Joanna and Kevin invited me to come stay with them for the weekend in Terrassa, about a 40 minute train ride from Barcelona. I appreciatively followed the very detailed directions Joanna had sent me and wound my way through the narrow streets and squares to find their flat. Joanna buzzed me in and I went to the elevator. There was an arrow pointing up, an arrow pointing down, and LL which my brain automatically and subconsciously translated to Lower Level. I pressed the up arrow and nothing happened. It turns out that LL is the button that calls the elevator and stands for that in Spanish. Up on the 8th floor their apartment looks out over Terrassa and the rolling hills beyond.
I was starstruck by the view.
We sat out on the balcony sipping wine and little cheese and meat snacks chatting and admiring the view. We all agreed that an English teacher’s salary may only be barely enough to get by, but this view was worth the sacrifice.
You can see Montserrat from the balcony.
The town and their apartment felt so much like the little place I stayed my first summer in Nuoro, Sardegna. We had a flat on the top floor of a building right next to a church where the bells delighted me on arrival and were not so delightful when they rang early in the morning. The spectacular views of roofs and balconies and mountains. My happiness with my current company and surroundings was infused with the warm memories in my past.
In Terrassa there was a festival where about 50 restaurants were celebrating tapas. They each had a specific tapa and a drink (we preferred red wine) for 2,50. Joanna and Kevin had tried 8 places on previous weeks, so they picked 3 of the best tapas (and the best pours of wine) and I picked a new place. There was a book with pictures of the tapas and a map so you could get your book stamped and you could rate each tapa as you tried them all. We were having such a great time spending time together that the time flew by. After only 2 stops, it was 11:30! Our 3rd spot had already closed so we raced to the last place to get one more tapa while it was still open. Joanna pointed out the famous Spanish (lack of) customer service and asked if I had noticed. We sat at a table and the staff would hurry around and clean the other tables before acknowledging us, taking our orders or cleaning off the table we were sitting at. I was still navigating the cultural difference and hadn’t noticed. Having worked in the service industry, I remembered the feeling of not having a minute to clear the dirty dishes between customers, and I already felt bad because I didn’t know the local behavior or the language so I had been assuming I was doing something wrong. But she was right! Why were they clearing the other tables but not ours? No tip for them! They weren’t expecting one anyway 😉
Saturday Beach Day
Saturday morning I woke up to my phone ringing which was odd. After I had taken my iphone apart to change the battery, it didn’t connect to wifi so well. It usually could only connect when my phone was sitting right next to the router. So it was a miracle that it was working when my friends called me. I answered to find my closest click of four friends all huddled together on the FaceTime screen. Ben and Carly are moving to Qatar, I’m on my own adventures, and Emily and Josh are staying in Colorado, so I thought the last time we would all be together was the going away party they threw me on my last day in Denver. Now this was their last night together and they made it so I could come too! It was 11:30pm in Denver (the peak of the party) and 7:30am in Spain (equivalent 5am since everything happens later in Spain). They “cheers”ed me with their keystone lights and switched the view to their dogs, and I showed them my view from the balcony trying not to wake my hosts. It was the best way to wake up. I love those guys and I’m still glowing with appreciation that they called me when they were all together.
A couple of hours later, our Spanish morning started. Joanna and I went to the bakery to get some fresh bread for sandwiches (but also to sneak out and get Kevin’s birthday presents- it’s hard to surprise someone when you live and work long hours with your partner). For breakfast we had fruit and yogurt and muesli and coffee. My body really appreciated all those plants and fiber. We packed our lunch, umbrella and supplies and headed to the beach.
When I had met up with Joanna and Kevin the week before and they asked me what I wanted to do, I told them how it seemed I should go to the beach, as I was in Barcelona, but I couldn’t figure out how to go alone. What would I do with my stuff? Should I leave it on the beach? Should I hold it up over my head in order to go in the sea? No, they said. We should go together– that would be a great thing to do on Saturday! It also happened to be their friend Max’s birthday and he was spending it at the beach with their friends.
I was so happy to have someone else navigating where we were going. After figuring out how to navigate different countries, different transportation systems, different ticketing procedures, different places things were labeled (like streets), it was pure bliss and relief to follow someone else around. Joanna told me that there are two regional train lines in Barcelona- the Catalan one, which is always on time and reliable, and the one that is run by the Spanish government (the one we would be taking that day) which is not. We went to a different station than the one I had come to the night before and got on the train. Most seats are sets of 2, some face sideways and some sets of 2 face each other. As we debated the difference between seas and oceans, I was surprised how happy I was to sit in one of those sets of 4 with my friends. Traveling by myself, I had seen friends sitting together and chatting as I read my book or listened to podcasts enjoying the scenery. The contrast of being with friends was really fun. We arrived at Barcelona Sants and Kevin passed a guitar over the turnstile to a friend who was borrowing it for a jam session that night and we raced to the platform to catch the R2 (the wrong train I had gotten on trying to get to the cava tour). The train was leaving in 4 minutes. Except it didn’t come. So we got on another train. That didn’t stop where we wanted to get off. So we got off at the next location and waited for a train to go back in the direction we had come from. Joanna and Kevin were a little distressed about the mishap, the wasted time and the longer journey, but I was having a great time! It wasn’t my fault, we were together, and we were only missing peak sunburn potential time on the beach!
That’s Kevin in the back holding the umbrella
The colors were beautiful. I only saw a few naked butts and a few exposed boobs, but no tourists. We snacked in the shade under the umbrella, played cards and “rounders” which is “like baseball” except the rules seem more random, swam in the cold sea and negotiated with the beer guy.
We came home to a full moon and I still couldn’t believe the view.
