Thursday, September 20, 2018

When Being A Local Is Just Not An Option


Ladies and gentlemen, I am struggling. I feel a bit deflated today. It’s hard to assimilate into a culture that is not yours. I pride myself on being someone who can find my way around no matter where I am. I’ll download maps to my smartphone, figure out transportation options to determine which ones make the best use of my time. But today… I just felt like a fish out of water. It was just, hard. And it’s not a language barrier issue. As much as I want to be a local, i.e. know the best and fastest way to get somewhere, I am NOT in fact, a local.

The hop on/hop off bus is great… ‘til it isn’t. There are just some destinations that are too off the beaten path to be accessed by a fixed route. My mom and I saw La Sagrada Familia today, designed by the amazing Gaudi. It’s still not finished and won’t be until 2026 (one hundred years after Gaudi’s death). Poor Gaudi, never seeing the full fruits of his efforts. It reminds me of our church in NYC,  St. John the Divine (or as some people call it “St. John the Unfinished”.) Construction on both churches were started a mere 10 years apart, in the late 1800s. And neither church is completed. However, they are both still marvelous to look at, and today, my mom and I had the pleasure of gazing at Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece. In case you’re interested, “La Sagrada Familia” means “holy family”. Thank you to one of the guides inside the church for telling us. I said to my mom, “Why is it called La Sagrada Familia?” And my mom said, “Maybe that’s the family who sponsored the church.” Ummmm… NO.

The next stop was Park Guell. That’s where the off-the-beaten-path part comes in. The bus stopped at what they called “Park Guell” but in reality, we had to climb a large hill involving a bunch of stairs, which was not easy for my dear mom. Although the park was ALL Gaudi, you apparently need to buy a ticket in advance to have access to EVERYTHING Gaudi. My mom and I were clearly in the “cheap seats”, and thus, excluded from what they referred to as the “Monumental Zone” of the park. Wow, did I feel like a loser. For all the research we did in advance of our trip, we still failed to understand all the intricacies involved with seeing the sights in Barcelona, what the costs were and how to insure we selected the appropriate options. I think about NYC and how I have the subway map embedded in my brain, and when I want to go somewhere, I can decide in a matter of seconds the best way to get there. Here, I feel like a lost sheep in need of a shepherd. That’s not to say I can’t figure things out, but it’s not second nature to me the way it is at home.

Still, we had a great day traveling around, even if our travels took a bit longer. And we veered off the hop on/hop off bus to take a cab because it was just… FASTER. I tried to find that darn bus stop, but the sun was beating down on me and my perspiration got the better of me and I caved. That said, at the end of my taxi ride I got to see the Cathedral of Barcelona (another Gaudi creation), which was incredible. I feel a bit guilty admitting it, but I kinda like it more than La Sagrada Familia. I guess I’m just a fan of Gothic looking churches.

And now I’ve realized I need to decompress from all this culture I’ve been soaking in for the past two weeks. As my third annual Mother/Daughter vacation starts to wind down, I need to take some downtime so i don’t come home needing a vacation from my vacation! And for that, there’s always sangria. Here’s to all of you and to the hopes I can find some good paella this evening. Cheers to both!

1 comment:

  1. Great perspective, Dina! Feeling the same way right now. Got caught in a demonstration in Barcelona and it took us 2 hours to get back to Casteldelfes tonight. I'm tired and ready to head home tomorrow. Miss you guys!

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