Today started like any other, who knew by the end of the day, one of us would be less innocent than he was when the day began. They always say life changing events happen on otherwise normal days and today was no different.
To make up for a heavy day of walking the day before, we decided to sleep in a bit today and catch breakfast just before it closed up. Despite the late rise, we were still moving pretty slow and didn’t end up leaving the hotel until well after 11.
Cue the dramatics.
We decided today would be our “History Day,” comprised of museums and art galleries important to Barcelona’s history and subsequent future. The first stop was the Barcelona History Museum, focusing on the early days of Barcelona, which required a quick jaunt through the La Rambla Catalunya. Up until this point, we had not set foot in La Rambla and were a bit tentative to do so given the large crowds and apparent “Please pick-pocket me” vibe the place gave off. For a cool museum though, we decided to be brave.
Just as Jeff stepped off the bus, we discovered he had a date with destiny. As he began to make his way off the bus ramp, an older woman of unknown origin and ethnicity started walking toward him, reaching out. At first, Jeff thought she was going to try and grab the joystick on his chair and when she instead grabbed his arm, he was relieved. This relief would quickly turn to horror, as she began stroking his arm seductively before grabbing his head and planting a huge wet kiss on his cheek. After sharing this beautiful moment, she walked away, disappearing into the crowd without saying a single word. Asked later, Jeff explained the only thought going through his head was “Well, this is happening, I can’t stop it, let’s hope it’s over soon.” Clara and Melody had a much different reaction, barely stifling their laughter until we got to an alley way where they burst out laughing for a solid 5 minutes. Jeff thinks they peed their pants a little. Jeff also wishes he could blame it on his raw animal magnitism or how great he is with the ladies, but frankly, it was creepy, weird and beyond words.
Wait, what if she put a curse on him?!?! Do Spanish women do the kiss of death?? Beso de la meurte??
After gathering our composure and making sure we hadn’t been robbed in the process, we were onward to the history museum. As it turns out, all of the museums we decided to visit today were in the Gothic Quarter, presenting us with something a bit more like “Europe” that we see in movies; narrow pathways, cobble-stone roads, and a ton of little shops offering both awesome and terrible merchandise. This was also our first experience with really, really dense crowds (composed mostly of tourists), which was interesting.
As stated earlier, our first stop of the day was the Barcelona History Museum, which featured some of the original ruins of Barcino, the city modern day Barcelona was literally built upon. It was neat seeing the foundations of the old city and hearing about the ancient culture. We learned that all the people of Barcino did was make garum, some sort of paste out of fish guts, and drink a ton of wine. All in all, an admirable existence. Following this historical look, the museum was also showing a very cool exhibit about the modernization of Barcelona in the 1890s, which the city-planner in Jeff found extremely interesting. Loser.
We spent an extremely long time at the museum, because there was so much to see, that we decided to have a late lunch before heading over to the Picasso Museum. After wandering around the narrow roads of the Gothic Quarter, we finally found a cute little tapas bar that featured an unplanned and unintentionally hilarious Segway exhibition before the tourists heading out on a tour around the Gothic Quarter. Nothing says “mug me!!” in Barcelona like riding around on a Segway.
If yesterday was the day of inaccessibility, today was the day of giving thanks to the disabled gods. Much like the Sagrada, the Picasso Museum offered Jeff free admission and reduced rates for both Clara and Melody and they let us skip the line. Good, because Jeff doesn’t do lines. The museum was quite interesting, although there were some cringe-worthy moments when Jeff and Clara snickered at some of the lewd drawings. Melody is much more mature than we are.
If Picasso wasn’t enough, we decided to finish out the day with a trip to the Disseny Hub, which featured some very cool exhibits on design work being done in Barcelona. One such exhibit was on the evolution of wallpaper, which despite how it might sound, was quite engaging. Our favourite part was the “interactive” section, which Clara branded for us nicely.
Alas, the day was finally beginning to catch up with Clara and Melody and it was time to pack it in. After strolling through the Placa Catalunya and struggling to find a bus home, we finally made it back in time for a quick bite from a local bar and head back to our room to relax and plan tomorrow.
Clara and Melody are probably beginning to wish they too had wheelchairs.
– Jeff and Clara