This is the bubble lady, have seen her a couple of times now, she goes to plazas with little outdoor restaurants and performs, making these HUGE bubbles, which the little kids try to chase. Really quite remarkable, but hard to get a good pic of....
This is how the sidewalks all look here:
Lots of little sole proprietor shops here, so not odd to find the doors locked for a bit. Actually, not odd to find shop doors locked - period. Often in the middle of the afternoon, around siesta time, and otherwise quite at random. Aka "I feel like opening the shop..." and "I feel like closing the shop..." .. this would be a hint to customers that it's not a long siesta break and it's worth hanging around for the owner's return:
This inscription appears on many of the crosswalks in the busiest (most touristed?) areas. I haven't bothered to translate it yet, but I do know it tells me that I could be dead if I don't watch out... And it is so true!
Went into the most adorable little fine candy shop the other day, attracted mostly by the beauty of the displays. This was the only pic that really turned out, but it is a good sampling of the diplays. I ended up buying 4 little white chocolates that were dreadfully cheap (maybe .60E?) and were a dozen times better than any chocolate bar...
Curiousity killed the cat, so I went in, and it's your basic "dollar store" like those we have in Canada. Remarkably, it was all the same crap, really, with the same crowded aisles and I swear the same proprietors.... I've since seen a shop called .60E which I guess is the same...
So I guess "Dunkin' Donuts" wouldn't have meant anything to the locals, but not sure "Dunkin' Coffee" means much either...
Cleaning ladies on their way home from work....
Ah, yes, the recycling... also well organized here. Every couple of blocks, especially in the residential areas, are these communal recycling bins. Though I was surprised to find that metal and plastic go together in the yellow bin here, as these must be separated in Canada. The blue is paper, and the green is glass. The odd thing here is that despite such an awesome for locals, there are virtually no recycling bins on the tourist streets, just garbage cans, so a lot of plastic bottles and cans get thrown away.
This was the oddest looking bus I'd ever seen when I snapped this pic, (a little spaceship on wheels?) though I have gotten so used them now... Rather clever mirrors, I must say...
If you're down at the beach, and can't be bothered to find a campground, or maybe it's just siesta time, why not pop the roof and tuck in right there on the promenade?
Domino's Pizza guy on a thingamajig.... (can't believe I forgot the name of these things, that were supposed to revolutionize the world, but didn't... though you can get a tour here on them)....
This bread may not make you smart but promises fun?
Tic Tacs here are called "Hit", but they taste the same...
I really do have some awesome pics of architecture, but local life was calling to me when I sat down to blog today...
Random reflections:
- I have a pedicure booked for tomorrow morning at 11am... booked in a place where they spoke no English, but we managed to communicate a time manyana. She couldn't understand my name, so she just wrote "Chica"
- Bought my first train ticket here the other night, went down to the train station with my carefully written note in Spanish, checked by Mabel, and it worked! I have my seats for my trip to Aix later this month. Not an easy place to get to from here, 2 trains and 1 bus, but it shall be an adventure just the same.
- Got lost for the first time in Barcelona the other night, it was after I left the train station, I followed my nose, which was seriously misguided, actually had fun wandering for about an hour, but as it got later and I figured I should rescue myself. As I hadn't come across any Metro stations, I grabbed the first bus that came along and sat down to figure out where it was going that I could connect up with the Metro or one of the busses to my place here... oops, I was on a bus heading out of town... got off and crossed the street to await a bus going the other way, and had my first moment of feeling a touch unsafe... I don't think I was in a bad area, but there were not many people on the streets, and I was around car dealerships in a less residential spot... so just flagged a cab and took it back to Placa de Sants near where I stay, was nice to feel like I was "back home" - had a cervesa on the plaza then made my way home...
- I have discovered that there is "bad" gelato, "good" gelato and "great" gelato. Have only had "bad" once, and the rest have been a mix of "good" and "great"... so far my favs are chocolate blanco, raspberry and lemon (the lemon in a bowl with the sweet stuff is quite the taste bud sensation), also partial to mint chocolate and fraise. Melon was bland. Haven't tried the cinnamon yet... btw, I am saving the descriptor of "awesome" gelato for Italy, as I'm told nothing compares, and I have learned not to use that term loosely (right, Bryan?) ;-)
- I adore "patatas brava" - these are potatoes cut in chunks, I think deep fried though sometimes they may be cooked in a pan, with a lovely orange Spanish paprika sauce, and sometimes mayonnaise... yum
- I will blog soon about other adventures: the Tour de France a week or so back, some Gaudi sights, an awesome art gallery, and shoes.... but for now, I have a little contract work to do, so I'd better get at it....
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