We made our
way from Athens to Barcelona for a one-week stay with Justin's cousin Maushu from
India, her husband Shaan and two cute kids Niva and Akash who had just gone to
Seville and Madrid. Even though it rained on and off the entire week, we had a
lovely time exploring the city with our family and enjoying its ubiquitous
Gothic architecture. You better brush up on your espanol before arriving because most Barcelonians do not speak
English, only Catalan and Spanish and pronounce "s" with a lisp; meanwhile,
Justin's high school espanol is mucho sucko. Things generally start
late, i.e., lunch no earlier than 2 pm with a siesta from 2 – 5, then businesses open back up again. 
We checked
off most of the obligatory tourist sites, such as La Sagrada Familia ("The Sacred Family"
cathedral by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and the most visited
sight in Spain). Even though Gaudi started work in 1884, the cathedral is only
60% complete today. Taking a tour inside the church and museum is well worth
the steep 12.50 € entrance fee. Another famous site Gaudi designed was Park Guell which had the house he lived
in as well as two Hansel and Gretel gingerbread houses. We cruised through the
Mercat De La Boqueria, market filled
with a cornucopia of local produce, fresh fruits, cheeses, pastries, and
confectioneries, and lunched at the seafood bar there while doing our best to
avoid the hanging meats. The Gothic Quarter (center of the old
city), Las Ramblas (kitschy market with
street performers) and the Picasso
Museum (biggest collection – free every first Sunday of the month) were also checked
off on our itinerary. And not to mention the tapas, paella, sangria, and cava! (I also learned that tapas originated in the olden days when bar owners put a piece of bread over a glass of wine to prevent flies from flying in. Then they added olives or nuts - salty things - so customers would drink more. And now it has turned into a cuisine all its own!) 
But the most
memorable experience in Barcelona was witnessing a pickpocket incident on the
subway in front of our very eyes. A bald man in his 30s and a blue hooded
sweatshirt was shoving and yelling at a tourist couple for no reason. Then
right before the doors closed, he jumped off the train and threw a wallet on
the ground. The couple realized it was their wallet with all their money missing.
Another passenger told them she saw a lady take his wallet while the bald man
was distracting them. We knew pickpocketing is rather prevalent in Barcelona,
surely a side effect of Spain having the highest rate of unemployment in the EU,
but we never thought we would actually see it in action. We felt horrible for
the couple, and it made us ever more cautious for the rest of our time in
Europe and made the kids not want to take the metro again. When I asked Justin
how we can become less of a target, he said, “I don’t know about you, but all I
have to do is walk by myself, away from all of you.” That son of a bitch! But
he is right – he can definitely pass for anything from a Spaniard to Italian,
while the rest of us scream foreign tourists, complete with backpacks and
cameras and “Rob me” practically tattooed on our foreheads. That night we
watched a bunch of youtube videos of reformed pickpocket artists demonstrating
how easy it is to steal your wallet, watch, and even your tie while talking to
you!
After
spending a week in Barcelona, we were glad that a recent job prospect fell
through as it would have required us to move there. Nice place to visit
(perhaps just once more when I am 60 to see how far along the construction goes
at La Sagrada Familia), but definitely not to live.
Adios
amigos! We are off to Italy!
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