5 minutes since I stepped out of the bus and I was in love with it. In fact it was about midnight and I was in
nothing more than a slumbering residential quarter of the city - two metro stops away from the centre as I found out. Sleeping and empty but, hey, they had the big communal rubbish bins on the streets! they are so necessary for me to make a town feel alive and romantic!
Streets were again the bottoms of precipices; sky was returned to its rightful
place - somewhere far above your head! Indeed, there was not a building less than 5
floors, most were 6 or 7 tall! At last, eyesight was restricted to directions and
saved from insanity - by the flow of parallel edges above, by the lining of the trees... TREES!
It was too dark to see if the buildings are beautiful (as it is rumoured) or not -
but it didnt matter to me. They were Proper! They had balconies - hundreds! They had a
maze of windows as if a herd of Arguses had suddenly stopped for a respite here. Each window had its own character! The walls had no private gardens in front to remove them from the street and from the walker seeking their soothing company!
At midnight it was as warm as your lover's lap! Ah, tomorrow at noon will be
great! Baking hot!
It felt like home. Not too clean, not too cared for. Natural. I got to the hostel where I have booked a bed - a message on the door said it was closed by the hygiene authorities. Well, it is not exactly like at home - the owners actually did something about the situation - "we have arranged
alternative bookings in other hostels, check your email". Huh, email.
The internet cafe on next street was closed. Here kids do not play LAN games 24
hours a day? Going back to the hostel building, there is also a phonenumber. Streetphones work with coins too, 2 stops with the yellow line, 10min walk from Joanic, J-o-a-n-i-c, allegre de dalt, d like Denmark, No 66. I appreciated there is no "we are sorry". Its tough luck, buddy, shit happens, you know.
Ok, 22 euro paid on the reception in that other place in another sleeping
quarter of the city. 2 in the morning. "Taking shower prohibited between 24:00 -
6:30". Unfortunately, they have written it also in english so I could not
pretend misunderstanding. :( Starting to wonder why I paid those 22 euro - soon will start the day anyway and I will move to the place I have booked for tomorrow - an appartement. I ask the belgian girls in my new room - ¿is there no water in the showers? The reply was "You are not allowed to take a shower now". ¿But is it not working? "It says on the the door - showers cant be used between 24 and 6." ¿Yes, yes, I saw the message, but does it mean they have stopped the water?
They havent stopped it. Much refreshing.
I could hear through the open window the voices and the tinkling of plates and glasses coming from outside. A sound I missed so much since I left Sofia years ago - at my last home there, there was a restaurant garden across the street. I leaned out: it was not directly opposite,
rather on the corner a some 10 meters down the street - something between a cafe
and a pub. is this what they call french cafe?
Going out I didnt stop at the reception to ask by way of my handicapped butchered spanish
"¿algun comida cerca aqui?" lest he notices my hair is damp. :) Went towards
the cafe.
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"un plato tortilla" (thanks to Xavi) "y una cerveza por favor" (thanks to my
self-learner book). i was afraid if i order some food I dont know - it might contain
sea-presents. :) the beer was nice - served in cool iced glass. all other times
i tried beer since - it tasted horrible. (ok, I dont like to admit it in front
of Brits, but I actually, sometimes, like to drink beer (the lager one) - maybe when I am eating cooked food).
About 3 oclock the owner and the waiter sat on the bar to have a beer and
cigarrette - after pulling the outside widnow-fences and cleaning the empty tables and
putting the chairs on top. they were waiting for the last visitors to grasp the
hint they should go home. The customers were the local group of 27-34 year olds of course, and another smaller of 45-50 year olds. I was there too - finished my tortilla and
gargling over my glass of beer just to spend some more time absorbing the
atmosphere of no-hurry - watching the people coming in and out - some to have a chat
with the owner, or with some of the groups, to have a look at the magazines on
one of the tables (women), or to quietly drink a glass on the bar (men).
That night I was happy.
See you soon!
Peterborough, Barcelona,
29.VI.2005
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