Homage to Catalonia
I know I said I´d blog more regularly from Barcelona, but that was what us pissheads like to call ´optimistic´... As it turns out I have yet to experience sobriety in this place. I´m pissed now. gin and tonics in the flat...
Oh, yes, we saved a good bit o´dough here by staying with Sarah´s mate, Priscilla. So that means we´ve had more money to spend on booze. Well, I say more money, but in fact I don´t have any. Me ma checked my balance for me the other day and it turned out I had about 30c to get me thru the rest of the trip. Which, as any of my avid readers will know, consists of about a week. Notta lotta moolah. Fortunately, as my readers will also know, my folks are a soft touch. Ahem... Hi Mom!
Spain is weird. It´s different than I imagined it. For a start, most people in Barcelona don´t actually speak Spanish (or Castillano as they call it here) but they speak Catalan. Which is like the bastard child of French and Spanish - only different. I reckon it´s just being contrary. Mind you, no hablo espagnol at all so it´s all much of a muchness to me.
Things I have seen here include the Segrada Familia, which is a rather funky lookin´church designed by Gaudi. This place is like Gaudi Land. There are buildings designed by him all over the place. You can always pick them out cos they´re all bubbly.
there´s an entire park dedicated to the guy with these gingerbread-house-style buildings and it´s quite impressive. Although some of them are a bit gaudy. Geddit? Sigh... My talent is wasted in these times.
Sarah´s been doing the art galleries and I have not. I seem to still be suffering art fatigue. Or else it´s just that I don´t really give a damn apart from the Dali Museum in Figueras (goin´there tomorrow, Hurrah!). There was a ´Dali exhibition´ in Parc Guell (the Gaudi place) but when I went in it turned out to be nothing more than a few photos of the guy in the park. I would´ve demanded my 4€ back, but I don´t know how to say ´rip-off bastard´in Spanish.
Aside from the lack of art I´ve been seeing there are some really great bars. There´s an Irish bar (groan...) called the Dubliner which is just shabby enough to get away with being cool. The owner, Steve, is from Ballymun and he´s kinda funny. It´s only been open about a year, so he hasn´t got that snooty barman thing going on yet.
Also, there´s the Champagneria, where they serve nothing but Cava, which is the local equivalent of champagne. It´s an amazing bar. You have to get two things to eat with each bottle of cava, but that´s ok because the sambos are fucking great and the entire round costs less than a fiver. Yes, less than a fiver. We were there last night and we had, between 5 of us, 7 bottles and various tapas and it came to 38€ altogether. That is not only cheap, that is incredible...
Tonight we´re off to the Chupitoria, which is a shots bar. Priscilla´s boyfriend was saying last night we should go because all shots are only €1 on Tuesdays. When I asked how much they are on Wednesdays he told me €1.50. I can´t quite get my head around it, but it appears to be true...
Oh, and for any Francophiles out there, the verb ´to go to the cinema´in French is cinématiser.
And to wrap this all up, I got a bottle of rice liquor yesterday which has, in the bottle, two lizards. they are real, they are in my bottle, it is 30% and it cost €6.50. I may buy another before I leave. I was very impressed. And so will you be when I get home and show it to yiz...
Oh, yes, we saved a good bit o´dough here by staying with Sarah´s mate, Priscilla. So that means we´ve had more money to spend on booze. Well, I say more money, but in fact I don´t have any. Me ma checked my balance for me the other day and it turned out I had about 30c to get me thru the rest of the trip. Which, as any of my avid readers will know, consists of about a week. Notta lotta moolah. Fortunately, as my readers will also know, my folks are a soft touch. Ahem... Hi Mom!
Spain is weird. It´s different than I imagined it. For a start, most people in Barcelona don´t actually speak Spanish (or Castillano as they call it here) but they speak Catalan. Which is like the bastard child of French and Spanish - only different. I reckon it´s just being contrary. Mind you, no hablo espagnol at all so it´s all much of a muchness to me.
Things I have seen here include the Segrada Familia, which is a rather funky lookin´church designed by Gaudi. This place is like Gaudi Land. There are buildings designed by him all over the place. You can always pick them out cos they´re all bubbly.
there´s an entire park dedicated to the guy with these gingerbread-house-style buildings and it´s quite impressive. Although some of them are a bit gaudy. Geddit? Sigh... My talent is wasted in these times.
Sarah´s been doing the art galleries and I have not. I seem to still be suffering art fatigue. Or else it´s just that I don´t really give a damn apart from the Dali Museum in Figueras (goin´there tomorrow, Hurrah!). There was a ´Dali exhibition´ in Parc Guell (the Gaudi place) but when I went in it turned out to be nothing more than a few photos of the guy in the park. I would´ve demanded my 4€ back, but I don´t know how to say ´rip-off bastard´in Spanish.
Aside from the lack of art I´ve been seeing there are some really great bars. There´s an Irish bar (groan...) called the Dubliner which is just shabby enough to get away with being cool. The owner, Steve, is from Ballymun and he´s kinda funny. It´s only been open about a year, so he hasn´t got that snooty barman thing going on yet.
Also, there´s the Champagneria, where they serve nothing but Cava, which is the local equivalent of champagne. It´s an amazing bar. You have to get two things to eat with each bottle of cava, but that´s ok because the sambos are fucking great and the entire round costs less than a fiver. Yes, less than a fiver. We were there last night and we had, between 5 of us, 7 bottles and various tapas and it came to 38€ altogether. That is not only cheap, that is incredible...
Tonight we´re off to the Chupitoria, which is a shots bar. Priscilla´s boyfriend was saying last night we should go because all shots are only €1 on Tuesdays. When I asked how much they are on Wednesdays he told me €1.50. I can´t quite get my head around it, but it appears to be true...
Oh, and for any Francophiles out there, the verb ´to go to the cinema´in French is cinématiser.
And to wrap this all up, I got a bottle of rice liquor yesterday which has, in the bottle, two lizards. they are real, they are in my bottle, it is 30% and it cost €6.50. I may buy another before I leave. I was very impressed. And so will you be when I get home and show it to yiz...
posted by Stephen McMullin at 8:54 pm
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