27 Steps
Hola! We have touched down in Spain…
Our flight out of Heathrow was easy. My luggage and I always, always get searched—this time it was Gary. Yes, he had too many electronics in his backpack and they emptied out every bit of the pack.
The two hour flight to Barcelona was a “breeze.”
Going through Customs is always a mystery. “Will we be grilled?” “What will we have to disclose in terms of where we will be living?”, etc.
Customs in Spain consisted of walking up to a thick glass booth, giving the person in the booth our passports. The person opened up the passports, glanced at the photos, and stamped our entry date into the country, she then slid the passports back—and never spoke.
Out we went. I located a “tourist” counter and got a map, taxi usage information, and directions on where the nearest pay phones were. We needed to contact a friend of Graeme’s (flat owner) in order to get into the flat.
A call was made to Andrea letting him know we were on our way and into a taxi we went—one of the cleanest I’ve ever seen. The driver was absolutely terrific! He chatted with us in his “basic” English and taught us a few words in Spanish. As we approached the old part of Barcelona (where our flat was located) he started mumbling a bit and when we entered the neighborhood (barrio) he stroked the rosary hanging from his rearview mirror hoping that he’d be blessed to get us as close to our door as possible.
Imagine, extremely narrow streets, bikes, cars, pedestrian, etc., and our cab driver inching his way up the streets competing for space. The cab stopped and the driver pointed down a semi-lit alley with a slice of the night sky above. We had 2 large and heavy suitcases, one small suitcase, and two backpacks. He offered to carry our bags from the taxi up the narrow alley to our door.
Up the alley we went and it was quiet, clean, not crowded and people were walking with a purpose. Andrea was coming from the other direction and he carried all of our luggage to the first floor flat--up 27 steps. Once inside the flat we found the flat clean, full of red décor and quite ample as a home for the next 4 months.
It was now about 6:30 pm and Andrea used the map and gave us a quick tour of the barrio while pointing out restaurants and shops.
We had dinner outdoors in a small square just a few minutes walk away. On the way we passed little shops each specializing in such things as lights, veggies, fruit, olive oil, women’s clothing, hair styling, wine and tapas, etc. We both had Smokey Parma Ham Risotto at La Candela. Absolutely gorgeous and scrumptious!
We ate dinner leisurely while taking in our new neighborhood. People were jogging, biking, eating, and shopping. It was all so surreal.
More walking after dinner and then back we went to climb the 27 steps.
More tomorrow!
Sending love and cheer,
Ellie and Gary
BELOW: Wine in Coke glasses
BELOW: Kitchen
BELOW: Motorcycles everywhere!
BELOW: International House--Our School
BELOW: Gary Cooking Breakfast
BELOW: Music/Opera House near our barrio
