So I just read this article in the New York Times about public transportation in European cities being your best bet when traveling this summer, what with the dollar weeping softly each and every time you trade it in for that more expensive euro model. And it made me miss UBahns and subways and RERS and buses- frankly, I wasn't expecting that. I know I love public transportation, mostly because I'm a cheap ass creeper who loves to watch people, but I didn't think it'd be something I would miss.

It all goes along with my desire to assimilate as much as possible is any place, I suppose. I don't enjoy being a tourist- wearing fanny pack/money pooches, socks with sandals, speaking English loudly, and given the set menu (and not just because I don't eat meat). Public transportation puts you with the people, and makes me feel like I might actually live some place, especially if I'm figuring out the lines and such in another language. Plus, I like puzzles. And those mazes for you pencils that are on the backs of kids menus at restaurants.

I miss Europe. I'm already planning a trip back, which is pawing at becoming a trip to Lebanon, which reflects the fact that I'm working two jobs this summer, and much as I love one (Lush!) and love the tips at another (coffee!...... Dunkin Donuts), it's soul crushing. And hard. And I'm feeling the old anxiety come back. Which found me meditating last night, because my brain started freaking out and I kept fixating on baby chicken bones. Yeah. That's what OCD/anxiety is like.

I'm good though. I have an apartment for next year. A bike I'm saving up for. It stopped raining, and I'll be going for a run. This summer turned itself around nicely.

Labels: anxiety, europe, summer, transportation

When you ignore the fact that I initially set up this blog to you know, blog, as I entered and was physically in each country, it's not that bad that I'm writing about Barcelona a scant week after leaving. This time last Friday I was getting off a Ryanair jet on the tarmac of Girona airport. It was dark, and windy, and sort of strange to be walking outside when I'm supposed to flying being an inside affair- watching the planes fly over the car, watching the planes from the waiting lounges, walking through the snake thing that has a name that I can't think of but it's always impossibly long, and finally sitting inside the plane and praying you have an open seat next to you. I associate the outside with being bad, involving explosions and the movie "Alive" when the guy sitting in the very front snaps his neck and the back of the plane gets sucked out. There were a lot of random movies on TV back in my day.

In short- I would have loved to have stayed longer in Barcelona. It was absolutely gorgeous, and amazing to be someplace where I wasn't wearing a damp coat, or waiting for sunshine. However, in the 36-odd hours I was there, I saw a good bit. Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, and the soccer game we wandered into were the definite highlights. I've realized I'm the sort of traveler who enjoys just taking it easy and wandering. I'd rather rely on my sense of direction and metro maps than set itineraries and a list of notable sites.

Not to be misunderstood, I loved the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas was nice enough. I'd just rather see people interacting with their environment, than watch tourists gawk with me. If I want tourists, I can find them easily enough.

{Edit, with real (er) info}

I'm probably the wrong person to be keeping a pseudo-travel blog, because I don't really travel in that way. I summed up that up last time, but I thought I'd come back and talk about what I did love.
-watching kids playing soccer on this dusty field
-these old men who'd hobble through the parks with their wives, while kids were playing ping-pong with their fathers
-the architecture
- the kids playing in the dirt on that part of Park Guell, where you can look out and see Barcelona and the sea. That part was really lovely

Labels: barcelona, europe, photos, spain