The mountains remind me (from the plane) of California wine country. On the ground, the land reminds me of Las Vegas initially, then progressively turns into Montreal as the train heads downtown. Many signs are trilingual: Catalan is the clear winner, but they want English and Spanish speakers to find their way around too.
Now downtown at street level, everything is impressive. Grand boulevards, stately buildings, a city of lights. So many people out and about on this Saturday night. Yet: so much of what I overhear is English. And much of this crowd is dressed in Obvious American. My Barcelonian co-worker described my hostel's location (the Passeig de Gracia) as "a fashion area" so that may be skewing my perspective.
My first meal is at a Basque-style tapas bar at the proper time: 9ish. I can't make any sense of the menu (is it in Basque, or Catalan?) so I go by pictures until I see English menus are available. Spanish too, hehe. Regardless I had a tasty time for just 13 euro.
My hostel presents some challenges regarding both Wi-Fi and charging, so you may have to wait for the next city to get the rest of my Barcelona experience.
Now downtown at street level, everything is impressive. Grand boulevards, stately buildings, a city of lights. So many people out and about on this Saturday night. Yet: so much of what I overhear is English. And much of this crowd is dressed in Obvious American. My Barcelonian co-worker described my hostel's location (the Passeig de Gracia) as "a fashion area" so that may be skewing my perspective.
My first meal is at a Basque-style tapas bar at the proper time: 9ish. I can't make any sense of the menu (is it in Basque, or Catalan?) so I go by pictures until I see English menus are available. Spanish too, hehe. Regardless I had a tasty time for just 13 euro.
My hostel presents some challenges regarding both Wi-Fi and charging, so you may have to wait for the next city to get the rest of my Barcelona experience.
posted from Bloggeroid
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