Spain - Barcelona Nightlife
The trip was coming to a close as we flew out the next morning but we wanted to go out for our last night in Barcelona as we had heard a lot about the Barcelona nightlife. In the Spain travel books we have they say Barcelona is a bar town with a lot going on but we hadn't been able to experience it much yet as we we were only there a few days. There happened to be a big music festival going on that night next to our hotel a few of us were very tempted to go to. It would be something like 50-80 euros and had an amazing lineup including LCD Soundsystem and Flaming Lips from Oklahoma City who I still haven't been able to see yet. All these bands were staying in our hotel and I was on the lookout for Wayne as I had talked to him a few times before and wanted to see if he remembered me and could help us get some tickets. However, all I saw were roadies. I would have loved to talk to Steven Drozd as he is really a great musical talent, the genius behind a lot of the Flaming Lips music. Also, I was looking out for James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem from Brooklyn who I saw a few months back. That was one of the best live shows I've seen in a long time. But, it was not to be this time.
We were all up in the executive lounge checking out the sunset and over-using our privilege of complimentary beverages in the lounge before it closed at 22:30 trying to figure out where we were going to go. We talked to several groups of people up there mainly people from the UK. Several very intersting and giving us advice on where to go that night. We talked to a couple from England, the guy lived in London and the girl in Manchester who where a lot of fun. One guy I especially liked was a lawyer from Scotland who reminded me of Ricky Gervais and always had something funny to say. He kept saying I was massive and I reminded him of Tony Robbins. He told a story of going to Tony Robbins giving a workshop or whatever in the UK that he attended once and saying how all the sappy positive team building stuff didn't work at all for the people in the UK like it does for people in the US. He was telling us how much negative press the US gets around Europe but he was saying that when you get down to talking to people one on one they are all very similar.
Once the executive lounge closed we were going back to the hotel rooms to regroup then the group we had been talking to said they would take us out and show us around. One older lady in the group said it was a shame if we didn't go out and see the nightlife before we left. She was also from Glasgow and had lived in Barcelona for 6 years. We first went to some bar that was a few blocks from the hotel that apparently she ran or owned as she was helping close it down when we finally left. They were very nice and didn't let us pay for drinks there. I ended up talking to this lady for quite awhile there and she was saying how her daughter was a model for Gap who travels a lot. If we were there until Sunday we could have met her. Also, her son is worth millions off of some software company he started and owns properties around the world including Dubai which sounds like a fascinating place. She said alcohol is illegal everywhere except on the beach and out on the water, that's one of the reasons they have built all these resorts out on the water and all this island condos in the bay.
In the middle of talking with this lady she started basically telling my fortune and doing cold reading on me. I was fascinated by this and believe that people do have the ability to perceive and see things other people can't. She had many interesting things to say and even though not all of what she said was exactly accurate. It gave me some good insight and helped me think about some things differently. Within the next hour she had similar conversations with Justin, Brandon and TJ. The outcome was controversial with the group. I was taking it all with a grain of salt and I took several positives out of it. I won't say all the details here but I appreciated the experience I can see why some of the others did not. She said some things that were dead on, others were off the mark, but she was definitely good at this.
This lady (I wish I could remember her name) said she would show us where to go out and kept warning us about how dangerous it was in these areas at night. She said to just put cash in our pockets and leave our wallets back in the room. I had read things that confirmed these areas were potentially quite seedy so I went ahead and left my wallet and so did Justin. She gave us instructions on how to be as safe as possible and to always stick together which seemed smart. It was like she was our tour guide for the night and she was looking out for us where to go to be safe if there were any problems.
We went to this area called Port Olympico by the marina. She would not let me pay the taxi fare. There were tons of bars and it was a happening spot. They were pretty much all open air with the entire fronts of the builds open with music and lights coming out of them. She introduced us to a man who ran a bar who would help us out if needed that was protected by the Russian mafia. She said all the places were cool except one in particular that was known for particularly unsavory characters and activities. She stayed at the bar that was run by her friend and left shortly after. I appreciated her advice and she was a genuine help to us.
We walked up and down the bars and clubs seeing what it was about. It turned out most people spoke English there. I was talking to some German girls for awhile from a small town near Stuittgart. I told them I wished I could speak Spanish more while visiting here. They said its not that big of a deal as most people in Europe also speak English. They spoke english very well and she said they are all brought up in their schools learning english.
English seems to be the common language in all these places we went. Especially since Barcelona is in Catalonia where Catalan is the preferred language in most places there. Even people who speak Castillion which is the type of Spanish taught in US schools cannot speak Catalan as it is much different. Many signs around town are in 3 languages, Catalan, Castillion and English. So people who speak German, French, or other languages who speak English can still get around. Still, there are many places you go where people only speak Catalan. We talked to another girl on Thursday night who was from the US but lived in Barcelona teaching Spanish or English or something. She said that the people in Barcelona are very proud of Catalan and were working to make it the official language. Many won't even speak Castillion as its a pride thing. Catalan is an older language and it represents the fact that they were not conquered and made to change to Castillion like areas in more western Spain. Even if they know Castillion they may only speak English or Catalan to you. Catalan is also spoken in certain areas of France such as Cannes.
We talked to some other people and did some dancing and then we all got pretty tired and decided to head back as it was rather late. We had to get up in several hours to catch a plan out. I knew it was going to be a rough day the next day as I can't get any sleep on the plane but it was all worth it to see some of the Barcelona nightlife and talk to several more people and get there view on the world. I got a good idea of the view of the US from Europe. Its love/hate thing and the grass is always greener on the other side of the street situation in some ways. In ways they want to be like us and in ways we want to be like them. In other ways we're all the same. It was a great trip and I'm glad we went out and had all these experiences.