Everywhere is Better Than Here

As I mentioned before, I spent last weekend in Barcelona. It was actually a lot of fun, and I really liked the city. The temperature was pleasant, it was easier to understand everything than in France because just about everything also had English translations, and I still remember one or two words from my high school Spanish (even though they officially speak Catalan).

There was plenty to do in the city without being too overwhelming. While I'm sure I missed out on a few sites (that's what I get for traveling with someone!), I don't feel like I failed to see anything really important. Paris, on the other hand, I think I more or less saw everything, but it felt like I was just going from one tourist attraction to another the whole time. In Barcelona, I actually also sat down and had a cup of coffee. And, of course, I also went out drinking which I didn't do in Paris. Despite the whole feminist thing, I've been indoctrinated enough by society to feel uncomfortable with the idea of going out drinking alone at night in a strange city. It also didn't seem quite as flooded with obnoxious tourists - despite the fact that I heard a lot more people speaking with American or English accents in Barcelona than in Paris. I guess it's a bit of a party town.

La Rambla

Somehow, we kept ending up on La Rambla. It's the most famous street in Barcelona, and there are a ton of street performers there as well as stands. It was actually kind of interesting because they were sectioned off by what they were selling: first, we walked by a bunch of people selling birds, rabbits, hamsters and chipmunks, then came a block or more of flowers, and after that the souvenir/newspaper stands.

I really wish I lived in a city sometimes. A friend of mine lives in Bamberg, and while it isn't a big city, even they have flower stands like this which are much cheaper than flower shops. Every time I finally end up in a city where they have them, I can't actually take advantage of them because I won't be going home anytime soon. Plus, they have a much larger variety than any of the flower shops I've seen in my town.