August 30, 2012
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(written on 7 May 2013)
Barcelona! How wonderful it is to wake up this city! It's my plan to do virtually nothing this week (apologies in advance for boring blog posts) except (roughly in this order) have breakfast in my favourite tapas place on Passeig de Gràcia, stroll through town in the morning, head to Poblenou in the early afternoon for some lazy hours on the beach, somehow work my way back to the hotel in order to freshen up and relax a bit more, and in the early evening head out again for some delicious food and then some drinks in my local gay bar just around the corner from my hotel. And that, repeated six times until it's time to go home.
When I left the hotel this morning I noticed however that I might have to adjust my plans just a bit. The sky was indeed blue but it wasn't the bright blue that comes from a lack of clouds... but rather the grey blue that comes from an abundance of clouds. I had seen the weather forecast for this week of course so it wasn't a complete surprise, but I can't say I was beside my self with joy that the weather forecasters were right about today. I walked to my breakfast place and had a wonderful breakfast anyway. The stroll through town already got interrupted as soon as I reached Plaça de Catalunya because there, on the corner with the Passeig de Gràcia, in a former bank building was an astonishingly beautiful Apple Store. I browsed all three floors of the store, thinking about the money I had gotten back from the energy company... and then still deciding against impulse buying. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if I'd visit this shop at more occasions over the next days.
When I got to my favourite coffee and lunch place, Cafe Schilling on Carrer de Ferran, I noticed that its shutters were down. That wasn't an entire surprise either. Much like the rest of Spain, Schilling closes down for the month of August and it reopens on 1 September. At least, that was what I was counting on. Looking inside through some of the shutters made my heart sink though. The place was an absolute mess and I wouldn't be surprised if Schilling had closed its doors for good. That would almost be a crime against humanity (almost) because it really is a delightful bar...
There was no point going to the beach today because, even though the sky did clear up just a bit in the afternoon, it did stay quite grey and quite chilly as well. Too bad! I will have to keep my fingers crossed that tomorrow there will be beach weather. In the evening I walked down to Plaça de Catalunya for some food but once there an enormous rain shower completely soaked the city and me. It was warm and the rain was refreshing in a way, but just not what I had wanted to see in Barcelona this time. Let's hope for better weather tomorrow.
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