Last Stop: Barcelona

So the last stop on my 4 week tour was Barcelona.

A beautiful, cosmopolitan, Spanish city!

Luckily, I got a gig, and found a couch to surf!

While I was in Ireland, I asked my hosts, the Henry Girls if they knew anyone in Barcelona. They put me in touch with Anna Morely – a very talented Australian vibraphone player who has been living in Barcelona for quite some time. Anna set up a show at club called “Bar Fantastico.” They host intimate shows in the lounge, and Dominick, the owner, really believes in supporting touring independent musicians. Anna also plays with an Irish ukulele player named Ciara – so we had a nice female musician connection and learned a couple songs to play together. I will be posting a youtube video of our collaboration. Our gig was well attended and the crowd was kept very quiet while we were playing.

Anna and Ciara

Bar Fantastico

I spent many days in Barcelona soaking in the architecture. I went to see the two “must see” Gaudi monuments – La Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell – they were both much more deep and rich and complex than I could begin to absorb. I also enjoyed the charming Gothic quarter. And I saw some of the more recently developed cosmopolitan areas, too. The architect in me had always wanted to visit Barcelona, so it was wonderful to finally have that dream come true. Though, there was too much to see, so I am going to have to return.

veiw of Barcelona from one of La Sagrada Familia's spires

Park Guell

Gaudi!

I have finally officially surfed my first couch through Couchsurfers. Al-berto was my host – he lives in a comfy flat with two cats, and it was so nice to be his guest for 3 days. Al was a great host; he made me dinner, and invited me to tag along with him and his friend Sylvia. We had a lot to talk about, and it was great seeing the city through a local’s eyes. Although Al is fluent in English, he and his friends often spoke Catalan while I was with them – I realized how different it is than Spanish!

My last three nights were spent at the Kabul Hostel. It made me very glad that I found homey, free places to stay with friends almost my entire trip! I am much more interested in playing music, and connecting with other musicians and locals than being a tourist.

One thing I found really lovely in Barcelona was the community bicycle program! My Couchsurfing host, Al, let me use his pass and explained how it works. People in the city pay an annual subscription fee (I think it’s only 30 Euro a year,) and then they check out a bike at an automated kiosk at one of the many “Bicing” stations around the city. Users get to ride one bike for free for 30 minutes at a time. Then the bike should be checked into another Bicing station or an extended ride fee is charged to the user. It was so fun to ride around the city, and get to use one of their cute bikes!

Barcelona's Progressive "Bicing" program!

I have been thinking a lot about how this is just the beginning of creating my European fan base – I will need to return to make this trip worth all the effort. If I don’t go back and continue to play in the communities that I connected with, I will never reap the benefit of all the seeds I have sewn. So I’m already starting to think about next year.

and so the adventure continues....