Barcelona was out of this world. The alleyways in the Gothic district where we stayed never seemed to end. There were countless businesses and restaurants, as well as many locked up storefronts due to owners on holiday. Our street was a mostly pedestrian walkway with a few scattered mopeds and rental bikes. And the view from our modest Air BnB-rented place was beautiful. The first night in Barcelona was an interesting experience to say the least. Due to an Ambien induced airplane coma earlier in the day, I woke up at 3 AM Barcelona time and could not fall back to sleep. So I sat on the ledge of our window and stared down onto our street. It was almost eerily silent. For a place so lively and boisterous only hours before, the stillness of the late night was undisturbed by even the slightest movement or noise. I sat there for nearly an hour without experiencing a single soul's presence. It was a nice time to ponder the upcoming adventures I was about to embark upon. Peaceful, calming, even though anticipation of exhaustion for the day to come was causing a lingering anxious feeling somewhere in the back of my mind. That night was the first time I sat down and wrote a short piece of fiction in over 7 years. It felt liberating to reexplore my somewhat stifled imagination. It's only been four days since we touched down in Europe, and I already feel like the creative juices that once used to flow so smoothly and effervescently through my soul are returning to their maximum potential.
Thank you Gaudi, thank you Kitty Olympics, thank you history, thank you point and shoot cameras, thank you Catalan, and most of all thank you Sangria. Mmmmm.
By the way how awesome is it that I had two friends in Barcelona at the same time? I ran into one by chance, and met up with the other. So fun to see some familiar faces in a land where EVERYone knew I wasn't a familiar face! (Am I really that pale??)
We are finally checked in to our apartment in Paris, and the set part about this place is that we have a free show directly below us. Ladies of the oldest profession, all day every day, at your service. Meeeeow.
