Barcelona, an introduction.

View from the top

pool side at the ARTS Barcelona

How to sum up Barcelona? I can't, but I'll try anyway. Barcelona is… Barcelona is indefinable, and indescribably romantic. It took me a bit longer than I had original anticipated to get down to Europe's second most visited city, but looking back I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Paris cleansed my palate, and now the taste of Barcelona is all the sweeter for it. The two cities are to me a study in contrasts.  Paris is The City, there is more than a little truth to the claim that Paris is the capital of the world, Paris is serene in her majesty. Barcelona… Barcelona is alive, Barcelona hums and shivers like heat haze, it has the warmth and vitality of a living thing. Barcelona is a creature of passion.  I've only been here a handful of days, but already I find myself falling in love with with this city by the sea, with it's people, and the vibrance of the atmosphere. 

Glass and Brick 

The night before last I was sitting on my balcony overlooking an ancient, gnarled fig in the courtyard and the roofs of the gypsy slum that surrounds me. I was relishing the slight stirring of the air that might have aspired to be called a breeze, scratching out a bit of writing as dinner cooked on the stove.  To my left an impromptu family fiesta had taken off on the rooftop terrace of the neighboring building. There was music and dancing, children and young adults alike enjoying the latin music and sending their laughter on wings into the warm night. It was enough to just sit there and soak in some of their revere. At some point in their merrymaking however, they noticed me, and calling out to me, we struck up a conversation across the gap.  

Barrio 

They were Venezuelan immigrants, with patience and good hummer they worked out my ugly castilian. I told them how much I loved their music; they asked me whether I liked to dance, I told them I did but that I was not very good. They laughed and invited me to join them, an offer I accepted enthusiastically. For several hours afterwards, I added my laughter to theirs as we danced Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, and Reggaeton. They were as patient and eager to instruct with my dancing as they were with my language. Their warmth and good humor was infectious and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. I am very much looking forward to next dancing lesson with Glenda, Adonis, Jordie, Hillary, Micky, and all the rest of my new friends next door. 

Now, as I lay naked and sweating atop my sheets, clutching a frozen water bottle swaddled in a t-shirt, I smile as I wait for sleep to find me. I feel a becoming, an integration, an acceptance. Paris resonates with my soul, but Barcelona calls to my blood, I have found that there is room enough in my heart for two cities.