Give Me Barcelona

I know I've already posted about how much I love Barcelona.  I don't even care if I sound like a broken record at this point.  I adore this city.  It's something I'll probably say a lot here, just because I can.  Because I can, because there are very few people who would even dare to argue with me on this, because there's really no point to arguing.

Paris bored me.  Rome annoyed me.  But Barcelona...Barcelona I got lost in.  Literally and figuratively.  Barcelona is, so far, the only city I have had plans be ruined in and still hasn't ruined my experiences.  In between running down the Passeig de Gràcia to find a bathroom and finally ending up at the Rodalies station in Plaça Catalunya where none of the stalls had toilet paper and shrugging it off later on to spend some time at the beach with my friends the first five days I spent there in 2008 to the time I got on the wrong tram and ended up in Sant Adrià del Besòs where I sat waiting for another tram for twenty minutes in front of the Centre Tèrmic (that building with the three smokestacks) the day after buying new shoes and deciding to wear them out as I did some exploring.  Not only did I also get on the wrong tram, on the way back into the city when I'd finally gotten to where I thought I needed to be, I got lost in Poblenou because I'd gone south instead of north.

And then I got creeped on in the Parc de la Ciutadella at the end of a very long day by a guy who decided he was going to speak to me in Catalan when I admitted to speaking the language...and not leaving me alone when I insisted I could find my way back on my own (I guess I should really create a story for myself in case this happens again).  When my feet killed me the next day, I braved the pain and headed off to Terrassa for the second time.

I'm convinced nothing can go wrong for me there that can ruin my experience.

Go ahead, try it.

I could probably get robbed at the Urquinaona metro stop or in the Raval and I will still come out and say "Well, at least I got robbed in Barcelona!" and then when I finally get replacement crap, I'll always remember that I got that replacement crap because I got robbed in Barcelona, and will be okay with it.

That doesn't mean I'm actually going to try to get myself robbed there, though.  I've only been to Urquinaona twice and I was on the metro car the entire time; never entered the station.  Never been to the Raval either.  I also tend to avoid the touristy areas like the plague, unless it's the Passeig de Gràcia and Plaça Catalunya.  Like when I ran into the Plan Internacional guys in front of the Fnac Triangle who seemed shocked when they found out I spoke Spanish.

Good times.