After a seemingly endless hiatus, I am back on the blog grind people! It has been a little over three weeks since I last updated this bad boy and I am excited to share what we’ve seen, done, and survived over that time. So I will now attempt to pick up where I left off in early July – towards the end of Cass and my initial stay in Barcelona, Petra and Montse invited us to join them on an overnight trip up to Tossa de Mar or Tossa for short.
Tossa is a beautifully picturesque fishing town right on the beach in Costa Brava. Montse has had an apartment there for a while, so she and Petra were great hosts. Although our hosts did not agree with this comparison, to Cass and I Tossa was reminiscent of Sitges. On the late afternoon that we arrived in Tossa, we all went straight to the beach for a brief evening dip. After changing for dinner back at the apartment, we embarked on a tour-like walk around Tossa, checking out the ancient part of the town including the fortress, the main cathedral, and the highest lookout point over Tossa’s expansive coastline. We dined at one of their favorite pizzerias and then had dessert at a local bar. Upon coming back to the apartment for bed, Cass and I were dying laughing when Petra and Montse nonchalantly transformed the trundle bed into another normal-height twin bed; so we slept side by side in matching twin beds, covered in matching pink checkered sheets and pillow cases. It was quite the sight!
After beaching it right away the next morning, we returned to the apartment for Montse’s delicious lunch of seafood paella, but made the common way of Costa Brava- so with Fideo noodles. We tried some Tinto de Verano for the first time (essentially a wine spritzer branded for popular summer consumption). As a man was coming to fix a few things in Montse’s apartment, Petra, Cass, and I ventured out (dawning matching sunhats per Petra’s enthusiasm) to walk around the ancient Roman ruins just a few minutes from the apartment. I think whenever I’ve seen ancient Roman ruin sites, one of the common features that always impresses me most is the crazy mosaic tile work that they were somehow able to do even two thousand years ago.
Later that day we drove back to Barcelona and unpacked our overnight bags. We eventually got out and met Bri and Julian at Oveja Negra off Las Ramblas for a few drinks. We opted out of a sangria tower this time. A lot of friends from Bri’s ISA program were heading to Jamboree next (the live Jazz / downstairs hip-hop club in Plaza Real), so we hopped on board. I think I had only been to Jamboree once before, but it was cool; they were playing some good 90s and early 2000s hip-hop jams so I could appreciate that. Before Cass and I knew it, Bri and Julian had hit the road homeward bound, so what did we decide to do as our next action item? Why cab to Olympic of course! We proceeded to dance to Reggaeton hits till sunrise (aka when the metro re-opens). There is something unsettling about walking home from your night out when other Catalan people are getting in their morning exercise.
So that same day hours later, Taylor arrived to Barcelona! She was staying in Hostel One near Urquinaona so we just picked her up and brought her over to Petra’s. For Julian & Taylors’ last night in Barcelona (and Cass and my last night staying at Petra’s), Petra made a big dinner with guacamole and chips, salad, seafood and vegetable paella, cava, and cherries for dessert. Montse was there as well and helped make us sickly full; post eventual table push-up, we made our way to Barceloneta to hacer el botellón. Afterwards, we tried our luck with CDLC- it was cool, just not right for the moment. So we opted for across the bridge with Taylor’s inaugural Olympic experience. We all had a blast. We certainly made the most of Tay’s only night in our beloved city.
SAMHOPEHANSEN 