Notes from the train (written this afternoon)

You have probably noticed that I have yet to wear my little black dress. Ironic, I know, but it’s too dang hot right now to wear such a lovely thing. Honestly, I would sweat in it and not look classy, timeless or chic nor would I recall Audrey Hepburn in your mind at all because if I wear it in the dead of this heat that is sweeping through Europe, my blunt cut bangs would be all matted and damp. My over-sized sunglasses would be slipping down my already nose. If I were to wear the black pumps I bought for my little black dress, I would have cramped, overheated feet. And we all know how uncomfortable it is when your feet are too hot. Right? We’ve all been there…right?


Anyway, I just thought I’d clear the air because we all know it was on your minds. Second thing I must do is apologize for only thanking Kim for being a follower. I didn’t realize that you had to be a gmail address holder in order to be my follower (sounds weird.) so I wish to thank everyone who reads my blog – these plainly decorated entries and longwinded updates. Until I figure out how to let anyone make a comment or something to that effect, I recognize your silence as love. And I hope you recognize my verbosity as love too. I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t for you. So thank you for your support, readership and patience. I hope you’re enjoying it so far. If anyone knows how to make a blog more interesting looking, can help me hook up my Flickr on to my blog and/or knows how to allow anyone and everyone to make a comment, I would love to hear from you via facebook or email. You can reach me at veronica.asence@gmail.com. As you know I have a blackberry, which is great but it is quite limiting when it comes to updating my blog (as in it doesn’t let me do anything but look at it) and internet here in Europe is pretty sparse. Advice about internet cafes would be immensely appreciated as well! I know some great world travelers are taking a peek at this humble little journal too.

On to my second day in Barcelona! I write this after the fact, but the city is still fresh in my mind. Our hotel was situated in the center of La Rambla, one of the liveliest and eclectic places I have ever been. There were vendors on the streets selling birds of all kinds from canaries to roosters. They had turtles and rabbits too! Quite fitting to call it a zoo, my friends. It’s a great place to walk and people watch, shop and eat. It’s good if you need a fresh slice of life. It’s just good for the soul, I tell you. We enjoyed our second day aboard the Bus Turistica and my parents indulged me by stopping at La Sagrada Familia – Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished cathedral. Construction has been going on since 1884, if I recall correctly. 1884! That’s over a hundred years and it has yet to be completed. See, the only way work gets done is through anonymous donations and by the fare it costs to step inside and look around. It was breathtaking. If you have never seen anything created by Gaudi, you’re missing out. Apparently, as a child he suffered from rheumatic fevers frequently and was left in solitude to recover. It allowed him to enjoy and to connect with nature, thus inspiring his entire style and career. His work is very organic with tiles on the roof of a house recalling the scales of a dragon or in the cathedral’s case, the columns that helped hold it up reminded one of trees. You have to look him up. Then, my parents indulged me further by stopping at the Park Guell next. GORGEOUS! It’s a great place to stroll and enjoy Gaudi’s work in nature (the way it should be) or to sit and find local treasures of your own. For example, I stumbled upon a mini theatre or sorts with a man playing the most beautiful Spanish guitar. I could have sat there for hours to listen to him. And at the top of the park entrance, there are steps that lead up to this area of columns where again people play music or sell hand crafted goods. I’ll get the pictures up on Flickr. And I’ll get the address of my Flickr on here. Promise.
Then, we ate lunch near the Port Olimpìc. I had some really fresh and nicely batter calamari for my starter. My mom had Iberic ham (reminiscent of proscuitto or parma) with little potato croquettes and my dad had a seafood feast. Can I tell you, I was absolutely disgusted with my dad’s manners and eating habits that day. DISGUSTED. He ate in the way a starved lion would attack a gazelle. It made me sick to my stomach and quite embarrassed. I believe he liked inducing such reactions out of me and was quite sadistic about it. I don’t really want to go into too much detail. It makes me a little queasy just trying to describe it. And I know I must sound unkind, but honestly, I have never seen anything like that before and never do I ever want to see anything like it again. On to happier things, my parents both had paella yet again and I had leg of duck in a sweet and sour wine sauce with prunes. Delicious! I ate it all. We suspect our waiter didn’t charge us for all that we ordered, but he ignored us anyway and only came to our table to give us our food and the check. It was his fault, really. We were delightfully full so we walked down the pier for a bit and took a stroll to gander the beach, but since my parents are wimps, we only saw everything from afar. Bummer, but guess what we did all up close and personal? We went to the casino… Of course. I’m not a fan. You come out with less money than you had before and you smell like smoke. My mom cheated a bit and put in a 100 euro bill into the penny machines so it looked like we were winning. And I did win! I won us 20 more euros that were played away twenty minutes later. We left the casino 40 cents ahead. Great time at the casino, huh? I know I sound like I’m complaining, but there are casinos all over the States and hello, we have Las Vegas for goodness sake! I will say I wish we could have done something else with our time. I do plan on going back once school has started. I loved it there.
This morning, we took off for Lourdes. We are on our second train transfer and we’ll need to catch a third. My motto for travel shall now and ever be: travel light but travel chic. What does that mean, you wonder? I’ll have backpack or a mini-rollie with my little black dress, boyfriend jeans, three blouses, a scarf and a light jacket thrown in. Perfecto! Of course, I’ll have toiletries, underwear and a couple pairs of shoes, but for a (girly) girl, that’s pretty light. Add a good purse with my phone, iPod, camera, journal and a couple snacks inside…I’m set. And if I’m feeling particularly easy-going, I’ll fit the bare minimum in my beautiful Northface backpack that Juan gave me for my birthday. It’s going to be great.
I miss you all.