were you wondering? the last entry i wrote included a cliffhanger - we were going somewhere for my 30th birthday and i didn't know where. so were you curious? or did you already figure it out, maybe cheat and sneak a peak at seth's photos. i could hardly blame you. we are taking a long time to talk about it. and now i'm prolonging it even more. and now even more. okay enough.
through some schedule changes, i was able to secure an extended weekend, from friday january 20th to monday the 23rd. the only clue seth gave me was the time that the train was supposed to leave - 10:30am. should i bring a swimsuit? maybe. should i bring a winter jacket? sure.
did we rush to the station?, you wonder. we did a little bit, yes. but then we sat down in the train car with five minutes to spare. and in those five minutes seth gave me two presents to unwrap. the first, a coupland book, "to read on our long ride"; the second a lonely planet guidebook, en francais, to barcelona, spain.
it was a long train ride. the first leg was about seven hours through the south of france on the t.e.r., the slow train. we did not mind much; the scenery was lovely. it was not lush, it had a high desert quality to it. and there was graffiti, lots of it, most of it improving the train sides and industrial areas it decorated. we saw goats, sheep, horses, and vinyards. the buildings would change from familiar french Mediterranean architecture, red tiled roofs over beige stucco buildings, to spanish mediterranean architecture, which was very similar but more strikingly archetypal, more starkly contrasted, more dried up and rich. when that first stretch was over we found ourselves in port bou, spain.
******
this was the station where we would catch the local train into barcelona, but that wouldn't be for 2 hours. so we took our bags down a flight of stairs to the entrance of the station. it is good that we did not exit too quickly, lest we fall down a steep, long flight of stairs outside the doorway. the station was atop a big hill; the town was carved into a mountain along side the sea. we walked a small horizontal path alongside the station that led to a statue, a bench and vista area patrolled by feral black and white cats.
the best description of the town is windswept romantic. every section of the panorama belonged on the cover of a pulpy romance; seth belonged in a bullfigher regalia and me in an off-the-shoulder peasant dress. our drama would be the train is coming.... too soon... will we ever... meet (the town) again?
******
the train that would take us to barcelona is a new commuter rail. it is like a max, but with uncomfortable seating, and the ride is two and a half hours long. it is a train etap. we get to the central station and then we hop on the subway and then viola! we are at la rambla! the main street in barcelona where our humble hotel is located, the pension dali...
