Lindsay in Wonderland

Soy Aqui! Seriously, we are here and I can't get over it - all of this preperation and talk and pre-celebrations and now...I'm here! Anna and I made it into Barcelona and we are walking around wide-eyed. Well, more so I’m walking around wide-eyed going “que?!” – This time Anna’s my translator. It’s amazing how fast she has picked up on her Spanish. I’m quite behind and have been trying to memorize a new, helpful phrase each day. I guess my Spanish will come with time.

Okay, so fun stories for ya’ll! Flight and the transfer to our flat was fine – very little problems. So we got to our place and, thank God our landlord's nephew was here as he helped us carry our 70+ pound bags up three flights of marble stairs to our new home. Our room is just lovely. Very Ikeaesque with a huge-ass fridge and, my second favorite part, a great closet! I’m amazed at the closet space – my sundresses are super happy. But the BEST part of our room is THE BALCONY. And our LOCATION is just perfecto! So we look out onto a square (I’ll post these pics ASAP on facebook – if you are not on the book, just let me know and I’ll fwd them on!) that is pretty famous. To the left of us is the Mayor’s office and to the right is the Catalonian Government Building – both gorgeous. Then straight ahead is a side street that leads to Las Ramblas – the main street in Barcelona with multiple restaurants and shops and bars – I adore all of the fresco dining and drinking here – I discovered this style recently in Chi-town and loved it. But the people-watching here is much more interesting...Wow, the fashion is just insane.

So in short we have been exploring the city – we did a little walking around yesterday but I was so exhausted I went back to the flat for a nap. Woke up to a cannon going off…Yes, that’s right – a cannon. There was a huge-ass protest going on right below our balcony: tons of people, flags, ribbons, drums and a lot of catchy chanting. Something about not wanting to work (seriously, this city is so lazy – loves it!) and then they burned a picture of the Catalonian governor or whatever political level this dude is. After the burning and random cannon bursts, they started this acoustic-guitar session which was really lovely! Mainly Spanish guitar and songs but then one girl got up and sang Cranberries “Zombie” (Lils – thought of you instantly) but yeah – one of the most organized protests I've ever witnessed.

Today we got up to start our day and it was raining :( We ventured out when the weather cleared to go get some items and found the best open-air market to shortly after, get stuck in a monsoon. The weather finally cleared and Anna and I went with one of our flat-mates, Adam (from the UK – and yes I try and copy ½ of what he says with my version of the British accent) to go explore. We walked to the Christopher Columbus statue (stupid Spaniards have him pointing in the wrong direction …to Africa and not the US – haha) and caught the TOUR DE FRANCE! It was pretty amazing and I actually got Lance in my one good picture of the bicyclists as they swarmed past. After that we went walking on the beach, went to the Arc de Triumph (did you know that was where the Eifel Tower was to be built?! Again, stupid Spaniards wanted an arc and not a tower – ha!) and watched one of the world’s largest spin classes – it was hilarious! Seriously, all of these people sweating it out to horrible Euro-trash music under the beautiful Arc de Triumph. It was great. But this city is absolutely beautiful - I can't get over the ornate buildings. There are so many similarities to the French Quarter in New Orleans but yet so different. It's funny to walk around in a city and be the minority for once - everyone speaking so many different languages and not understanding one bit. I'm seriously in awe of this city.

Anna and I are going to venture out tonight and toast our arrival the proper way – with mucho, mucho Sangria! I’m sure from here on out I will have many more interesting stories and less of this touristy stuff – which is what ya’ll want, right? ;0)

Miss everyone so much. Was thrilled to find out there is a cinema close by that shows AMERICAN movies in ENGLISH ! You know how this excites me so – especially if they play my favorite obscure indie flicks. On a sad note – you can not stream American television shows here in Europe so Anna and I are in the dark with the last few episodes of the Bachlorette…Also, no Project Runway for us :0( - Oh well, I guess these are the sacrafices we will have to make.

Oh – and the Spanish men…Their cute…Just not sure how I feel about the man-purse that a lot of them rock.

Still on the search for my Matador,
Linds