Barcelona Thoughts

I’m writing this from the Barcelona airport. It’s 6:30 in the morning as I wait to board a flight back home to the States. I’ve spent the past seven days basking in the basque, taking in as much food, culture and people watching as time allowed, and butchering the Spanish language with one of my oldest and dearest friends in the world. Some thoughts on Spain:

1. Annoyingly affordable coffee and wine. An espresso shot for 1.5 euros. A glass of chilled, grade-A white wine for 4 euros. The only reason it’s annoying is that America hasn’t figured out how to do it yet.
2. Spaniards are for the most part friendly, accommodating people. There’s been some talk about anti-tourism protests especially in Barcelona lately, but the most we ever got was an eye roll here and there.
3. Spaniards are, like I said, friendly and accommodating people. But they have zero sense of personal space. They don’t seem to move out of each other’s way or say excuse me. They just sort of bustle and push past each other. My friend was quite literally shoved in the back by a 12-year old girl boarding the subway. This would probably be my main gripe.
4. I’d heard that people don’t eat dinner until 10pm here, which I thought was fucking insane. Until I found out that, at least this time of year, the sky doesn’t even darken until 9:30pm. I still think it’s fucking insane.
5. The Spanish Omelette, or Tortilla España, is a soul-enriching experience. Eggs, potatoes and onions combined with simplicity and skill. When done perfectly, dear God. I could cry.
6. The culture in Barcelona is more progressive and willfully independent than the rest of the country. I heard that it’s the Texas of Spain.
7. My friend and I joked that the Spanish must hate making money. There’s a popular story about a Spanish fisherman who meets an American Businessman. Go look it up if you’re not familiar. It’s accurate.
8. Europeans' aversion to drinking healthy amounts of water is truly bewildering. And yet they all seem to have glowing, hydrated skin. Must be the alcohol and cigarettes.

There’s so much more I could say. I learned about Barcelona’s most famous architect Antoni Gaudí and the intense period around the Spanish Civil War. And shoutout to our friend Andy, who lives in Madrid and used up her weekend to show us around. There are so many ways that we as Americans could learn from the culture here. Thank you for the hospitality, Spain.

Now go drink some water.