Lost & Found in Girona

Today is Saturday and in this moment I am drinking an afternoon black coffee, eating "un trozo de pulpo" aka a piece of cooked squid, and slowly waking up for the start of the weekend. I'm seated at the bar of a cafeteria style restaurant called Confiteria which is  a neighborhood eating spot for Murcian locals who live in the area of Vista Alegre. Vista Alegre is where my friend Lola's house is located and this has been my temporary residence since coming back to Murcia. 

Over a week ago I was watching the sunrise in an ALSA bus, writing in this blog, preparing to meet up with a waiting BlaBla driver in Alicante, then share a ride up along the coast. Originally the idea was to head north and spend two nights in Girona, a couple more in Barcelona, and a few days reserved for a flight to Portugal with Lisbon being the destination. Upon returning back to Murcia this past Wednesday I ended up spending an extra day in both Girona and Barcelona, then electing to come back early in order to spend time at the elementary school Vicente Medina instead of visiting Portugal. Vicente Medina was a second school where I worked last year and it was the first time seeing everyone there in over seven months. 

Laura was the main reason for me making the trip to Girona because she is a good friend from Couchsurfing. This was the first time that we had actually "met" each other because we had for the past few years only been long distance language exchange pen-pals. She is currently studying abroad in Girona and this was the only window of free time that she had from studying to meet up. It was great seeing her and she did an awesome job of playing the role of tour guide. 

Girona is a small city that sits about an hour north of Barcelona. The primary language spoken there is Catalan and the only time I heard people speaking Spanish was when they were directly speaking to me or Laura. Catalan is the first language spoken for people of Cataluña, the autonomous region in Spain where Girona is located. It is famous for their heavy desire to gain independence from the rest of the country. Red, yellow and blue banners hung from countless narrow balconies in support of their region and people greeted each other with "Bon Dia" or "Merci."  

Despite bring considerably smaller than Murcia, Girona boasts some spectacular views and offers a great deal of sites for travelers to visit. I stayed at Room in Girona Backpackers which sits along the waterfront of the Oñar River. The historical part of the city is disected by the Oñar and some beautiful pictures can be taken along any of the numerous bridges that serve as walkways for a consistent flow of foot traffic. Two bridges that are really interesting are Stone Bridge (Puente de Piedra) and Eiffel Bridge (Puente de Hierro) which was built by the same company that constructed Paris' Eiffel Tower. Girona also has a very beautiful cathedral, gardens, lion monuments, restaurant scene around Plaza de la Libertad, and a fortified wall passageway along it's Barri Vell also known as historical district. Girona doesn't have as active a nightlife as Murcia, however a few places like Solero or König are good for a evening out in the town. Girona is also nice due to its easy access to small yet very interesting cities such as Figueras or Besalú. 

I didn't expect to have such a good time in Girona, and I also didn't expect to lose my travel journal during the journey north before arriving there. Somewhere between Alicante and Barcelona a thin grey journal is resting in peace, possibly at a gas station or in the beak of a majestic Spanish seagull as it soars through the sky. One month of writing, lists of places, and lists of names from experiences in New York, Barcelona, and Murcia has been lost due to personal clumsiness. Recounting and relogging them in my backup journal has been like retracing phases of life after waking up from a coma. Names of some people or places have now been rewritten based on the details I remember. Waspy guy, New York jazz bar,  tall black French girl, French 75 bar owner, booger girl, BlaBla guy,  language exchange Barcelonan, and Chinese exchange student are some of the titles that have taken the place of actual names. These people and places have all played a role in this trip, so not remembering names makes me feel like a jerk. Hopefully they will pop back up into the leaky balloon of my mind during a spontaneous moment in the future. Luckily pictures have been backed up so not everything has been erased. 

After filling a handful of pages in my new journal about Girona I returned to Barcelona for a second time during this trip. The majority of time spent there was dedicated towards hanging out with friends from Hostel One Backpackers, drinking Nømad coffee, having Chen Ji Chinese food, El Dorado Chicken for a second time, hanging out in a couple plazas, and seeing a few people who were met during the first trip a few weeks ago. A separate blog post about Barcelona will be coming at some point in the future :)

Due to an extended stay in Girona and Barcelona, Portugal for the time being will continue to sit in an internal travel "to-do" list. Inside it feels ok to have not gone there this time around, and it will be simply serve as another excuse to come back to Europe sometime in the not so distant future :)

This blog post is once again very lengthy so I think you deserve to treat yourself to a beer or chilled non alcholihic beverage if you have made it this far! More updates are coming soon and I hope that you are having a wonderful day or evening.

Cheers!

Girona vía Murcia

Typing on white and off grey smartphone keyboard the humming of a speeding ALSA bus engine is the only thing I can hear. It's about seven in the morning and looking out the window of this moving vehicle I can only see blackness and an occasional white freckle of unnamed stars in a predawn sky. 

Having just left Murcia in a transit bus I am making my way towards neighboring city Alicante and from there I will connect with a BlaBla car that is destined for Barcelona. From Barcelona I will take a train or bus to Girona, which is about an hour northeast. Today is the the beginning of what will be about an eight day mini trip consisting of two days in Girona, about three more in Barcelona, and probably three nights in Lisbon, Portugal. 

The last blog post was written in Babelia Books & Coffee, a very relaxed place to drink a caffeinated beverage in Barcelona. Upon walking out of the coffee shop that day I spent the majority of The next handful of days walking around, drinking more coffee at a whim, and taking in the atmosphere of various neighborhoods in this very explore friendly city. Since I came to Barcelona alone I decided to not be a loner the entire time and attended various language exchange Meetups at different bars where I was fortunate in meeting some really cool people from different parts of the world. I didn't visit La Sagrada familia but some of my favorite places in Barcelona included parts of Park Güel, the neighborhood La Gracia, Mirador de Midgita, and Gypsy Lou's for nightlife. The Sunday before leaving I was able to meet up with a girl named Jessica who is a former neighbor of my good buddy Sebastian and her expat lifestyle left me inspired to follow in her footsteps. A failed BlaBla car attempt the following day had me spending an extra night in the city and by coincidence I found myself staying at an unmarked residential hostel that turned out to be Hostel One Backpackers in upper La Gracia. Some really nice people were met there and I might be booking a few nights again this weekend when I revisit the city. 

Barcelona might be my favorite city and having an opportunity to come back this weekend makes me feel very lucky. 

A second and this time successful BalBla car attempt had me sharing a ride with a couple Catalonians, Jaime and his wife/girlfriend Pilar, down to the city where last year I taught English: Murcia. 

For the past eight days I have been crashing at my friend and former landlord Lola's house. We made a deal where this time she should wouldn't charge rent in exchange for me painting various rooms in her house. It's been great staying there again and the only part missing is Lucia, who is currently working in Ireland. 

Coming back to Murcia has been overwhelming and nothing less than joyful. The majority of the last eight days since coming back has been spent reconnecting with some close friends from last school year and also volunteering at the primary school Nuestra Señora de los Angeles where I once was an English language assistant. 

This current bus ride where the sky is starting to turn orange and red along the horizon will serve as the opening page of a temporary break from seeing friends in Murcia because next weekend I'll be returning to Lola's. 

I plan on visiting in Girona my friend Laura who I met through a Couchsurfing language exchange three years ago. We have only been friends via Skype so it should be fun meeting her in person for the first time. In Barcelona no plans have been made except for a cup of coffee, and in Lisbon no plans have been made except for a day trip to a small Portguese city called Cascais. Cascais is a sister city to my hometown, Sausalito in California, and I am going to see if the government there will give me some free stuff :)

This blog post is overdue and over filled with words. I hope that whoever is reading this is having a great day and is happy. I can't see you but I think you're beautiful.

Updates are coming soon :)

Sincerely,

Daniel Catena 

When in San Antoni

I can hear mid conversations of people from unseen tables behind me as I sit with a gradually sipped cup of espresso and water. I find myself starting the day at Babelia Books & Coffee and glancing at a food menu that is typed in Spanish, Catalan, and English. This is my second time coming here in as many days because its laid back atmosphere and rows of used books lining one of its peach colored walls gives me a false sense of productivity. For the last four days I've been in Barcelona, currently winning the race as my favorite city in Spain.

The last time I wrote in this blog I was waiting to leave the Bay Area with one of my best friends Jack Colombo. This was about twelve days ago and our destination in that moment was New York City. Jack hosted me at his Williamserg apartment and did a really good job of making me want to move East sometime maybe in the forseable future. The main plan for NYC was to see one of our favorite French DJ duos Justice do a New Years Eve show in Red Hook which was really fun. We also tapped into the cities' pizza scene by trying Joe's and NY Pizza Suprema. These places mixed with Paris style jazz bars, ice-less whiskey with a waspy Vail guy, a Halal Guys recovery day, Kava buzzes, double dipping on juice, Momofuku ramen, Caracus Arepas with friends Josh & Danielle, Ippudo noodles with our buddy Mike, catching a Cate Blanchet lesbian movie at Nitehawk, and a reunion with former Missoula roommate Mark Balcerak, made this trip one that I am truly fortunate to have experienced. It was great reconnecting with long time friends and look forward to the next get together. 

The temperature in New York got progressively colder and by the time it was time for me to pack my things it was hard to stand outside without fantasizing about the next time you'll be warm. After some goodbyes I took a couple trains to JFK airport. From New York I hopped a flight to Stockholm where I had a layover for a few hours the boarded a last plane down to Barcelona. Arriving into this coastal Catalonian capital I reserved two nights at the Be Mar Hostel located in El Raval, a neighborhood that borders the bohemian city center. After two nights with Chilean bunk mates I decided to change living arrangements and now find myself staying in an AirBnb in the neighborhood of San Antoni. 

There is very little that I don't want to say about Barcelona. Since arriving here I've been intentionally trying to get myself lost, whether it be in some narrow alley, staring at a piece of curious urban art, in the reflection of a beautifully dark cup of coffee, or in conversation with someone who has enough patience to listen to my gringo Spanish. 

I'll be wandering here until Tuesday and from there I will book a bus or a BlaBla car down to a place that I used to call home, Murcia. 

More updates are coming soon ;)

If you're reading this far, once again thank you! Take good care of yourself, brush your teeth before bedtime, and Happy New Year. I feel honored to be a part of your life, even if it just started at the top if this page and only lasts until this unavoidable yet necessary final period mark.