I have hilariously walked in circles in this city, but today I walked in spirals! Spirals that wound up and up and up. My mission was to reach the glowing golden spired building that beckons me every night. I felt pretty confident I could find it by wandering; after all, it is up on a hill so can’t get lost behind anything. There it is in the distance.
What I didn’t realize is that there were three significant hills between it and me. This sounds dumb, as one wonders why I couldn’t see these hills, but the surprising valleys between ridges unfolded as I ambled. Up. I swear I walked the equivalent of about 6 Queen Annes. And 15 literal kilometers. The ironic thing, in this city where stores stay open (once it reopens after closing down at 2:00 p.m.) until 9 or 10 p.m., is that when I finally, finally reached the funicular that would take me up the final slope, it was CLOSED! Razafrazarats.
But the walk back down took me by more beautiful Barcelona buildings and interesting shops. Five hours later I made it home and immediately became horizontal. Check out these amazing posters by Angele Etoundi Essamba that were along La Rambla . . .
My last few days here . . . I am eating everything I love every day, as much as possible, and walking every neighborhood I like and those I haven’t yet explored, and revisiting all my favorite libraries for a last few days of quiet work before tasks erupt out of my worklife as explosively as the ash from the unpronounceable/unspellable Icelandic volcano. Anyway, I am reluctant to leave. I understand why Kira never wants to come home.
This is the stairway in one of my favorite libraries, Casa Asia.
And a fun statue in a nearby park:
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