Oh man, guys. I broke my two-posts-per-week streak. I am so sorry.
For the record, I did intend to post on May 11, when I did the first portion of the Shadow of the Wind walking tour. But I ended up getting lost in the Gothic Quarter (not a bad adventure when it's intended!), developing several large and unsightly blisters, and finding my room in such an exhausted state that the idea of writing was too much to process. I promised myself I'd write the next day, but instead I crossed "Go to the Museu Picasso" off of my to-do list. The morning after that, I left for Italy without room in my backpack for a laptop. Now here I am, exactly one week after my last post was published. The silver lining to this rain cloud is that I now have plenty of stories to refuel my engine, so there are no more worries about running out of steam. :) Today, I'll catch you up on the Shadow of the Wind walking tour.
I left for my Shadow of the Wind walking tour around 18:00. With two-and-a-half hours until sunset, I figured I had plenty of time to do the portion of the tour centered around Las Ramblas and could save the part based on Tibidabo Mountain for another time. This, friends, was a mistake. I definitely underestimated how much time I was going to need. And how hungry I was. And how appropriate my footwear was.
The tour departs from Casa Batlló, one of Gaudí's most famous works and a place that was on my to-see list. For the purpose of the tour, I only admired the building's architecture, but on Thursday, I'll get to go peruse the interior as part of a field trip. Since I'll have more details on that later, you can look forward to another post about Casa Batlló.
From there, I continued down Las Ramblas to Casa Bruno Cuadros, a stop that is not included on the Shadow of the Wind Tour. Casa Bruno Cuadros is otherwise known as La Casa de los Paraguas, which was also on my to-see list. The whimsical umbrellas decorating the building's faces made me smile and I was glad I'd stopped. But I smiled wider when I looked down. Months ago, I'd seen a picture online of a sidewalk covered in mosaic. The caption claimed this sidewalk art was in Barcelona, but offered no specific location, name, or means of finding it. By stopping at the Casa de los Paraguas, I had stumbled onto the sidewalk I'd so been hoping to see. For those curious, it's the Mosaico de Joan Miró along Las Ramblas.
At this point, it had been several hours since I last ate and I was famished. I had just one more stop- outside the Gran Teatre del Liceu- to make before visiting London Bar for a drink shared with the ghosts of Hemingway, Picasso, and Dalí. The Gran Teatre del Liceu was also a stop that I had added in for my non-literary desires and it was of course beautiful. But as previously mentioned, I was feeling rather hungry and dehydrated. So much so that my head was aching. And it seemed as though my pinky toes were in an unusual amount of pain, but I hadn't possibly walked that much, had I?
I carried on to London Bar. As I mentioned, London Bar was popular among the likes of Hemingway, Picasso, and Dalí during the 20th century. So if you like crazy, unkind famous people of the 20th century, this is the place to visit. I expected some simple tapas, live music, and overpriced drinks based on reviews I'd read. Only one of these was a reality. Guess which?
As I enjoyed my delicious but expensive mojito, I stopped to examine my toes, which were definitely sore. It turned out that they had somehow managed to develop holes. Not blisters. Holes. It was a bloody, awful mess. I was so glad that I had carried bandaids in my bag since my first week here. After sipping my drink, swaying to American classic rock songs played over a speaker, and downing a bag of overly salty peanuts, I continued on my way. My belly rumbled, but there was nothing to do but soldier on. I paused at the Palau Guell, but I knew I would be visiting it for my next field trip and the sun would be setting quite soon, so I rushed to finish the first half of the Las Ramblas portion of my tour.
It was only once I'd reached the Mirador de Colom that I noticed I hadn't seen the stop on my tour that I'd most been looking forward to. I had to turn back to find the narrow alleyway, "more of a scar than a street". This alleyway that was the settling for the mysterious library that is a central character in Shadow of the Wind. I was nervous for this part. I had very high expectations for this stop because Carlos Ruiz Zafón describes it so carefully that I had a very specific image in my mind. I knew that if the inspiration was too different from the description, I would be let down by the entire tour. I slowly peeked around the corner and...
it was perfect. My timing could not have been better. Las Ramblas' foot traffic was dying down and the sunset was dimly backlighting the passage. It was exactly as I had envisioned. I feel in love with Shadow of the Wind and Carlos Ruiz Zafón all over again. Unfortunately, I was not able to do the alleyway justice with my camera. If you're really interested, you'll just have to come see it yourself. :)
I finished that day's tour with a wander past the Port de Barcelona and down the Rambla del Mar. The Rambla del Mar was surprisingly busy. Couples were publicly displaying (a somewhat uncomfortable amount of) affection,
men were selling knockoffs of expensive brands, and runners were out past daylight, squeezing in those last couple kilometers. Once I'd crossed over the Rambla, I realized I didn't have any meaningful concept of where I was. Barcelona's city-wide wifi chose that moment to abandon me. I started walking in the general direction of my apartment and assumed I could figure things out from there. I walked alone down a dark street and felt fine. Barcelona never feels unsafe. And then some guy started hollering at me. I guess I must still be a little shaken from Fez because I was suddenly terrified, lost, and panicking. I walked faster and searched for something familiar. Anything.
And then there it was. The building that once was home to Cervantes and is now a supermarket. Way to go, Catalunya. From there, it was an easy walk back to my room. I quickly devoured everything I found and then settled in for bed.
Long story short, sorry I didn't write sooner, but I had holes in my toes and was exhausted. This week, though, there'll be plenty of updates to share. So stay tuned!
Until next time!