just now getting around to doing some fix-it projects. My favorite thing - the electronic candle that you pay to light now instead of a real candle. Classic.

We then walked back across the Catalonia Square to a little cafe that Miro liked. It's called Happy Bar and Grill and is apparently a chain started in Bulgaria (which is where he is from). They serve all kinds of food, American, Spanish, Japanese and Bulgarian. I ordered a shopska salad which is a traditional Bulgarian dish that is essentially just a Greek salad but with a shredded white cheese instead of cubed feta. For our main course, Miro talked to the waitress and asked her to bring us some traditional Bulgarian fare like kofta and kebapcheta and french fries. Everything was quite tasty but it was strange to eat Bulgarian food while in Spain. Anyway, to begin our meal we got robbed, which was fun. Miro left to use the restroom and while he was gone a woman came to our table with a piece of paper with writing on it and she appeared to be asking for money. She kind of help the paper up while gibbering at us in another language and we politely just kept saying "no." When Miro got back he couldn't find his phone. Apparently, when we got to the table, he took it out, laid it on the table and then left. the woman had covered the phone with the paper and grabbed it, then walked away. Bu this time, of course, she was long gone. Good times!

After lunch, we walked to La Familia Sagrada which is a famous cathedral, partially built by the artist/architect Antoni Gaudi. The thing was begun in 1882 and still is not finished and it is - wait for it - covered in scaffolding right now!! We didn't pay the 12.50 Euro to get in, mainly because the line went around the block, but also because the outside was fantastic enough. There are all these things carved into it - animals, people, words - you could spend all day just looking at the outside. It was pretty spectacular.

Then we walked to another Gaudi landmark, the Guell Park. This is up at the top of a hill and has an amazing view of the entire city. Gaudi designed these crazy bridges and houses and sculptures all through the park, most of which are decorated with mosaics. I read that the mosaics were created by breaking plates and then piecing them back together.

When we returned to the ship, the barbeque was in full swing so I stuffed myself with food and beer! I probably consumed about 20,000 calories this weekend. We went out that night to Sitges, which is a small, coastal town not far from Vilanova. We have been told it is the place to go for nightlife so we figured might as well check it out. The Barcelona soccer game was one, so some of the smaller bars were full of people watching the game but other, more club-like places, were practically empty. We started asking around and found out that nothing really gets going until about 2AM. Seriously? That's when they kick us out back home! We had a few beers at some different places, we found a little Irish Pub, so we had to go it. We played a round of Killer on the pool table and somehow I wasn't the first one out. Matt and I then bugged out to go see if anything was happening elsewhere and we found where all the people were so we went back and got the rest of the guys. Either Spanish people are really short, or the clubs were filled with 14 year olds - by the looks of it, they were 14. We decided to try to find something with a slightly older clientele. Then, Will started buying shots of terrible Spanish tequila. I help onto my empty beer bottle so that I could spit the crap back out into it - and thank god I did. Apparently Ross found Dan passed out in some doorway in an alley at 5am and he hasn't been out of his bed since. Sounds like he had fun!

Sunday was very low key. I woke up late, fed the fish, had some breakfast, read in my cabin until lunch. After lunch I walked the length of the beach, watched some jet ski races, read some more then walked back to the boat.

Neil returns on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to finishing up here and heading off to Italy this weekend!