A Day Of Rest

Not only is today Sunday but it is the day of rest. Today we took this quite literally. One thing I haven't mentioned is that I have been sick for a number days, despite my best efforts in taking vitamins and other good natural things to prevent this, it finally got me. But I must say I have done well as I lasted this long. So today was about getting better. My sickness started with a very painfully bad sore throat, moved to very sniffly and stuffy, and today I woke up with a bit of a cough very congested and feeling sick in my head. This is more of a miserable feeling after the previous few days, but not one that I felt unmotivated to move or walk anywhere and do anything, so we had a low key day. 

We decided that it was time our clothes got more then a hand wash and found a laundromat close to the hostel. Now we have truly fresh clothes again not just clean clothes. We had gotten something to eat while the clothes were washing and ate it as we waited paitiently to for them to finish. Then we made our way back to put them away. 

When we got back we felt (I did, Luke is such a great sport about these things) that it was time for a rest. Instead of sleeping though we just laid down and watched a movie, or finished rather the one we started while the clothes were being cleaned. This was much needed as my ears have also been plugged for a few days and the pressure is getting to me as well. After the movie we made an outing of going for some tapas and drinks at a near by cafe.

We definitely seem to be making our way into some hipster places, or at least so it seems. Now I must admit that yesterday when I tried the eggplant, well I couldn't actually taste the eggplant(another missing thing from being sick), but the texture was super slimy which that alone turned me off. But we had guacamole and plantation chips which Luke seemed to enjoy. As did I but in a much different matter. When I would bite into the chip ity bity salts would fly up at me so I knew it would be something tasty.

Of course being sick you realize how much you take for granted, but being sick in another place is a slightly different story. Sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Let me explain. Although I wish I was better and that I hadn't gotten sick, because I haven't been able to smell it has come in rather handy in certain situations. Back home I love the way it smells before and after rain. Before it rains there is a certain smell in the air and after everything just smells so fresh. Well it is a much less magical moment here. There is a certain musty sewery smell to it. I'm not kidding or exaggerating you can ask Luke. It is certainly unpleasant, so this is when not being able to smell comes in handy. When we came out after our tapas it had started to rain. While sitting eating our tapas I was going through a roller coaster of both pressure(which rain didn't help my head), and a lack of hearing. Anyways not that those details are important but they are apart of how the day went, so I decided to include them. We made it back to the hostel and grabbed an umbrella and our jackets as we decided to grab a snack for when we needed to munch. We figured it was raining anyway, yet another excuse to stay at the hostel. As we made our way back from getting snacks it started to pour, so this ended up being a great decision.

A few side things to add that I thought was interesting. We ran across some beer peddlers (they were trying to sell us beer) later on this evening as we were walking, they tried multiple times to sell us beer on the streets. Kind of strange. Then we realized everywhere was closing, does that make it any less strange? Nope. But they are trying to sell a beer when the only other place you can get it is at a restaurant.

Also above all the restaurants and street vendors there are housing arrangements. Many seem to have children, and there aren't green spaces in common areas. The parks that they have are surrounded in little picket fences and have either sand or a slightly softer then cobblestone feel, but definitely still hard. Pretty interesting as they do seem to have many parks but it kind of catches you off guard, because at home we are so used to seeing them around grassy areas, and that certainly isn't the case here.

Showers have also been an interesting adventure as you never know what you are going to get. We definitely seen our fair share of different showers and it really has been a learning curve as to how they work. They are much different then at home. Makes you feel real dumb when you don't know how to work a shower. We are always learning new things, from simple to complex. This being one of the simple things.

This evening around 11 we ventured out for dinner. We went to a unique place around the corner from us with many gluten free things. We had this interesting tapa that was mashed potatoes, pulled pork, and a poached egg. Luke says it tasted great and that he would definitely have it again. This is one of the times that not being able to taste has been sad as I feel I would have enjoyed it. 

All in all this sickness has been annoying, most certainly for all of the obvious reasons but here are a few extra. On the train coming here from Valencia, everytime we would go in a tunnel my ears would scream at me and get more painful and more plugged, if that's even possible. I also haven't been able to hear that well for a few days because they have been so plugged. This has caused a few heart aches. Example, all of the doors here seem to be pull, from the inside, so push it to get in. Which I learned is different then back home because for fire code all our doors have to be push to get out of which really makes much more sense, especially in crowded places. Anyways example, at the laundry mat when we were leaving to get food, I reminded Luke to pull to get out, well he instinctively pushed causing the glass door to make a loud banging sound. After I said a little on the agitated side that he clearly didn't he me. Oops. That wasn't smart of me, he was already embarrassed and anxious that caused a moment of frustration on his part especially cause he clearly didn't actually hear me. This short lived incident caused us to figure out that even though I feel like I am yelling at him because my ears are so plugged I am hardly speaking normally. So he actually can't hear what I am saying most of the time. Not a great way to find out but a short lived moment for a longer term gain I suppose we will take. Hopefully not to long though as I hope resting today will have kicked this thing. 

The cobble stone dries after the rain. Although when it is raining because of the unevenness and the cracks in the stones it pools quite quickly we figure this is also why it dries quicker. 

We have a few full days ahead of us exploring new areas of Barcelona and experiencing all that it has to offer. Hopefully we will make it back to the market for more Chocolate covered strawberries as they were a delight. 

And so the adventure continues...