Waning Summer

I've mostly recovered now, but being sick made me start to think that Barcelona is a little too much like New York. After all, a crush of people in any city can be exhausting. And a metro is a metro is a metro. But here are my top five reasons why Barcelona is not New York:

5. Ubiquitous mullets. And we're talking serious mullets. Pittsburgh's got nothing on Barcelona. I was pretty shocked by the trend until I found out that it's a mark of regional pride among Catalan men. For some reason, wearing a mullet sets them apart from "Spanish" men. This certainly became apparent when the football game between Valencia and Barcelona aired. The shaggy/clean-cut contrast made team jerseys superfluous.

4. Folding bikes. All the rage.

3. Topless sunbathing. Enough said?

2. Okay, so Barcelona was founded by the Carthaginians in about 230 BC, and has some old buildings (well, not quite that old) to prove it.

1. Yesterday a pack of us were rushing for a train when someone's cell phone dropped onto the tracks. Lost forever in New York, right? Not in Barcelona. A ticket-taker kept us off the tracks by reminding us that we had mothers and fathers, while another summoned "el jefe de la estación" who, though taciturn, eventually shut down the train line while he fetched the cell with a special fetching contraption. Even here, in surly Catalan Barcelona, Iberian hospitality runs strong.

And as for me, I'm settling into a routine. Six hours of language classes, cycling, yoga, a lot of buying groceries and trying to cook, and occasional evenings out with a varying pack of europeans. Doesn't leave a lot of time for sight-seeing, but for now, I'm content.