Leaving Barcelona behind...

Yesterday morning we boarded a bus to Avignon...and left Barcelona behind. I read in a book that Barcelona "was like a sorcerer...it got under your skin and stole your soul." There is something special about that city -- maybe it's the architecture, the combination of mountains and sea, the small city feeling in a big city, or its international flair.

One thing is for sure, in just one month Barcelona felt and was our home. On our last night I realized just how familiar I had become with our neighborhood -- walking two blocks down to the supermarket, down the street to the "chino's bodega", a couple of doors down to the bakery, to the corner for fantastic Japanese food, or across the street for authentic Italian. Yet, we had to move on. Learning to adapt to new places and not become complacent along the way is key to our journey.

The morning of our departure was, in some ways, a reflection of the way it is in Spain.
I walked over to the lottery booth asking to buy the 'big 130 million euro ticket' and was told that I was at the wrong booth. When I asked the harmless looking old man working the booth where I could buy the grand ticket (which I had already won and divided amongst family in my head) he replied by saying that he only sold "La once" tickets and that he was not (emphasis on the not) an information booth.

From there we flagged a taxi at our usual street corner. Once it stopped, another taxi driver insisted we needed to ride with him because he was next in line in the queue. The two drivers began to argue in the middle of the street exchanging words that became more foul by the second. Eventually, we got in the car and delivered the disappointing news...we were just going to the nearby bus station and not the airport.

The interesting part is that neither of these instances bothered us at all. While either situation may have unsettled us months ago or back in the States...here it was just the way it was and we knew that.

Good bye Barcelona...we'll see you again sometime.