Friday, November 8, 2013

They Speak Catalan


11/4/2013 - Barcelona, Spain

Before going out in Barcelona, I met my new roommates at the hostel (thankfully, my last hostel of the trip). They're Colombians, studying English in Malta, just visiting Barcelona for one night. I asked them, "Don't they speak Maltese in Malta?" They said "Yes, sometimes." I also tried speaking Spanish with them, which I thought would be good practice for speaking with the locals. But it turns out the locals speak mostly Catalan. 

In the late afternoon, I trekked up to the Gaudi-designed Park Güell. One of the first things I saw in the park was graffiti on the walls that said, in English, "TOURISTS GO HOME." There was an "anarchy" symbol underneath. Around the park, there was a fair amount of leftist graffiti: hammer and sickle, "No Nazis," that sort of thing. Along with the graffiti, all the motorcyclists riding up and down the streets reminded me of the movie Barcelona. It's a good movie, but I wasn't expecting today's Barcelona to be much like that. Anyway, the park was very nice. 

Pictured: Park Güell in Barcelona

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