Big Yellow (and black) Taxi

The airport in Barcelona is huge. Sure, Madrid is Spain's capitol, but Barcelona is Europe's playground. Modern Barcelona introduced itself to the world in 1992 when it hosted the Summer Olympic Games. After seeing the Games on TV back in 1992, I knew someday I would make it to Barcelona. The airport has a more global feel to it, very much like Heathrow in London.

The trip to downtown Barcelona was a quick cab ride. Our hotel is very centrally located, just off the Placa de Catalunya, which marks the beginning the infamous La Rambla. Now for some some friction-- technically, Barcelona is not is Spain, it is in Catalunya, a point people are pretty serious about. Catalunya has it'’s own language and culture. We learned that Barcelona was one of the last democratic resistances of evil dictator Franco'’s rule and Placa de Catalunya has been the center of town, since, well, the beginning of time. It divides old and new Barcelona and is a mecca for tourists and pigeons.

La Rambla (means "stream” in Arabic) was a drainage ditch back in medieval times. It now is the tourist stroll in the city- lined with an elegant opera house, amazing architecture, hip cafes, street performers looking to make a euro or two, t-shirt shops, prostitutes, and pickpockets. We walked La Rambla down to the water, soaked in all that Barcelona had to offer, and determined we had now seen all we needed to see of La Rambla. At the foot of La Rambla is the Columbus Monument. Of course, you know the story of Columbus and he is beloved here in Spain. Even though he is Italian- a fact Jon and I debated for several blocks. But hey, I remember the episode of The Soprano'’s in which Carmella helps organize a protest to keep the Columbus Day parade in town.



The dense population in Barcelona forces, I guess, residents to shop for pets on La Rambla. Lizards, birds, hamsters, gerbils, mice, roosters, you name it, you can get it. That is unless it is un gatto (cat) or perro (dog). Small pets here rule. Evertime we saw a perro it made us miss Chaplin. Special thanks to Jan and Mel for visiting him at the spa-- it was such a comfort to know you played with him! Back to the reptiles-- Natalie would love the availability of pet reptiles here.



Also at the foot of La Rambla is a wonderful marina, an aquarium, IMAX theatre, and yes, a shopping mall. We shopped around a bit and I continued to feed my latest obsession: futbol jerseys. I have bought four of them, one for the Spain World Cup team, two from the FCB (Futbol Club of Barcelona), and one from the Madrid Futbol Club. The rivalry between the Madrid and Barcelona clubs would make the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry look friendly. The two cities are fiercely competitive and strive to be very different from one another. So much so that Barcelona has made illegal bullfighting, the traditional sport that is all the rage in Madrid and throughout Spain. Get this-- developers are in process of turning the ancient bullfighting arena, one that looks like it could be in Greece, into a shopping mall. They paved paradise and put up a shopping mall. Sad, actually.

We were hungry and in need of some comfort food. So, we did what Americans have done for decades. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks and nachos. Like my dad always says: location, location, location. Right off Placa de Catalunya, we felt right at home with the hundreds of Americans and English-speaking servers. We vowed not to tell anyone that we caved into the Hard Rock, but we did. And it rocked. Videos from Melissa Etheridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, INXS, ABC, The Fixx, Queen, Adam Ant. Ah, yes. The sound of English music. And videos. And loud. We were in one very well-done tourist trap.

We mapped out our nightlife choices for the evening. And contemplated a nap, which Jon was now calling siesta just to sound cool. I went to hang by the pool at our hotel, which was a world away from the hustle of the placa a few blocks away. This was paradise. Paved, but paradise.