My trip to Barcelona was interesting
Perhaps I should start with the lowlights
I couldn’t really afford the trip and have stuck the cost of flight and accommodation onto my credit card. The only good thing is that I stuck to my spending budget of less than £100
I’d learnt that a group of guys from church would be in Barcelona at about the same time as me and we had agreed to meet up for dinner. However this did not happen for various reasons… I must admit I feel some slight rejection… but I’ll get over it
My friend from LA, Delan has been living in Barcelona for the last 4 months and was very enthusiastic about my visit. He took us to his friend’s restaurant, Dos Trece, which is also a cocktail and music bar. I was grateful for the non-smoking zone. Following the smoking ban in England in public places, I’ve become accustomed to the pleasant smoke free atmosphere. The smell of smoke in Spain can be quite overwhelming. After our meal, at the invitation of one of the girls I’d met in the loo, we went downstairs to the lounge where a live band was playing. I met such a variety of interesting (English speaking) people. There was the middle aged Indian couple visiting their son who works as a teacher in Barcelona. The wife showed us photos they’d taken with a drag queen in another restaurant, “I hadn’t realised it was a man!” There was also an intense German guy who was into Eastern stuff like Feng Shui etc. When he was talking to Yati I noticed her eyes glazing over… We finished off the evening at Jamboree jazz and dance club on Plaza Reial. Downstairs is the hip-hop/ R&B room and upstairs cheesy 80’s style music. I attracted the attention of an overly amorous Nigerian guy. It was okay when we were dancing together – winding, grinding, *snogging*… but when the club closed and the crowd moved towards the beach to watch the sun rise, I was surprised that he latched on to me. Apparently, I am so beautiful… he wants to hold me, kiss me, squeeze me, make love to me. He said he'd pay for me to come back to Barcelona to spend time with him! (Sigh) He wasn’t bad looking, but for me there was just no chemistry. Plus his idea of ‘getting to know me better’ was purely physical and I am just not on that ‘page’ at the moment.
Barcelonians attitude to naked people is quite interesting. That morning at the beach there was a naked guy running about. Okay… it’s 6.30am… not many people around so that’s alright? But then again in the middle afternoon, we spotted ANOTHER naked guy, walking down the busy main street, Passeig de Gracia, seemingly oblivious to the open mouthed stares he was drawing from the tourists! Delan assured us that this was commonplace and not against the law. He’d have been arrested for indecent exposure in London!
