The Rain in Spain

Hola de Barcelona, where it's grey and cloudy. The rain in Spain inspired Audrey Hepburn to burst into song, but I have not felt the same desire.

I arrived in Madrid a little later than expected because of the volcano, but that was ok because I met some really nice musicians. I was sitting next to this band on the plane and we chatted for the whole flight. They're called the Skatalites; I'd never heard of them before but apparently they're a big deal.

From Madrid I caught the train to Salamanca, where I stayed with my good friend Juan and his family. Juan's mother is not quite five feet tall and she's really cute. She is also an amazing cook and she took it upon herself to ensure that I sampled all the dishes of Spain. Any weight I may have lost has surely been regained. Juan showed me around old Salamanca and introduced me to the delightful Spanish custom of taking canas y pinchos at random times during the day. Canas are small servings of beer - about a glassfull - and pinchos are a small snack, like fried cheese or bread with tomato, that comes with the cana. The Spanish indulge in this custom any time they feel like it, so basically you can drink all morning in Spain and nobody judges you.

After a few days in Salamanca and an afternoon in Madrid, I hopped on a plane to Barcelona where I met my dad. It was so great to see him! We stayed in this little apartment in the trendy Gothic Quarter, where we bore witness to the fact that Barcelona never sleeps. The week passed in a pleasant blur. Pavement was pounded, sights were seen, and art appreciated. My favourite things about Barcelona were La Rambla and its market, the Gaudi houses, and the tapas.

La Rambla is the place to meet the weird and the wonderful, and even the famous. I met Michael Jackson, Edward Scissorhands, Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Nutty Professor, and many fairytale princesses. You just never know who will dress up as what. There were some street performers dressed as demons who managed to hover above the pavement. I couldn't figure out how they did it. It was really cool.

The market is a swirling bustle of colour and noise that opens off La Rambla. The front part is full of fruit and candy while the fish-mongers are at the back. Did you know there are three different sizes of octopus? And that a tuna's head weighs as much as I do? The market was like Granville Island on steroids.

Gaudi was a renowned and imaginative architect from Barcelona, and even if he weren't from Barcelona they would probably tell you that he was. (Aside: they claim that anyone famous is from Barcelona, even Christopher Columbus, who was Italian). Gaudi lived during the golden years of the fin-de-siecle. This period was marked by Barcelona's industrialization and the rise of modernism - a cultural movement which sought to cast off all things related with the 19th century. The nouveau-riche were looking for nouveau houses to demonstrate their wealth. Enter Gaudi. The bourgeois hired him to build them houses that would stand out from all their neighbours' and gave him a blank cheque. The results were spectacular. My favourite house was Casa Batllo, which was constructed without a single straight line. Walking in the front door feels like entering a magical underwater realm. I wanted to live there.

And the tapas... oh, the tapas! Spanish tapas are so good! Dad and I decided to be adventurous and try the All You Can Eat Tapas restaurant. We rolled each other home, but it was worth it.

After our week was over my dad went home and I boarded a flight to Berlin. Onwards to the land of bratwurst!