Sunday, April 10, 2011

Barcelona Magic 1



At this precise moment, I started to love Barcelona


There is nothing noteworthy about this photo. It's just a building in Barcelona, attractive but not particularly charming.


As I took it, I was sitting on a café patio below. With a colleague, we had just finished visiting the International Tourism Show with a group of 36 business school students, and we were free for the rest of the afternoon. As we left, said colleague invited me to join her for lunch with a few people she was meeting up with who live in the city.


I had had grand plans to "see stuff" during the afternoon. But my feet hurt. I had gotten up at 1:45 am, ridden a bus for 7 hours, and then tromped around a trade fair for 5 more.


Of course I said yes.


We ended up at a tiny, somewhat greasy-looking neighborhood tapas bar. "Authentic" would be the word.


We sat down, and time just stopped. I snapped this photo, and let Barcelona take over. The next 24 hours were sheer magic...

5 comments:

  1. I'm so happy to hear that you finally fell in love with one of my favorite cities. It took a while, but I knew you would finally give in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barcelona does have to grow on you. I remember being a little freaked out on the Ramblas with all the transvestive hookers. But after a day or two, it did become magic.
    Hooray, a good reason to visit again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @loulou Yes, I think I just hadn't been taken to the right places.

    @Dedene The first time I went, in the 80s, it was beastly hot and I had a tough time navigating the city. Since then, it's been for short school trips and I haven't been seeing the right parts of town. Now I know, at least to some extent, where to go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, you succumbed... It's been one of my favorite cities for years.... I miss it! So glad you had a chance to enjoy it.
    But 1:45 am? Ouch!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't been to Barcelona yet but I'm promising myself that this will be the year! I'd like to experience some of that magic as well :-)

    ReplyDelete