Barcelona 2012: Cotton Candy and a Wild Boar

We’re holding cotton candy. Behind us: carousels, music, evening lights. Ahead of us: a wild boar.

Just there, in the street. Out for a walk.

We decided to take a shortcut from the amusement park to the hotel. Well, we took one. Now we’re standing here looking at a boar that wasn’t part of the evening’s plans. On the one hand, a little scary. On the other, pretty cool. Cotton candy doesn’t do much for your confidence in this situation.

It all started much more calmly.

The Package Holiday Ends. The Trip Goes On

After Greece, I was supposed to go back to Ukraine. Everything was already arranged: the hotel in Halkidiki, the bus, the plane. A nice, convenient holiday where almost everything had been decided for you. Including when it would end.

But I wanted to keep going.

First I flew to Athens. Then Barcelona found its way onto the itinerary. Now this I like: choosing where to go next myself. Without having to go home just because that’s what the ready-made plan says.

In Barcelona, we take a taxi to the hotel. It’s an unusual building, as if it too has decided to go diagonally. I haven’t even got my bearings in the city, and it’s already starting on geometry. For Barcelona, this seems a perfectly normal way to introduce itself. The architecture grabs your attention straight away. We’ve only just arrived at our accommodation, and I’m already trying to work out what they’ve done with the place.

By the time we get there and check in, quite a while has passed. It’s late.

But we didn’t fly to Barcelona just to look at the hotel. Even if it is diagonal.

We head to Barceloneta.

My First Sangria

The beach, big yachts, parties, clubs. There’s a very appealing Spanish good-life charm to the whole thing. You look around and immediately see plenty you’d like to try. I start with sangria. The rest of this lovely scene isn’t going anywhere just yet.

It’s the first time in my life I’ve had it.

Sweet. We get along. One thing here that doesn’t take much figuring out :)

I don’t feel like complicating anything right now. We’ve arrived, checked in, made it to the beach. All that Barcelona evening buzz is going on around us: yachts, people, parties. After the journey and checking in, this combination of sea, yachts and sangria is exactly what I’m in the mood for.

After hotel life in Halkidiki, I especially like being able to decide things as we go. Feel like the beach? Off to the beach. We’ll see what comes next. I already enjoyed travelling this way in Athens, and I have no urge to put myself back on a ready-made schedule in Barcelona.

There are galleries, parks and the sea ahead. For now, though, it’s Barceloneta and my first encounter with sangria. Not a bad start.

Architecture, Jamón and My First Paella

Over the next few days, we walk around the city. Visit galleries, go to the beach, wander through Gaudí’s parks. They’re beautiful. Arches, schmarches, all this unusual architecture: a quick stroll clearly isn’t going to happen. Walking past without stopping would take some skill too.

Arches, unusual buildings, parks. We take photos and keep walking. By the cathedral, I study the facade: spires, tall windows, sculptures. They certainly didn’t hold back on the imagination for that one wall :)

We go into the market. There’s jamón, and more food I’d like to try. And I’ve never had paella either. This market is where I try it for the first time.

This is how those little firsts add up when you travel. Yesterday, sangria. Now, paella. No grand occasion you need to prepare for. You’re just walking around Barcelona, wander into a market, and there’s a seafood paella with lemon in front of you. I need this sort of sightseeing too.

We photograph the food, all that architecture, and ourselves in the middle of it. Stone arches, beautiful facades, palm trees. We walk around it all, eat something delicious, then go walking again. The architecture here never runs out, but admiration for facades will only get you so far. Paella helps.

We wander through Gaudí’s parks, visit galleries, look at fountains and stone arches. Palm trees stand right beside the road, amid the city traffic. And in between all this, there’s the sea. It’s not waiting somewhere in the next leg of the trip. It’s right there. Go for a swim.

And then there’s Dalí.

Dalí, and the Museum of a Club I Love

At the Dalí exhibition, I look at the paintings, sculptures, all those strange shapes. I pose beside a large human figure with an arm raised, then beside a bust. The figure is taller than me. At least I don’t have to keep my arm over my head for the entire photo. Around us are galleries, stone arches, works on the walls.

What I like about these walks is moving from one thing to another: a park a moment ago, a gallery now, then back into the city. You don’t have to spend the entire trip doing one kind of thing. Gaudí has his shapes, Dalí has his, and I’m interested in taking a look at both. We’ll still make it to the beach.

But there’s one museum in Barcelona I want to mention separately. The FC Barcelona museum.

I really admire this club. So being here is a particular pleasure.

Trophies behind glass. Big, shiny, with handles. Whole rows of awards. I look at them, pose in front of them. There’s the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and a Golden Boot. I’m standing right beside them, looking through the glass.

When you like a club, its museum is more than just another room of exhibits. This is Barça! Here are the trophies, all of it right in front of you. It’s great to be here.

I stand by the display case for a photo: trophies behind the glass, me alongside. As if I had something to do with winning them. I’ve now been personally introduced to the trophies of a club I admire :)

Barcelona fits in all of it: these trophies, Dalí, Gaudí’s parks, the market with its paella. From gleaming cups to stone arches, with good food in between. And there’s the sea too: no display cases between me and the water.

The Sea Is on the Itinerary Too

We walk along the beach and get into the water. Another first for me: swimming in the Mediterranean like this, at an open public beach.

Not on hotel grounds. Just a city beach you can walk onto.

After walking among the buildings, galleries and arches, we go for a swim. There’s no need to choose between “I’m going to see a city” and “I’m going to the seaside.” Both are right here. Over these days, I get to look at museum trophies and swim in the Mediterranean. And I don’t need a private hotel beach to do it.

I stand by the water for a photo. People and umbrellas along the shore, city buildings beyond. The sea in front of me, Barcelona behind me. After swimming, we’ll head back to its streets, but right now I’m in no hurry to be rushing between buildings.

And there’s still the amusement park for the evening. This time, we’re choosing carousels and cotton candy.

Cotton Candy, Carousels and a Small Change of Route

In the evening, everything lights up, music plays, carousels turn. An amusement park, cotton candy, a carefree mood. Just like in a film. Exactly the kind of evening I wanted.

I like this simple combination. You don’t have to come up with anything special: carousels, lights, music. You walk around with your cotton candy, and life feels good. After all the galleries, architecture and museums, you can just spend an evening like this.

I pose with pink cotton candy covering part of my face. A perfectly reasonable traveller’s portrait: half me, half cotton candy. You can’t always have a cathedral in the background :)

Then we start walking back to the hotel. Decide to take a shortcut, turn off somewhere, and get lost.

We do find a boar, though.

A wild one. In the street. He’s just strolling along, and we’re standing there with cotton candy in our hands.

It’s a strange situation. A moment ago, there were carousels, music, everything lovely. Now we have to work out how to get past a boar. Not quite the attraction we’d chosen.

At first, we walk around him. A little scary, of course. He’s wild, and we don’t really know what to expect. But it’s interesting too: where else do you walk out of an amusement park with cotton candy and run into a boar?

Later, we even give him something to eat. He turns out to be friendly towards us, though I wouldn’t draw conclusions about all boars from that. This one simply joins our walk.

At some point, it’s no longer clear who’s more afraid of whom. Us of him, or him of us.

We take photos with him and head back to the hotel.

We wanted a lovely evening with carousels, and we got one. There was music, there was cotton candy. We even took some photos to remember it by.

The boar was an extra.

With our cotton candy, we seem to have fitted quite nicely into his evening :)