Day 32 - Obama Bar, Gary Moore, and Apple Martinis

I’m just so damn tired.

We woke up semi-early this morning, headed down to the hotel breakfast, then I hit the shower. Our main order of the day was to visit the Picasso museum. We had some fun getting lost trying to find it, but we finally came across it, and there was a hella line. It looked like we’d be waiting at least an hour. So Alee, Stephanie, and I decided to go to some little gift shops in the area while Alee’s parents stayed in line.

It was a wonder we ever did find the museum because it was tucked into this alley, more or less. The buildings are smushed together with about ten feet of walk space between them, but it’s a really, really cool thing to see. In a claustrophobic sort of way J

The museum itself left a lot to be desired, I thought. First off, the service was terrible. The lady selling tickets was an absolute bee-otch. But no matter.

It was really interesting to see some of Picasso’s earlier sketches and paintings. They were very traditional by-the-book type works. There were some things from his Blue and Rose periods, but then it leapt straight into his cubism. There was a period of about 20 years that was completely left out of the museum. Strange.

And then when it got to his cubist works…the “real” Picasso to me…all they had was his interpretation of Velazquez’s Meninas. Lame! Don’t get me wrong, it was very cool to see that, but I wanted to see more! Much, much more.

We hit up the gift shop afterwards, and I fell in love with one of his pencil drawings that I didn’t even see in the museum. It was a dove with an olive branch in its mouth. And, as my luck would have it, they literally had postcards of EVERY SINGLE ONE of his works…but not that one. So I ended up settling for a postcard of a pencil drawing of a bouquet with two hands on it…it looks like someone is handing the bouquet to someone else. I really liked it but Sean was being a meany face when I showed it to him later and said he didn’t like it L

After the museum, we took the Metro to the Park Guell area, but we had to hike up a damn mountain to get there. And I was hot and tired and hungry. So Stephanie and I parked it on the ground next to a column while Alee and her parents went into the Gaudí museum in the park. I just had no desire to. I’d already been to one museum that day, and I think that’s my limit. Plus, I was hot and tired and hungry. Again, not a good combo.

We walked for miles after that and did the whole dinnertime fiasco, like always. Ended up eating at a place right outside of La Sagrada Familia, so we ate outside and got to look at it while chowing down. Stephanie and I shared paella and croquettes.

We walked around for a bit after that, then headed to Torre Agbar…aka the Gherkin, dildo, pickle, etc. It was gorgeous all lit up at night. Quite the sight to see.

We hopped on the Metro back to the hotel, then decided to go out for drinks. I was quite relieved that “going out for drinks” consisted of walking out of our hotel and into the building right next door.

It was called “Obama: British Africa,” and it actually was an Obama-themed bar. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. There was a park bench with a statue of Obama sitting on it inside the bar, but the rest of it looked like it came straight outta Jumanji. All safari-themed. I ordered my very first apple martini for a whopping 8 euro, and I fell in love. I’m pretty sure I know what I’ll be ordering on my 21^st.

Walking into the bar, “Still Got the Blues” was playing, and I freaked the fuck out accordingly. They also played “Wonderful Tonight” by EC, along with a bunch of other good stuff. Septimo cielo. Then there was a live musician who sang in English and Spanish and played guitar. If I didn’t have Sean in my life…haha.

Back to the hotel after that and actually got to Skype with Sean for awhile. Finally got so tired I had to let him go, and then Mom had signed off, so I didn’t get to talk to her. Sleep was much, much needed, though.