I Went To Barcelona And My Mind Got Changed

Yes, the title is another lyric from Rosanne Cash's brilliant song, "Modern Blue."  And yes, when we were having a glass of wine at night at the apartment after dinner, this song always came up first on my iTunes shuffle (okay, I always played it, but it's the best song I know with Barcelona in the lyrics).

When we would tell people we were going to spend a month in Barcelona, we got a lot of "whys" from people (clearly, they had NOT been to Barcelona!).  

In response, Carol half-joked that this would be her Study Abroad, as she graduated from American University in just three years and never spent a semester overseas.  I would point out that we will likely never live overseas, as much as we would like to, but the realities of life make it not an option.

So, spending a month immersing ourselves in a city seemed the next best thing.  We were considering London or Paris, but two years ago, I was struck by the notion that we love Spain so much, that we should go to Barcelona (sorry, Madrid is over-rated).

If you have couldn't tell, the trip exceeded our expectations.  And we had HIGH expectations for it.  We loved it so much, sometimes we would look at each other in disbelief on how well it was going.  Barcelona is an amazing city, we had a great apartment with a fabulous location, and we enjoyed 95% of what we did.  

The beaches, the bars, the tapas, El Born/Ribera, Barri Gotic, modernisme, Gaudi, the churches old and Sagrada Familia, the Fire Walk, the human towers, going to an FC Barcelona soccer match, day trip to Girona, the Cathedral, Montjuic, the two monasteries, the Priorat wine tour, La Boqueria, La Ramblas, the weather, and so much more.

Faithful readers of the blog know that my daughters christened me "the Iron Tourist" years ago.  I wear that moniker with pride.  This trip was probably peak Iron Tourist.  Before going, I had typed up pages for each neighborhood in Barcelona with things to do and restaurants to try.  We probably only hit 90% of the stuff on the list, and I'm okay with that.  The goal was never to do 100% of the list, but it was to never be at a loss on what to do on any particular day.  Feel free, if you are going to Barcelona, to request my lists -- you'll find them very, very helpful.

There's no more fun restaurant experience than a great tapas bar.  It wasn't go-go-go all the time.  We wiled away plenty of hours at our beach side Chiringuito bar.  Even when we had no plans, just getting and wandering the cobblestone narrow streets of El Born and Barri Gotic was a thrill.  Going five different times to Sagrada Familia led to new discoveries each time.

I'm not sure we could ever top, or even match this magical month in Barcelona.  And that's okay, because we're going to darn well try.  Thank you Barcelona.  Living the Barcelona life was living our best life.