The first couple of days in Spain have been an utter dream. Eating tapas, picking up the beautiful Catalan language in local shops, and exploring this new city has been the most wonderful adventure.
Upon arrival, our tour guide, Christina gave us a tour around the city and allowed us to get our bearings. One thing that is interesting in Barcelona is that several shops line the streets, but they tend to only carry specific items to their storefront. Whereas in the United States we go to Walmart and have access to beauty supplies, electronics, produce, and meats, all of those items are found at different store fronts that only carry beauty supplies or electronics or produce or meats.
On the second day, we had a tour of Sagrada Familia, which is the most breath taking church I’ve ever seen. The architecture and thought put into its design was inspiring, from the tree columns inspired by Gaudi, the original artist, to the Lord’s Prayer scribed on the doors in 50 different languages.
Today, we traveled to Sitges, Spain, about a thirty minute bus ride from Barcelona. Sitges is a smaller coastal town with beautiful architecture and an ocean view. We met with the owners of Celler Diaz, which is a local producer of Vermouth, potato chips, muscles, and cockle. The owner was clearly very passionate about his work in the Vermouth industry, which made him very enjoyable to listen to.
One thing I noticed that was very different from the United States is that the company wants to expand to other parts of Spain but maintain the only three employees who manage the current distillery. Instead of profit driven goals, it seemed like Miguel, the owner, truly wants to share his passion for Vermouth with as many people as possible. Yet, that is what is so different between the United States and Spain. In the United States, we live to work. For Americans, working holidays and overtime is admirable and impressive. In Spain, it is common for shops to close for three hours during lunch and the winter holiday lasts for a month.
Today is the 3 Kings Day, which is where the three kings that attended Jesus’s birth parade through the streets, bearing gifts to children. It is supposed to be similar to the American Santa Claus, but the entire city shuts down for the celebration and shops close their doors on January 6 to recognize the celebration. I look forward to viewing the parade from our balcony, which overlooks one of the streets that the kings will parade through.