So I'm a little nostalgic. JD paraphrases in SCRUBS that the way to restore a relationship is to remember what attracted you to the person in the first place. Although I have been extremely busy this first year, these last few weeks have opened my eyes to why I fell in love with Barcelona in the first place. Last weekend a friend of mine from LBS came down for the weekend. First day I took him to a "Spanish-style" sports bar. Dark wood, pool tables, tapas, beer & wine. I went there for the first time with Bala... it was great. (I do miss Balaaaaaaaaaa!)
The next day I had a dinner with my best friends at my favorite restaurant, Balthazar. I wanted to bring a little New Orleans culture to Barcelona, and since the restaurant requires punctuality (an anomaly in BCN), and I believe that economics is all about incentives, I suggested that for anyone who comes early, I'm bringing an ice cold bottle of schnapps and we do shots outside. Anyone from New Orleans would appreciate the beauty of this situation...
Picture is blurry but I think it adds an artsy, inebriated quality to it.
The dinner crew.After dinner Morgan (shown below in sexy mode) takes us to a bar in Barri Gotic to meet a bunch of his Catalan friends.
We drink mojitos until around 2AM when we decide to go to the last IESE BOW of the year at Bucano. We had a lot of fun:
Still, after that, a few of us went over to Damiaan's roof and popped open a bottle of cava under the stars.
The next day, did a little shopping and watched Spain pound Sweden in the EuroCup. If there is one sport I could tolerate watching, it's soccer (sorry, Football). It was very nice. I wish I could watch soccer with a beer more often.
That night was a friend's 30th birthday party. He had a very elegant dinner with great people from all different backgrounds at El Gran Cafe. I ordered what I was craving for a while: nice piece of rare entrecot. We had Marques de Caceres Rioja all night. Was my favorite in the States, but I don't drink that much here. I prefer Torres because it's local. Anyhoo, after dinner, we took a cab to Opium Mar. It was packed with people:
We had a table and ordered bottles of vodka and champagne. Aparently there was an underground party that lasted until 1PM, but I went home modestly at 6AM.
The next day was relaxed, but equally good. I still had my LBS friend over, so we went exploring Barcelona. Stopped for some Pinchos at Sagardi, then headed to Gaudi's work Casa Batllo, then off to Barceloneta to explore the commercial and beach area. Didn't get too much beach time because the weather was dreary. Instead we stopped at a local pub and watched the Portugal-Switzerland game. Usually I am for Portugal, but since I am moving to Switzerland, I decided to switch loyalties, even if I thought Portugal was a better team. Switzerland ended up kicking Portugal's hiney 2-0. And I thought, sometimes, the only things necessary to make me happy are a big jarra of beer or a nice steak poco hecho.
As my friend left back to London, I couldn't help but realize that I made the right decision to come to IESE and in Barcelona. When I first saw Barcelona, I took a leap of faith and came to live here. That's just how I am. Very passionate. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. This time it did. And I'm lucky to be able to live in Switzerland for a while with a great job in a great company. I have grown up quite a bit since living in Europe, have figured out a lot about myself, and I have great expectations for the next year. I know it will be easier...
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