Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Free Tuesday #7: No longer a tourist

The good thing about making a Barcelona "Must-Do" List is that it kept me on track to see everything I wanted to see.  But now that we've reached my "Free Tuesday #7," I have run out of touristy things to do.  Which means... I can be more of a local! Today I didn't do anything touristy, but I did lots of local things.

First, I went to my gym for my free one-hour personal training session with Mario. In addition to kicking my ass, he also entertained me with his phrases such as "close your abs" (i.e. tighten your core).  Luckily he was a good sport with my low-level Spanish and even more so with my incredible out-of-shapeness. (Unless you count all of the tapas+alcohol+croissants as me being in-shape. A happy Barcelonian shape, that is!) After our workout, I swam for about 30 minutes, showered at the gym, and meandered back home.

Next Joe & I went to La Candela for coffees and croissants. This was the first place we went in Barcelona, and we always enjoy going back.  Next we went to the Internet Cafe nearby to print out all of our travel documents for Portugal. I felt local here because we didn't go to the touristy place on Las Ramblas like last time, and this place actually had working computers and printers. Such a treat!

Then we went to Decathlon (Barcelona's version of Academy) to look for new shoes as my walking shoes are fading.  From there we went to lunch at a Barcelonian "SouperSalad" which was so yummy. Why aren't there paellas and cappuccino's in SouperSalad!?

Lastly, I stopped in a hair salon I found online to inquire about a haircut. Before I could really think on it, I took the next opening and watched the stylist chop off at least six inches of hair. It was so delightful! And remarkably successful considering she did not speak much English.  Hey, I figured my hair couldn't exactly get worse, right?

So there we have it... a totally local day for my Touristy Tuesday. No pictures. No exciting stories. Just living in BCN.  Is it crazy that I really do feel like I live here and can't imagine going back to the US? Joe and I said that my exchange program would end up with one of two results.  1) I would never want to live outside the US again, or 2) I would want to live outside the US as soon as possible. Can you guess which one it will be?

Lastly... a side note... if you ever see me with long hair again, please remind me how happy I am when I cut it. I always say that, and then I always seem to forget and grow it back out.  Please save me from myself. :)

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