Hola España!

This weekend was spent exploring the streets of Barcelona.
Tete, a traveling companion I met 5 years ago while finding my way around Nicaragua, lives just outside the city and offered to pick me up from the airport. It was great to have a familiar face and warm hug greet me after a long day of flying; connections, layovers, flight delays. Plus, it turned out booking accommodation on the fly in Spain´s most popular city isn´t the best idea. I spent about an hour calling to local hotels and no one had a single space available. When I called him from Madrid, Tete´s offer to stay at his place made the last leg of my trip not only bearable but something to look forward to.

Saturday we cruised around on his motorbike and checked out a few of the tourista highlights, but more just found ourselves taking in the city; streetside cafes, young couples walking hand-in-hand, street performers drawing crowds. The weather turned a bit in the afternoon and a much-needed light rain (the region has been somewhat of a drought this season) graced us in the afternoon.

We spent the early evening wandering the boardwalk watching the hoards of people playing beach volleyball and took in cafe con leche on a beachside cafe. That night Josh flew in from San Francisco and we finished off the evening by wandering around La Rambla and having dinner at a pizzeria owned by an Argentinian couple (friends of Tete).

Sunday we attempted a trip to Cadaques, Tete´s hometown but the combination of rental cars (3 on a motorbike is just a bit too tight) and a late start resigned us to spending the day in the city (oh, what a tragedy!). It all worked out for the best, but Tete has been encouraging me to visit his hometown since I met him 5 years ago and it´s sad to know that I won´t make it this trip. Yet that just makes another reason to come back and visit.