From Tourist to Almost Local: My Barcelona Transformation in Three Weeks
It’s been almost 3 weeks since we all got to Barcelona and it feels like I have been here for way longer than that, and like the time is flying by at the same time. It feels like we are starting to get the hang of stuff. For example, I don’t have to pull out my phone to map to the same places I go to regularly like school, the local supermarket, our favorite coffee shop, or the basic tourist areas that I like to visit. I have also learned how to order my coffee when I go to a coffee shop. I like to think that every day I look less and less like a tourist, but that’s probably an exaggeration.
A few things I’ve learned from the culture here in Barcelona that are very different from home: The waiters at restaurants do not like to split the bill when you go out to eat with your friends. I am not quite sure why this is such a problem for them, we have tried to ask them to split it but unfortunately, we get denied. Even though it’s slightly annoying to have to calculate your amount yourself or have to pay your friends back for your own food they just paid for, it’s worth it to not have to tip. Compared to America the tip culture here does not exist, and that is something I am not complaining about.
I have also noticed that they don’t typically drink coffee cold here. At least not nearly as much as we do in America. I say this because most places will have only hot coffee and if you ask for iced coffee, they hand you a cup with ice in which you can pour your piping hot coffee in yourself. That’s why I have discovered that my new coffee order is “cafe con leche” which is just espresso with hot milk. Another thing is water is not free! It is super easy for me to stay dehydrated when I already normally forget to drink water, but when I also must pay for it on top of that. It’s not expensive and I don’t mind buying it, but it’s not at my disposal so it makes it hard to constantly drink water and stay hydrated.
Now the main difference between Barcelona and home is all the insane architecture they have here. I was walking down this very popular street here in Barcelona the other day called “Passeig de Gracia”. This street is popular for its luxury shops and restaurants, but what amazed me the most was the architecture. Every single building looked so cool and so different from each other. They weren’t your typical glass or gray buildings you see in other cities in the U.S., instead they look historic and very detailed. Most of them have beautiful balconies, and none of them are short. They are not skyscrapers, but they are at least about 7 stories tall. In between the stores in the street there is this cool house called “casa batllo” designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi. I thought it was interesting that it was just placed there in between all the stores, it looks very unique and different from the buildings next to it. I was very interested in his work, so this weekend a couple of my friends and I went to “park guell”. This park is another one of Gaudi’s works, and it was incredible! It looked like no other park I have ever seen before, and I don’t think I could do a good job describing it so I’m just going to add a couple pictures from there.
