Beaches, Blight and Bad Weather

The bad weather has followed us from Paris.  Monday began with bright, sunny skies, but, after having not slept much on Saturday, we overslept on Monday and didn't make it to the beach until nearly 11 AM.  Shortly after we arrived, clouds covered the sun and warm changed to cool.  We had a few drops of rain, but nothing torrential enough to force us from our comfortable beach chairs.  Our perseverance paid off with about an hour of sun, before more clouds found their way overhead.

We gave up on the beach at 3PM and had our early dinner at a restaurant in a nearby mall.  We started our meal outside, but the clouds that caused us to leave the beach decided they would also provide rain, and we had to move inside.  On a positive note, we discovered the laundromat we needed a few doors down from where we enjoyed sangrias and spinach salads.  We closed out our Monday in the hotel hot tub and steam room.

Tuesday brought more rain.  According to the weather report, we would have rain all day Tuesday, sun on Wednesday, overcast skies on Thursday, and sun for our last day on Friday.  We decided rainy weather created an ideal opportunity to do our laundry.  I took our daughter and son to the Barcelona aquarium while my wife and niece did laundry and had drinks and appetizers at the restaurant from the prior day.

I spent the morning looking over a Google map of Barcelona and thought I had figured out how to get from the hotel to the aquarium.  An hour later, I realized three things:  1)  I was lost, 2)  No one in Barcelona knows where the aquarium is, 3)  I should probably buy a map.  I did eventually find the aquarium, and my son and daughter both enjoyed looking at the fishes.  I would not recommend the aquarium to adults, however, or even for older children.  It wasn't that impressive.

We left the aquarium shortly before 2 PM and had rejoined my wife and niece at the restaurant by 2:15 (the aquarium isn't that far if you don't get lost).  We went on a hunt for a Burger King rumored to be in the vicinity.  I swore I had seen one on our walk back.  After walking all the way to the aquarium and back again, we never did find it and settled on a local restaurant near the beach.

After three days in Barcelona I think it feels a lot like a post-Katrina New Orleans.  Many of the buildings in the city are abandoned and in disrepair.  Though Barcelona and Paris are roughly the same age, Barcelona exhibits none of the old world charm that Paris has in abundance.  There are a smattering of old buildings, but most were designed by Gaudi in the late 19th century.  Barcelona received a facelift for the 1992 summer Olympics and it needs to revisit the plastic surgeon today.

All day, even during periods of what should be a rush hour, the streets are empty.  Even with bad weather, I was surprised to find the largest local beach completely empty.  Many of the shops (including the Burger King in the mall) are either closed or no longer doing business.  I know Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, but I thought a major tourist destination like Barcelona would be a little more vibrant.  I think Barcelona is a seasonal version of Las Vegas and Orlando.  Both of those cities have relatively small local populations (roughly 500,000) but have roughly 4 million people in the city at any time thanks to tourism.  I asked a local shopkeeper why Barcelona was so empty and she told me it doesn't pick up until July.

The overwhelming benefit to this is it feels like we have the city to ourselves.  Not a bad feeling.