Barcelona, as a city, is something that I've fallen in love with during my short stay here. The diversity of the people, architecture and neighborhoods really lends itself to exploration and learning and most people i meet are glad to talk to you and hang out. Me and David have been fortunate enough to spend the last few nights in las placas de Gracia(a working class neighborhood in Barcelona) where lots of young people congregate during the evenings in small clusters of 5 or 6. Also, there are groups of Pakistanis whom wander around the city selling Estrellas(cheap beer) for a euro a can, which helps foster the festival like atmosphere in these public areas even more. A couple of nights ago was truly special, as there was a power outage across a good portion of Barcelona. Lots of people decided to come out with candles and torches and las placas were lively and filled with people whom all were there just to relax and enjoy each others company - truly beautiful. It's also been nice to be able to actually speak the language a little bit. It was a definite handicap in Germany in France being forced to communicate in English, but here I feel like I've been able to make some stabs at speaking in Spanish which have worked out alright. I'm hoping to pick it up a little bit more during my stay here.
Yesterday i went to the beach with Pamela whom is one of David's friends here. I biked there along the coast for while and met her on one of the less crowded sections of the beaches. We stretched out on the sand for a while before i got into the warm waters of the Mediterranean. The beaches here are artificial, and some of them are overcrowded to the point where i couldn't see anyone enjoying them, but if you get out far enough there are some nice spots. Perhaps I'll get out to the beaches again tomorrow, I really enjoy swimming in the warm waters here and I think it will be a harsh shock trying to swim in the Pacific again when i get home after being spoiled. I've been sleeping on the floor in David's apartment, and it's been really great of him for letting me stay there. Another girl from Santa Cruz, Diana, is also in town and i may stay a night or two at her place in the coming days.
I've talked to David about this quite a bit and I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned it in my blog a few times before as well, but being able to travel and experience all of these different places across Europe and seeing the variety of flourishing radical spaces has really inspired me and some of my friends to start serious projects in San Francisco. Radical politics in the Bay Area have been completely depressing since the war started, and it's about time to pick it up and start being an active anti-authoritarian force in society again. I've enjoyed dreaming of possibilities with David over cervesas and imagining what San Francisco could become with so many of our active friends moving into the area over the next year. It's nice to have something to look forward to on my return home. Today we plant the seeds, tomorrow the party of our lives!
Here are some new photos that I finally was able to upload. The two new sets are "Tour de France in Marseilles" and "Barcelona". I've been doing a lot of night photography during this trip, and i think a few from Barcelona have turned out rather well. The link is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30541750@N00/sets/
Adios,
-i
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2 comments:
Greatr and greatr! Can't wait to see the photos a lotta little later today. Vaya con Dios.
Love, Dad
Ian, you sure saw the Tour de France in a cententious year. Heck, you might as well enter. You'd have a good chance of winning as everyone else is gradually eliminated!
Love, Dad
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