The Lover and the Boyfriend

I finally introduced my boyfriend to my lover, and vice versa, today. El Hombre, meet Barcelona. Barcelona, meet El Hombre. In case there was any confusion, El Hombre is my boyfriend and Barcelona is my lover.

Barcelona, the most brilliant of all cities. We arrived last night after a full day of traipsing around Amsterdam. It was my first time to Amsterdam as an adult (the last time I went was when I was five years old, and I have absolutely no recollection of it) and I was unexpectedly quite charmed. I think I expected Amsterdam to be some dirty, sleazy city where everyone is high and drunk all the time, with prostitutes running amok everywhere. Instead, Amsterdam is an absolutely lovely city with romantic bridges over quaint canals, charming side streets and alleyways, and best of all, bike lanes everywhere!

Spending a day-long layover in Amsterdam was a breeze thanks to the well-connected train system from the airport. We put our bags in storage and hopped on the train for a 20-minute ride to Amsterdam Central station, walked over to the Pancake Bakery for a Dutch pancake lunch (a Dutch pancake is a concoction that is thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake, filled with sweet or savory fillings - El Hombre declared it to be "a messed-up crepe"), rented bikes and cruised around town, visited the Van Gogh museum, then strolled around the red light district before heading back to the airport to catch our very bumpy, delayed flight to Barcelona.

Being in Barcelona just makes me happy. We overslept past noon (which is fine in Barcelona, since nothing really opens until then anyway), had a delicious lunch of tapas on Passeig de Gracia, then spent the late afternoon visiting Gaudi's fantastical La Pedrera and walking through La Rambla, el Barri Gotic and el Raval, finishing off with a muy sabroso dinner at Paco Meralgo of razor clams, escargot, pimientos de padron, gambas al ajillo, pan con tomate, grilled squid with white butter beans and fried squash blossom filled with mozzarella cheese. I adore the way Spanish people eat - fresh vegetables, meat and seafood prepared so simply (usually grilled or fried with olive oil and sea salt) yet so deliciously, served with great, affordable wines. Everyone should eat like this, always. The perfect weather (75-80 degrees, breezy, sunny and zero humidity), unique architecture and amazing cuisine is conspiring with me to turn El Hombre into a fan of Barcelona.

We have four more days in this most brilliant of all cities - I can't think of a better way to kick off any type of travel or adventure than spending a few days in my favorite city in the world!