It's over there

I just realized that I am graced with a sometimes phenomenal sense of direction. Yesterday, it went both ways for me. I got on a bus going the absolute wrong direction and was totally lost for 5-10 minutes when I got off it. Then I went into the gothic/castle distric and walked through the winding, narrow streets with great confidence I knew where I was. So Strange.

Barcelona is a stunnig city all at once modern and full of great design, but also featuring buildings that are hundreds of years old. For example, one building I sat in the shade of and had a cool drink wasbuilt in 1829. This would seem to be a relatively new building here. The juxtoposition doesn't seem at all out of place, but rather like a ntural progression of thought thru time.

The people here aren't as 'high fashion' oriented as Milan, but are well/neatly dressed. Clothing overall, isnt as expensive here either. For today's fashion note, man-bags are back in a big way. Here and in Italy, I saw a profound number of different styles of man bag. Like slimmed down and squared off notebook bags in a variety of fabrics. From leather to mostly canvas and nylon. The looks are current. Rugged without being mountain climberesque. Utilitarian is probably a better way to put it. How many men are carrying these bags on their shoulders? Probably 40-60% of the men I see have them. It's hard to tell true numbers since most tourists don't have them and both cities I've visited thus far are crawling with tourists.

Last note - Jamon ham. The spanish version of prosciutto - Must try to bring home an entire ham. Simply delicious.

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I'm getting more comfortable pausing in odd locations to take photos. Taking more time in a scene to get the better shot than to just bang one out hoping for the bst. It's almost like Art Direction! I hope the images from this trip will bear out in the end when I go back to review tem later. I'm trying very hard to be more aware of smaller details rather than seeing and shooting the obtuse, focusing a little more on the acute. Sometimes this means backing off from a potential photo and tracking sideways to get a more dynamic angle. I continue to be frustrated with the long shot my camera takes, but there is nothing I can do about it. The pix seem very grainy and washed out when trying to use the landscape feature. Very annoying.

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It's official, I've become a Tapas whore! I've barely begun to explore Barcelona, but I love it here. So many people walking the streets, the vibe is pure ENERGY! Much less conservastive than Amsterdam (which is known for its open mindedness.) Alternative would be a great descriptor word for Barcelona. I see tons of Goth and ALT/tattooed people everywhere I go. Now, if I could just find the hangout spots... By US standards, most places here are very small. The place where I had dinner tonight seems nearly palatial with about 20 tables. I went by a place earlier that had four. I really wanted to stop and eat there, but it was much too early in the day/evening.