Yesterday was a fabulous day. I made my way out to Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, his still unfinished church (but incredible nonetheless) and then wandered my way through the nicer neighborhood to his Casa Botillo (pictures above are of this house). Gaudi was influenced by patterns and shapes in nature, especially, it seems, the ocean. My pictures don't do Casa Botillo justice but I spent hours there.
After taking in some culture and grabbing some tapas and wine (and some gelato) I decided to hit up the Museum of Chocolate (waste of $ really) and the Museum of Erotica. The Museum of Erotica was odd and hilarious and pretty informative. I can't really post pics online (one went up on FB yesterday) but there was some interesting stuff there. I enjoyed the way various cultures depict penis size in their artwork and the sizes and shapes of women. Then I got to the silent, black and white, super old porn. It was horrible but yet impossible to stop watching. The women were voluptuous and not very attractive. The men were not very attractive either and often kept on most of their clothes and always their socks. I haven't watched much porn in my life but, from what I know, we've come a long looooong way.
I talked to EVERYONE yesterday. I don't know what got into me. I talked to a woman on the subway, the 5 Russian women watching the porn with me, an older couple at Casa Botillo (from PA actually), the woman from CA at the Starbucks near La Sagrada Familia who thought I was Spanish and yelled to me about 5 inches from my face "Starbucks is from Ca-li-for-ni-A!!" (Yes, I know, I'm from Philadelphia).
Starbucks brings Americans together. After walking with my iced coffee for a bit I met 2 women from NC and chatted with them on our way to Gracia. They were thrilled to see Starbucks. While we were walking another woman stopped us and asked where the Starbucks was. At least it's a conversation starter.
I also found myself in a bar full of people from Holland for the Holland v Uruguay game last night. It was nuts. I ended up talking to Yan from Paris and Marcus from Sweden for most of the game. Then I met Steph and Jess, 2 women from the NH and Boston area and they were kind enough to rescue me from a very drunk Marcus when the game ended and invited me to join them for dinner. We found a great Spanish crepe place. If you've never had a late night chorizo, goat cheese and honey crepe you've never lived! Perhaps I will see them again tonight for the Spain v. Germany game.
I had many thoughts yesterday as I evaluated my 1st 2 weeks of travel. Monday night, when I decided to regroup with a sandwich and beer alone in my room I think I finally let go of this idea that I have to meet people or have to go out, that somehow eating dinner alone or going home to bed after dinner and not out partying makes me a loser or something. Why I thought that to begin with, I don't know but letting it go, I think, allowed me to enjoy my day more yesterday and not set expectations for my various interactions with the people I met along the way.
I thought a lot about La Sagrada Familia. Hoards of people pay €12 each to get in to see an unfinished church. You stand there and admire the work that has been done and imagine what it will look like when it's complete. When you look down from the structure, the columns and the stained glass it is mostly, however, a construction zone with cranes and welding and netting and yellow barriers and stacks of building materials. Despite the goals and the detailed plans and designs, there is a long way to go and, in my opinion, they may never get it 100% done. It's a work in progress that people are already willing to pay to see (granted Gaudi is a genius of design). Maybe I need to do a better job of appreciating what I'm good at or the attributes I have that make me worth "coming to see" and not get caught up on the areas that still need work. There can be progress without perfection (and control) right?
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