Treasure Hunting 5/13/08

When morning came, I slept in until everyone had used the bathroom to get ready for school and work. I didn't want to make anyone late for anything because they were waiting on me to get out of the bathroom. Plus, I didn't have any kind of deadline to meet today or anything. After everyone had gotten themselves ready for the day, then I too got ready. I decided the first thing I should do is make use of the internet here, and upload some pictures. I got to doing this, however the internet was just unusually slow, so I figured I'd just do like I did in Hungary and leave the camera there to keep loading pictures till the battery runs out.

Xavi showed me some great places on the map to look for cool shops, and antique stores. Liz pointed out a museum she thought was pretty amazing, but she couldn't find it on my really crappy map. She gave me sort of a general area, and I told her I'd find it. Liz invited me to make myself a bowl of cereal and then headed off to work. Havi had pulled out his laptop, and seemed to be working from there, but I'm not sure because I didn't want to disturb him. Once I finished breakfast, I too headed out into the city.

Because of last night, I became overly paranoid about everything in my pockets when I got out onto the street. Every 5 seconds or so, I felt around inside them, and went over a quick checklist in my mind. I didn't stop to say hello to anyone, nor answer anyone calling to me on the street regardless of knowing very well that what happened the night before was not going to repeat itself out here in broad daylight. The worst you get in these crowded city streets in the day, are the sticky finger types. So I maintained to stay away from large crowds, and close quarters.

Throughout the day I went cruising through the shops. Barcelona has some amazing places to look through. Everything from All Natural jewelry shops to Sword and Gun replica stores. There's pretty much a whole back alley dedicated to Antique shops as well. There are so many little treasures lying around in a Barcelona Antique shop. One day I want to come back here with lots of money and a giant suitcase, and start a museum back home. I found old medieval swords and conquistador helmets, metals from basically every war in history, old music boxes, sewing machines, and telephones. There were stores with old clothes dating all the way back to like the 17th century, and furniture dating back even farther than that.

In each one I asked if they had that special compass I was looking for, and for hours every place I asked said they had no idea where to find something like that, and then passing by one store off the beaten path, I found it! It was the perfect size and shape that I was looking for. It looked old and warn, as if it's been used for decades, centuries even. I made sure it worked, and it did, perfectly. I looked at the price, and even that was just about what I was looking for, and I was even able to haggle it down a little more. I finally have a compass to tell me where I'm headed. I felt relieved, and like I'd completed some huge task set before me. I found another little shop and bought a cheap silver (not real silver) chain and hung the compass around my neck. The rest of the day I used my compass to figure out where I was going, and I felt a little less lost in a giant world.

Periodically throughout the day, I checked back at the apartment to see how far along the pictures were, but they were moving slower than Molasses. I also looked for that museum Liz told me about, but I couldn't seem to find it. I found some other museums, but I didn't go through them because I didn't want to pay admission if I wasn't really interested in Barcelona's Naval history, or patron Artist; and as far as archeological museums go, the really good ones are the Royal British Museum in London, the Cairo Museum in Egypt, and perhaps the Athens Museum in Greece. I didn't really feel Barcelona would much compete with any of those. However, I didn't really seem to need the big attractions. I had such a great time today just discovering places I'd never been, and even going back through some of the places I had, but hanging around a little longer and enjoying my time there differently.

That night, Liz told me about a local bar where she said all the backpackers go to hang out and unwind. It's called L'Ovella Negra (The Black Sheep). It's near the main road, but off through some backstreets and winding alleys. It took me a little while to find it, but I was so glad I did. It's really a cool place. It looks like an old Spanish bar, like one they might have had in the middle ages, but it has modern things too like a pool table, darts, pinball, and a smoking lounge. I bought a pint of San Miguel and relaxed at a big old wooden table.

After I'd finished my pint, I found my way back to the apartment ready for a good sleep.

In the morning I planned to catch a train to Madrid. The train I want arrives there at just after 12 noon. So tomorrow I'll be in Madrid.
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