Grathiuth

In Barcelona, you either speak Catalan or speak with a thick accent very different from a traditional Spanish accent. It's funny that even if you don't speak Spanish, you can tell if someone has a accent. Especially since they say "grathiuth" instead of "gracius" basically they sound like they have lisps. I hope they realize that they just sound silly...

Wednesday
We went to the Parc Guell which was entirely designed by Antonio Gaudi. It is a little outside of the city, but looks over Barcelona in a way. It is interesting that not only was Gaudi a brilliant architect, he designed this magical park, down to the last detail. He style went into every part. His natural, circular, imperfect designs and his love of colorful tiles make for a great park. We spent the morning there just walking around and enjoying the great scenery.

Story time: Since the Parc Guell is a big tourist spot, street sellers lined the park all throughout. We saw some gorgeous bracelets that were really colorful and really cheap. Kate had the idea of getting a pair for here and her twin sister; of course, that was a brilliant idea and I wanted to get a pair for Adrienne and me. We sifted through the bracelets and bought four from a man who must have a very hard life. His face was slightly burned and deformed, and his hands were very deformed. He had a hard time grabbing the bracelets and placing them in bags for us. Of course, if I love bracelets I don't care who it comes from, it wasn't a pity thing at all. The man simply had great bracelets and does as well as he can with his situation. However, it's always best to stay away from these types of sellers and people generally because they are more apt to swindling, stealing your stuff, and ripping you off, unfortunately.

So we go on our way. About 30 minutes pass before I realize that I don't have my camera. Of course I start freaking out and frantically begin retracing my steps. I mean, what would I do without my camera? It's my first and greatest (and cheapest) form of souvenir wherever I go. We get back to the man who sold us the bracelets and we promptly try to avoid him. He started calling "girl, girl, girl" over and over until we finally realize he's calling us. He pulled up his blanket to present my camera. I was so overwhelmed with how nice that was. I feel like, by saving my camera, he seriously restored some of my faith in humanity and especially Europe. And I still have two wonderful bracelets to remind me how nice and generous anyone can be.

The afternoon was really relaxing. We shopped a bit, went to our favorite tea room, Caj Chai, reconnected with people via the Internet, and ate Falafel again for dinner. We had a great time in Barcelona and I really hope that I can take friends and family there one day. It is a great place for the beach, shopping, or just the architecture.

The next morning, I left to back to Grenoble for a weekend of study, and Kate left to go to Budapest, Hungary with another GLSer studying in Sevilla, Spain. Next trip, Geneva.

Bisous!