On Monday, our family got on the train and went to check out the famous Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas.
As usual, my ten-year-old twins insisted they did not want to leave our apartment in Sitges and go into Barcelona. I reminded them that they often tell me they don’t want to do things, but end up having fun anyway. Finally, we were able to drag them out of the house and down the hill to the train station.
Our new tradition has become that, if the girls have to walk somewhere, they don’t mind so long as I tell them a story. In order to be able to tell the girls stories, I have to make sure I am reading books. I recently read Jodi Picoult’s Handle with Care, as it was lying around our rented apartment. So, I recounted to the girls the story of how a severely disabled girl’s mother had to make a decision as to whether or not she should sue her best friend, an obstetrician, for wrongful birth. Not exactly a children’s story, but they seemed to like it anyway.
I continued the story as we rode the train into Barcelona. We got off at Sants and transferred trains to take the train directly to Plaza Catalunya. When we finally got to the plaza, the girls were more than pleased to see that the Plaza is full of pigeons. Now, I know pigeons are dirty little creatures, but my kids absolutely love feeding them, and especially, feeding them from their hands if they can. So, I let them do it, but insist they wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.
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| Plaza Catalunya |
After an hour or so of feeding pigeons, we made our way down Las Ramblas. The kids did not want to leave the pigeons, but I promised them there would be human statues on Las Ramblas, so they consented. On Las Ramblas, there were several human statues, as well as little stands that sell pets. That should have been more than enough entertainment for the kids, but they really wanted to go back and see the pigeons. After eating gofres (waffles), ice cream and granizado (frozen lemonade), we decided that my husband, Nando, would take the kids back to the pigeons, while I explored a bit of Las Ramblas myself.
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| Quatre Gats: Placa Reial |
They made their way back, and I went down Las Ramblas, stopping off at Placa Reial to have a look at one of Gaudi’s creations: the Quatre Gats, and then making my way down to the old port. As I walked around by myself, I was taken back to my early twenties, when I used to travel around alone and explore European cities. I strolled along the streets of Barri Gotic, and it was just like old times, except for that I took note of where all the playgrounds were, with the intention of bringing the kids back to them later.
When I got back to the Plaza Catalunya, the girls continued to be fully entertained by the pigeons. Nando had found some musician friends, and they were playing songs together on one of the benches. I stood by Nando to listen to the music, while keeping an eye on the girls. Listening to Nando and his newfound friends play “Moliendo Café” took me back to all the times we have hung out in Latin America and gotten together to play music. I don’t play any instruments myself, but love those moments of spontaneous music and dance.
While we were singing and dancing, there was something else going on in Plaza Catalunya. This happens to be the place where the youth protestors have taken over. At 7pm, the protestors announced that they would get together in small groups and come up with proposals. I sat near a group that was discussing the external debt. The conversation was in Catalan, but I understood enough to learn that there was an argument going on between the majority who thought Spain should default on the debt and take care of its people, and one older person who insisted that was an unrealistic proposal.
The youth protestors have really set themselves up in the Plaza Catalunya, with a variety of stands focusing on different issues, a kitchen, and an information booth. I found most impressive the way they have laid boards on trees to sleep in. They also have strung a huge net between trees where several people can sleep.
In addition to the protestors, the musicians, and the vendors, there are also homeless people who live in the Plaza. I wondered to myself how the takeover of the Plaza by the youth has affected the homeless people who used to stake out the Plaza as their own. To me, it seemed as if the homeless people and the protestors seemed to keep apart. There didn’t seem to be much interaction between them. The sociologist in me became very curious about what happens to people when they find themselves in the streets all day every day, and what new social relations and divisions occur. I didn’t stay long enough to figure it all out, just long enough to realize that it would be interesting to explore.
Eventually, we all got hungry and I wanted to try one of the small restaurants with a terrace in Barri Gotic. We found one that looked reasonable. Nando and I ordered a fideau with seafood and got a pizza for the kids. The food was decent, but unremarkable. I did enjoy my glass of cava and Nando his glass of red wine. Now, we were fully tired and it was time to take the train back home to Sitges.
It was a long ride, made longer by the fact that we took the metro instead of the train back to Sants, missed the fast train, and got back too late to take a bus up the hill. We made it up the hill back to our house with a story. I had told the children all the stories I had read, so had to make up a story to get us back up the hill. I had no idea what I would say, but got to talking and was able to weave a tale that kept them from complaining about walking 2 kilometers up a hill at 11pm.
Once home, we all easily fell asleep until the next morning.
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| Raymi and the Pigeons |
