So... What next?

Having had to run like hell for my flight, I eventually reached Barcelona where I'm planning to stay for two days. I've been in this impressive city before and I have a soft spot for it. This time though I will be staying a bit further outside its center, in a little village called Santpedor. The reason of my visit? To see my friend G. who I had met two years ago in Mongolia and have not seen ever since, so it's a good opportunity.

In the center of Barcelona I met up with her husband D. and after a sleep-filled drive on the bus, we had reached Santpedor where G. was expecting us. There was havoc all over the place that night, because Barcelona with in the football finals of... something... (my connection with football is similar to the one of vegetarians with jam: they know it exists but they don't give a crap.) Anyway, we went into this bar (the only one in the village) to have a beer and a chat. It was really nice to catch up with her. We had so much to say and we had changed so much, we were talking for hours and hours and we kept on going. The following night in fact, we went for dinner with another friend, C., who I had also met in Mongolia. With my now being able to speak spanish, we could chat and connect on a different level.

While G. was at work and we couldn't talk each other's ears off, I had a good stroll around the village to see what it's all about. One of the first things that caught my attention was that there were no people. The place seemed deserted. I was walking from street to street and could not find a single soul. At some point I asked a girl why there place was so quiet and she replied: "This is a village. The time of siesta is sacred". No wonder I thought. I looked at the time and it was 4pm. Like in most place in Argentina, everything and everyone goes to sleep from 1pm to 5pm.

Other than that, this little village kept winning me over more and more by the minute. Initially with its peace and quiet, then with its beautiful, narrow, stone-paved alleys and finally with its anarchistic architecture. I simply could not believe it. Every balcony and every face of each building was completely different to the one next to it. And we're not talking about neighboring suburbs. We're not talking about two blocks side by side. We're talking about having 3-4 different architectural fantasies come to life from one corner to the other! This is a 7000 people village and it gives the impression that each one of them once said: "This is my house, I'll build it the way I want to and I don't give a damn about what the rest of you have to say."! Don't get me wrong, I fully support them, but this being the kind of behaviour you normally do not come across in today's conservative societies (even less so in a very traditional catalan village where many of its residents don't even speak spanish), I personally am left speachless. Building fronts made of wood, stone, brick, cement, various colors, aluminium and glass, ceramic tiles, gold-plated decorations, but most of all, with no coherence whatsoever!! A village totally different than any other where I would gladly stay for a few more days to discover more of its hidden aspects if I had the time.

On friday morning I left early to catch my flight to Madrid. Needless to say I caught this flight also at the very last minute. This is getting ridiculous...



With G. and D.


Alleys of Santpedor...


Paved walkways...


And the village's central square.


The creativity begins.


Architectural fantasies...


...that have nothing to do with the ones next door!

M.