Pequena Pie's ... On the Road Again: benvingut a barcelona

i made it to barthelona! or barfelona as emily calls it.

a taxi took me to my apartment in sants, and i walked up the 68 steps to the top floor, where i met my roomie mabel and her cat, who i call "el gato," the cat. the apartment is cute and clean and europeanly small. and there are rules. a lot of rules. and i was told every single one of them 2 minutes after i took off my backpack. we have to recycle. i can't go into this room or that room. all the doors must be locked when we leave the house, including the terrace door which needs to be locked in two places. the shower curtain must be straightened out after finishing showering. if you just have to pee, no flushing, there's a drought in barcelona haven't you heard?

then we went through door opening and closing drills.

to open the door to the apartment, you stand at a 46 degree angle, lift up your right leg a smidge, point your toes, push the key so it moves uppish, just so, and then wiggle for about half an hour before you hear it click open. then you're in.

to open and close the door to my room, i use a key similar to one that would open a treasure chest. you insert the key, turn, and then pull as hard as you can and then push. so simple.

so the next morning, i was nervous to even leave the apartment fearing i would have to use all the keys if no one was home when i came back. but it got so ridiculously hot i had to take myself somewhere. so the walking began.

i took the metro to placa catalunya and went to the tourist information office for a map.

and they gave me this.

with the world atlas in hand, i hit las ramblas.

see.

then i stopped in la boqueria, the outdoor market. nothing like hanging ham to work up an appetite.

i bought some dried kiwi, mango and strawberries. who's ever had dried kiwi before?! soo good.

these looked fun. maybe i'll get one tomorrow.

after i left la boqueria, i started wandering the streets.

in ciutat vella

cool museums, shops and galleries

lots of graffiti

i couldn't believe my luck when i stumbled upon this store. i bought this for ian so he can start getting used to the hottest british fashions.

somehow i found my way to the sagrada familia

and palau something

and a key maker. maybe he can make me a real, non-treasure chest key to my room.

cute stores

artsy fartsy barcelona

gaudiville

then i went shopping on passeig de gracia in all my usual stores.

the exchange rate makes it particularly affordable.

this is for uscmadridcenterjennyfromtheblockonthesix and black tongue. i saw it in corte. had to snap a foto for you.

after walking for around 6 hours, it was time for a sandwich and a nap.

when i woke up, i got in touch with cal's friend, chris, who invited me over to have a drink with him and his roommate, david, in their neighborhood.

chris knew about a fiesta in another neighborhood called gracia, so we went to check it out.

it was crazy! the streets were decorated according to different themes, and hundreds of people were out, singing and dancing to live bands playing pop, swing, jazz and rock music.