We have lived here for 4 weeks can’t believe we are half way thru our time living here.
The things I have learned about living in the city. It’s a beautiful safe city as long as you remember you are living in a large urban area with lots of pickpockets and people who will rob you of your telephone and wallet.
Last night, we went to dinner at this great Vientamese restaurant we discovered. While having dinner, I turned and noticed this rather odd young man had joined the neighboring table. He was unkempt and bleeding from a cut next to his eye.
He was definitely not part of the large group of woman that occupied the table. In an instant, he tried to steal the telephone of the woman who was closest to him. We all were aware of him, and screamed at him to leave before he could steal her stuff. He immediately ran out of the restaurant, surprising the staff as well. As they were not expecting this person or this type of behavior at the restaurant.
In our time of living here, we are very careful where we put our bags and other stuff. Apparently robbery here in Barcelona is very common now.
The buses make announcements about holding onto your possessions as does the train. Similar to Buenos Aires, if you see a woman with an open purse, you say something.
We take the buses now. Mostly because the visual references help me connect the dots of the city; how Carrer Laietana divides the sections of old city and Gothic Quarter and how streets at certain intersections change their names.
For getting around the city quickly the Metro train is great, but for getting to know how the different districts connect, the bus is the way to go.
The Metro trains run daily until 12 am except for friday until 2am and Saturday all night long and Sunday 12am.
But the buses run very late all weekend long, but you have to watch this as the numbers change and at night start with an N. The routes are combined making long bus routes, but they do run pretty much on time.
We notice late at night when returning from a milonga that the streets of Barcelona have a mixture of people walking about.
There are the drunken Germans and Brits, speaking loudy and not walking quite upright. The beautiful and not so beautiful young girls wearing all the latest fashions from the almost invisible dresses to long flowing dresses. Quite the fashion show at 2am.
Then there are the street cleaners, the garbage trucks and the restaurants workers taking out the garbage. All cleaning up.
Am so grateful to these workers who clean up the piss and puke of the late nite party goers. If not cleaned then on a hot day the city stinks of piss.
As with any large urban city these days, there are many homeless people. They sleep under the pórticos and on the small streets. They beg for money as they do elswhere. They are drunk or high, but usually always very smelly and very dirty.
Am sure there are many different stories as to how they came to be sleeping and living on the streets.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful life we have.
We worked all our lives to enjoy these years. We have been traveling for a few years now, and continue to enjoy getting to know new cities. We love with our hearts, we think with our minds and we dance tango as we live our lives with a passion for life.
Because we know how hard life can be and how lucky we are to have made the decisions that led us discover to each other.
