Barcelona

Rather, Bar-the-lona. They don't do the letter "s" like we and our Mexican neighbors. They lisp (lithp) it every time. Which takes some getting used to. Grathias means thank you, not gracias. (It's spelled the same, of course, you just say it super lispy.)

Barthelona was rad. We had a great time in Valencia (especially due to the company), but, if you're looking for a real international city with, like, good cafes, restaurants, shopping, and stuff to see and do, you're looking for Barcelona.

Me. Mala. Barcelona. Good.

We stayed in a hotel just off Las Ramblas, the main drag in the tourist downtown area of the town. We were immediately impressed with the number of people shopping, walking, eating, and generally filling up the streets and squares in this downtown area. It always felt like an eerie ghost town in Valencia, we were really happy for the change. Like, REALLY happy. We were so excited to be here.

Our first task: find good food worthy of our elitist San Francisco palettes. We found Montiel and made a reservation online the day before we arrived. Mala powered through food poisoning and we ventured into the pouring rain to eat a 10pm dinner at this establishment on the day of our arrival. Totally worth it. Even with the 115 euro (~$150) tab. Go big or go home, that's what we say.

Chocolate mooooose from Montiel. Yum.

The following two days we took it easy around B-town. We strolled through the city stopping at La Segrada Familia and up to Parc Guell, both Gaudi projects worthy of the admiration they draw. Especially the cathedral -- that place was totally rad. And I've seen my share of cathedrals. I'm usually kinda "meh" about it, but this place was amazing. Highly recommended, even though it totally cost like $40 to go in.

La Segrada Familia - eta for finishing it: 2027

Inside La Segrada Familia

Me! Smalls!

View of Barcelona from Parc Guell

Day two we headed to the harbor and beach, mostly just walking, looking and enjoying the sunshine. We searched for way too long for this gondola that we could see floating from the Olympic hill to the harbor somewhere, but couldn't find how to get on the thing, and didn't feel like looking it up or asking for directions. So, scrapping that, we went to the beach for "bevs" as we were thusfar calling it. And then we found Larry Lloyd McGee.

LLM, as we named him, was a street dancer. Or something. Actually, we have no idea what he was or what he was doing, but he entertained us for a solid half hour, about ten minutes of which Mala got on video. Along with our ridiculous commentary. Enjoy.


Mala basically fell in love with the place. I had a great time as well. It's just such a fun and vibrant city. Two thumbs up, for sure.