Day Twenty

On my second day in Barcelona, I decided to have a go at navigating the metro system! I woke up leisurely and had a fairly relaxing morning. Then I walked to the nearest station to my hostel, Fontana, on Gracia's main street.

I thought I would be overwhelmed by a brand new train system as I find Melbourne's public transport frustrating at best. However, Barcelona metro is clean, efficient and simple. I bought a 10-trip ticket that would see me through for the rest of the week, and the machine worked perfectly. Trains arrive at Fontana every four minutes on the dot, and there is a countdown clock for each arrival. It only took 5 minutes to get to Placa Catalunya, the nerve centre and tourist capital of the city.

I decided to go into town with a faint idea of what to do, and to find interesting things naturally. I ended up at La Rambla, the huge tree-lined tourist road where gypsies hassle you for money every 2 minutes. La Rambla is lined with high-street shops and souvenir vendors alike, and is packed with people. Needless to say I survived about five minutes before feeling tired of it. I headed down a little laneway that was still busy, but quieter in comparison, and was much smaller.

I walked happily down the laneway, and then down another one, and what do I find? The Dalí Barcelona Real Cercle Artístic! That is to say, the small exhibit containing Dalí's rarer sculptures and about 600 drawings and photographs. I felt so lucky that I almost laughed out loud. It was 10 Euros entry but well worth the price, with stunning drawings ranging from his early years to later life, and sculptures ranging from tiny to gargantuan. I'd seen the huge Dalí exhibit that came to Melbourne which was so inspiring, but being able to experience these pieces in their home was very special. The smaller sculptures are surrounded by red velvet curtains which gives the place a very David Lynch feel, and the Gothic arches that loom over the lower level made you feel like you were standing in a church dedicated to art. One room had a ceiling so low I had to hunch over, and between each sculpture room you had to push your way through the heavy red velvet curtains as well. The atmosphere was very surreal. Plus I was the only person in the exhibit the whole time, so it was lucky I found the place when I did.

After the exhibit, I exited to my right, and where did I end up? Right in front of the huge Catedral Santa Maria del Mar. Another example of just stumbling across something fascinating in this city. It was closed for some reason, otherwise I would have gone inside to look at the burned stone interior that I've read about. I took the chance to get some nice souvenirs from a shop nearby.

I left the way I came and ended up at a Spanish bookshop called Happy Books! Because I want my Spanish to get better, I invested in Harry Potter y La Cámara Secreta (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). I would have gotten Azkaban but it had sold out, boo.

I had heard of some nice vintage shops on the other side of La Rambla, so I headed back, holding my bag tightly. La Rambla is also the pick-pocketing capital of Barcelona and I am determined not to get mugged or pick-pocketed while I'm here.

I found the place I was looking for fairly easily, a Barcelona-famous vintage shop called Holala. It had the most amazing selection of clothes organised by decade, so I could zero in on my favourites! I spent such a long time looking that I started to get the dreaded sticky "vintage clothes hands", but I found two skirts that I adore, so it was worth it.

I spent the rest of my time looking at bigger shops like Zara (real Zara!), Mango and Topshop, but didn't really see anything I liked. I went back to some of the little laneways but the places I wanted to look in while passing by were already closed. Barcelona holiday hours in August are pretty random, smaller shops tend to just close whenever they like.

I got the metro back home to Gracia, walking a different route back to my hostel again, finding more little shops. I think Gracia is also the baby capital of Barcelona because it seems as if a third of the shops are dedicated to toys, baby clothes or prams!

I visited a little supermarket where I bought a LOT of orange juice to get some vitamin C for my Contiki cough/cold which is still pestering me.

And then I went home to the hostel, laid down on the bed to find more Sexo en NY on television! I think I might have found my nightly ritual. I didn't fall asleep accidentally though.

Tomorrow is my Gaudi tour of Barcelona! Excited!