First Impressions

So this morning I arrived in Helsinki, Finland at 4.30 am., and my first thought was...............WOW!!! How Clean!!!! Then got right on a ferry for Estonia and same reaction, WOW!!!How Clean!!!!

Not sure what that says about Barcelona, maybe that even though there is always people cleaning Barcelona the city is always dirty! But it is still home and I love it.

Ps. Typing on this keyboards in weird....I have no idea what to do with these other letters!

BBQ with friends

Yesterday, I went to my first BBQ in Spain. I needed it so much! Although it wasn't the first time I BBQ'd in Spain......that's another story!

It was at my friend Santi's mothers house about 20 minutes outside of the city. Being in a smaller town, completely residential, backed up by a forest with a big yard and lots of plants and trees made it the perfect setting. The food was excellent and the company even better. The day was your typical gathering with people from all over the world. Santi's mother and her two friends were so much fun to speak with and listen to their stories. As they went back and forth from speaking Spanish and Catalan, I realized that my comprehension of Catalan keeps getting better and I find a lot of gratification in that.

One more very memorable day in Spain!

A massage less WHAT?!?!!

It only took all summer.....but I finally went topless. Although there was a trade-off! I got a great full body massage from a Chinese lady for 15 Euro, but since there is no sheet to cover up with you end up topless. Guess what? It wasn't bad and I think I like it. Hey, my boobs were so white compared to the rest of my body it probably looked like I was wearing a white bikini top. Hahahahah! I've converted, I think I am now officially European.

Ignorance is Bliss

As I approached the beach this morning, a little later than usual, I was taken by how calm the water appeared. I get in and it is a nice cool temp (for the med) and the visibility is incredible. I swim out to the buoy and once out there take advantage of the solitude and quite. Quiet is not something you get much of in a city like Barcelona, and being out a couple hundred meters from the beach gives that too you.

After a couple of minutes of just floating, I hear someone near by and it is a young kid on a wind surfboard. When I look ahead of me, I see a jellyfish. Ok no problem I swim away from it. Then the kid says, "I've seen a lot of jelly fish, be careful" and then proceeds to point out the one I was swimming towards. Ok time to head back to the beach.....as I put my head in the water I realize they are all over the place.

Fuck, I just knew I was going to get stung. I do not know how I managed to swim out that far, spend 5 minutes floating around and not stung. I slowly maneuvered my way back to the beach and made it without incident. I talked to my old people a little bit until Marta got to the beach, needless to say se didn't swim out to the buoy this morning either.

I hope they are gone tomorrow I missed my morning swim!