Trains...

For all the dear readers, I've now moved away from my home camp of Barcelona and set up shop in Nice, France. Barcelona was very unique and the partying was wild, but I felt it was time to get to a quiet location and do a little of "nothing" for a week. The city of life of Barcelona and London has taken its toll.

As far as observations about Barcelona, where do I even begin...hmm...
-lip piercings on girls seems extremely popular, to the point where almost every other person you see has some sort of hoop or stud. Is the the American equivalent of the tattoo on the lower back or the tongue pierced?
-you know how people always said European fashion was different? Well personally, I never believed it and thought the whole world dressed in Sperrys, polo shirts (with the collar popped up), and big ol' sun glasses. Let me tell you though, ITS NOT THE SAME in Barcelona. Wow, I can't even begin to tell you how people dress. Lets say, its a combo of Salvation Army meets high end department store, mixed in with odd accessories that even an antique shop would find interesting. Lets sum it up with "WOW".
-Gaudi (for those not familiar, Google "Park Guell" or "Sagrada Familia") was WAY off his rocker. His stuff was one of a kind, but there is no way someone completely sane can come up with those "visions" he had. I spent half a day at Park Guell, and its the most awesome park I have ever been to. To start off with, his combined use of metal, tile, and concrete makes the building, chairs, stairs, and columns very different even for my eyes. AND to think, he completed the park roughly 100 years ago. There are areas you can sit in and feel in an alien colony, while a few steps away, you are enjoying the panoramic (sp?) views of all of Barcelona. Then, onto Sagrada Familia...personally, for me, it seems like something someone would think up with the assisted and prolonged use of acid. I mean that in a nice way, its beautiful to look at, but again, HOW in the hell did he think of that?!
-pickpockets are everywhere, and I almost got taken for a ride. I was wandering down the street mid evening, and this older guy (standing near a bank) approaches me with a map in hand asking if I speak English. I say "yes" and try to play the good samaritan and see if I can point him in the right direction. As we are speaking, he is inching closer and closer to me, and I'm inching one step away. Out of NOWHERE comes this dude who comes between us, flashes a dodgy looking badge at me for a brief second, declares he is Police, and demands to see my passport. For a moment, I'm stumped and about to reach for my passport. But then it dawns on me, (1) who the f*ck is this guy, (2) have I done anything wrong, (3) WHY would he need to see my passport? So, I take a moment, collect myself, and ask who the hell he is. He states "Bank Police" and now I'm starting to think, "scam, con, etc". I start questioning him and he seems to get flustered by it. Oh I forgot to say, while this is going on, I feel like the old guy is boxing me in a little. He also gives his "document" to the "police guy", but they seem to both be facing me now. Finally, seeing that I'm not going to hand over any documents, the police guy asks if I'm associated with the old map guy. I say, "don't know him, f*ck you both", and walk off. I didn't exactly look back, but I think they were in the con together!
-I can't understand any Spanish. To top that off, they speak Catalan, which isn't even the same as Spanish. But regardless, I survived the entire time with "hola" and "gracias". Oh, I also knew "con" was cone (like ice cream cone) at McDs, and that was enough for them to understand that I wanted an ice cream cone.
-don't mess with bouncers and try to sneak beer into the club. I didn't learn this lesson, but another guy at my hostel did. We all went out, and walking to the club, he stops to buy a 6 pack of beer from a sketchy dude on the street and gets separated from the group. Keep in mind, no one really knows anyone else, so there's no loyalty, and its basically "everyone for themselves". Anyways, he gets lost, somehow finds the club later, and tries to get in with a couple beers tucked in his jacket. Of course he gets patted down, and rejected. He tries again later only to be escorted out by the bouncer. While this is happening (he told me the story the next day), he tries to shake away the bouncers grip and out of nowhere comes a flying (and deadly) punch to the face. Needless to say, I saw him the next day, and I firmly believe the bouncer landed a good one.

Well, thats about a semi-good observation of Barcelona. On my final night, ended up randomly meeting this guy from NYU. We go out with a couple of his buddies, one of whom lives in Barcelona. Of course, his friend takes us to the "cool" bars on the rough side of town where only locals traverse, and we start sharing stories of people getting mugged, conned, etc. I'm dead tired, but now terrified to leave by myself and make my way back to the hostel. By the end of the night, we are wandering through the shittiest neighborhood back alleys with hookers, pimps, and drug dealers all around. SWEET! Speaking of hookers, there is a street called "Las Ramblas" which is a huge tourist location during the day. At night though, I was told there were tons of ladies of the night, who were not actually ladies...if you catch my drift. I didn't get a personal confirmation on this, just took the word of the locals.

Enough about Barcelona, I've left now, and after a 12 hour train ride, I've ended up in Nice, France. Its the French Riveria, and weather is supposed to be gorgeous. I'm going to spend a week in this beach town and catch up on some R&R. Hopefully find some good parties and stuff, but mostly just recharge before I head into Italy. I'll update and keep you in the loop on my adventure(s).