Floor Tiles
I loved many things about our apartment in Bareclelona, but one of my favorite parts was the huge variety of floor tiles.
Barcelona Street Art
If you visit Barcelona, I very much recommend the Alternative Tour by Free Walking Tour Barcelona. After their guidance, I was able to identify the work of several street artists, making wandering around the city even more interesting. Also super interesting to me, the guides talked a bit about the city’s anarchist past. (I’ve been reading more about this in George Orwell’s memoir Homage to Catalonia.)
Cooking And Eating In Barcelona
We found the food in Barcelona to be high-quality, affordable, and generally vegetarian friendly. We were staying only three minutes away from a local market, and there were lots of excellent bakeries and shops on the walk home from Theo’s school. Good wine can be obtained for only a few euros per bottle in Spain. Most restaurants had affordable fixed price lunches.
In short, we ate very well all month, at home and in restaurants.
Gràcia – Yes, It Was Very, Very Nice
If you’re tired of posts about how much we like Barcelona, you’re in luck! We’ve left the city! So, this is my last Barcelona-is-awesome post. I promise.
I’m sure that our impressions of cities are shaped strongly by the specific neighborhoods where we’ve chosen to stay. There are a few places where, in hindsight, I would have chosen differently.
However, Gràcia in Barcelona was a huge win for us, and definitely made it onto our top-five list of places that we’d like to live. But, for now, it’s farewell! Among other things, we’ll miss the street music and festivals, stunning buildings, dozens of bakeries, great playgrounds, and leisurely outdoor dining.
Books About Spain I Read While In Spain
Only in Spain is the modern-day memoir of an Australian woman who falls in love with flamenco and moves to Spain to continue dancing. It’s a fun, light, easy read.
The Shadow of the Wind is a grand, twisting novel set in Barcelona during the 1950s. It has a huge cast of characters and and a gritty, winding plot that touches on the impact of the fascist rule of Spain following the civil war.
Cathedral of the Sea is historical novel that follows the life of a fictional serf who eventually becomes a wealthy money lender. Occasionally (okay, often), I felt like the author was sprinkling unlikely social mobility on our main character so that he could describe yet another aspect of Barcelona life during the 14th century. But, in the end, I didn’t really mind so much, because I enjoyed the peeks into various social strata.
Homage to Catalonia is a memoir by George Orwell (yes, that George Orwell) that describes his experiences serving in the POUM militia during the Spanish Civil War. I loved this book for its gorgeous language, used to describe both the tedium of the battlefield and the violent rifts that grew between the various anarchist, socialist, and communist parties who were theoretically united in opposing the fascists.
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The Lyon Metro Tickets That Traveled Around The World
Lyon was our second home-for-a-month, back in September 2014. On our departure, we still had two metro tickets that I meant to leave at our apartment but accidentally packed instead. In an act of silliness, I kept them. My goal was to find Lyon residents as we were traveling so that I could give the tickets to someone who would return them to Lyon and use them. (We actually DID meet a family from Lyon in Cyprus and another family in Taipei, but I forgot completely about the tickets in both cases. Oops.)
Well, it turns out that WE are the family who returned the metro tickets to Lyon. When I was researching train routes between Barcelona and Berlin, Paris kept coming up as the main connection point. However, with some finagling I was able to connect us through Lyon (and Zurich) instead.
I’m displaying the metro tickets. Theo is displaying his almond-chocolate croissant. Both were very exciting, but we won’t try transporting the croissant around the world. Continue reading “The Lyon Metro Tickets That Traveled Around The World”
Our (Likely) Farewell Ride On The City Night Line Trains
We’ve taken about half a dozen night trains during our two years of travel, and they are definitely one of my favorite modes of transportation: lower carbon footprint than flying, no need to try to entertain a child during a daytime long-haul ride, and a pleasant sense of adventure inspired by the slight sway of the carriage.
Our trip from Zurich to Berlin was our third experience on the efficient and comfortable City Night Line trains, which Deutsch Bahn seems to be in the process of phasing out. (If this makes you sad too, you can sign a petition.)
Even More Exciting Than Lemonade!
Brian and I were walking through Kreuzburg, looking for lunch, when we saw some elementary school students selling chard, zucchini, and cucumbers from a stoop. I don’t think I’ve seen chard for sale for months – we certainly haven’t eaten it for a while – so I was pretty excited.
(Yes, I’m a vegetable nerd. In case you are too: chard is excellent when braised with olive oil, onions, garlic, and some vegetable broth, and then served it over pasta.)
No Society Is Immune
Over the weekend, I went on a walking tour with Refugee Voices Tours Berlin, led by a man from Syria with refugee status in Germany. During the tour, we visited a series of historical sites in Berlin. At each landmark, our guide would first briefly describe the German history related to the spot, and then draw parallels to similar types of events in Syria, from government-led massacres in the 1980s up through its present-day, devastating civil war.
We visited a number of sites, including the best known crossing point of the Berlin wall and the site of former Nazi central institutions. Learning about Syria at these sites grounded the point: no society is immune to political violence, turbulence, and fear. Offering shelter, and being sheltered, is an ongoing cycle in which we swap roles depending on the current state of the world. Continue reading “No Society Is Immune”