Stepping Foot on the 7 Continents of the World A Step at a Time

I arrived in Barcelona early in the morning of Good Friday. Sleepy-eyed travellers were walking like zombies to a city that felt deserted. I was more like a sleep deprived zombie stepping inside a taxi. The cabbie didn't speak a word of English. The chance to put my Instituto Cervantes-learned Spanish to good use invigorated me to life. It didn't matter at that time that I had no idea where my hotel was. I was just excited to speak and give directions in Spanish. The kind old cabbie didn't know where my hotel was either, which made for a pretty interesting exchange between us. I, saying something about my hotel being beside a mall, and he, insisting that he had never heard of my hotel. Yet we were able to find it. My hotel was located outside the city, at a quiet residential side. I checked in, took a bath and decided to hit the town. Seize the day! Even though I was feeling tired from my long trip. Because most everything was closed, I ended up having breakfast at Starbucks. As luck would have it, I had a sneak preview of the beautiful gene pool of the Spaniards, care of my barista who spoke no more than 2 English words. With my tummy and my oggling eyes satisfied, I was on my way to explore Barcelona. My first encounter with Gaudi was the moment I exited the metro. Imagine, walking up towards sunlight and being beholden by no less than Plau Bastillo! It was weird and beautiful at the same time. Plau Bastillo stood out because it's the only weirdly beautiful building on the block. It was at that moment I thought of my game plan. I would try to explore all of Barcelona's attractions in a day. Next stop was Las Ramblas which was truly a tourist trap. The deluge of tourists made me take a side street where I accidentally found the Barcelona Cathedral. It had so much character, compared to Notre Dame, was all I could say. The small streets in the old Centre felt like it could take you back in time, during the early days when people still rode horses around town. All around felt both modern and medieval at the same time. More walking and I felt dizzily hungry. I decided to pay a visit to a Filipino restaurant I read in TimeOut. It took me a while to find it, along the side streets of Raval, which felt kinda seedy. I finally found it, taking cue from a few Pinoys talking in Tagalog who seemed like they came from there. My lunch was composed of rice and lumpiang shanghai. It was not so much about the food that was filling, but more about the joy of speaking Filipino in a foreign land. Now, feeling rested and full, my next stop was Sagrada Familia. There's something about exiting Barcelona's meto that never fails to catch you by surprise. As I walked up again, I was at once breathless seeing Sagrada Familia in all its glory. It was like a big wedding cake. Magnificent, intricate, ostentatious. You'd think it was all a joke. Yet you'd feel Gaudi's passion in every little detail. It's inside where you'd see how colossal it will be as soon as they finish it. I was still speechless when I thought I heard my name being called out from the crowd. At first, I didn't know whether to look around or not because it just sounded so surreal to hear your name in a place where you know you know no one. I turned around and saw a friend from back home. Unf_ckingbelievable! It was just a moment of pure madness. Laughing. Talking fast in Filipino. Not minding the people around us. We met up with her friends who I also knew from back home. It was just a pleasure bumping into people you know. I was happy. I brought this feeling of euphoria with me to my last stop for the day. I headed for Hospital de Sant Pau. I liked this hospital because it looked more like a museum than a hospital. I read that it was deliberately designed in order for people to forget that they're sick by creating a sort of like haven of rest. It truly was one. Nestled in a quiet side of Barcelona, each wing had enough distance from each other giving a sense of calm and space. It was a perfect way to end my first day in Barcelona. Tired as I was, I was happy to exprience speaking Spanish, seeing good looking people, bumping into Pinoys and amazing Gaudi architecture all in one day.