Vooooooooooolare...

Random, but still catchy even after 50-odd years.

Sitting here listening to a personal compilation of ESC participants over the years. "ESC" is btw short for "Eurovision Song Contest". Just in case you were oblivious to that fact.

Hace 1 semana... err... 1 week ago I was in Spain with my parents, that is to say, the rest of my family. We stayed in the beauuuuuuuuuuuuutiful city of Barcelona wherein we checked out all of the sights, the buildings designed by Gaudí (which I've btw fallen in love with) and the older part of town and - I think - the highest point of the city. Oh yeah, not to mention Las Ramblas! Oh my gosh, you can't believe how beautiful it was there! It's not like gloomy Stavanger, or any of the British cities, but it really is unique. It really is something special, that city.

As for speaking Spanish, I didn't get too much of a chance to do so. Mostly because I didn't converse much with them, due to the fact that my Spanish is v. bad. V. much in the primary stage. I didn't dare to converse too much with them. Just a few sentences like, "Queremos ir a (enter name of famous Barcelonian building here), por favor" and "hay (enter object here) aquí en la ciudad?". Not much, really.

Ooooooooh dude! Buck's Fizz is on! "And then you gotta speed it up... For making your mind up..."

Sorry, as I was saying, I didn't get to use the language that much. The majority of the taxi drivers didn't dare to strike up a conversation, as we spoke foreign languages which they were pretty much... err... what's the word... either bad at it or didn't know a word of it. English and Norwegian, respectively. That's the one thing I regret from that trip; that I didn't pluck up the courage to speak up to the taxi drivers in Spanish. I mean, I really did want to speak Spanish to them - I had even prepared sentences to say to them - yet nothing came out.

I guess I'm too chicken.

But what was weird was that a few nights into our vacation I was playing cards with my mom, and suddenly I realized that I was counting in Spanish... Not always out loud, mind you, but still... I've had many of those kinds of moments, and each of them are really very peculiar.

But anyways, the buildings we saw were very impressive. V., v. impressive. Especially La Sagrada Familia, Parque Güell and La Pedreira. Those were btw the only buildings and park designed by Gaudí which we visited. There was another one, Casa Batlló, but we did not have time. ONE WEEK WASN'T ENOUGH! Oh, yeah, we found out that La Sagrada Familia, which is still in the process of construction, will be completed in 20 years... I'll be 40, (presumably with job, hubby and kids), Mom 74 and Dad 78. We've promised ourselves to return as soon as it is finished and attend a mass there. Can't wait! If only the work could be done a bit faster, though...

And the food - ooooooooooooooomigosh! The seafood there is excellent! As a self-admitted seafood lover, I can safely say that the fish, shellfish etc. are impeccable! There are few other places in the world (of those where I've been, of course) where they serve seafood so fresh that it actually tastes slightly sweet. Lovely. And the fruits and veggies there are equally immaculate! :-D Wonderfully fresh. Aaaah... Miss it already! Miss Barcelona in general!!!

Okay, enough for now! More later!

Take care! Peace out!

Elise