What was to be Barcelona: Day 2

I thought communicating with the locals would be easier than it has been. I feel like we don't share some of the basic vocabulary of nouns.  And I definitely don't recognize the names of any of the food.  Luckily, this is a city designed to service an international variety of tourists, so almost every place has pictures of the food and the pricing out front.   

So getting the food is easy, but the question then becomes, do I want any of it?  Every dish I have tried here has just seemed little off.  It's hard to put my finger on what it is, the meat is somehow too salty and oily, the vegetables seem like they have spent too much time in vinegar.  The bread is fine.  Apparently we agree on the way bread should taste.  I thought about staying here for the next few weeks as a weight-loss strategy, but I'm sure I would eventually find an acceptable way to overeat again.

Barcelona is a city waiting for Summer and unsure of what to do with itself in the mean time.  It has magnificent beaches but not a ton of use for them in the current weather of 50-55.  Each restaurant I have entered has been empty, so you would think that there would be some level of enthusiasm at my arrival, but everyone acts the way the locals do in the movies when a Nazi officer comes into the store or tavern of the occupied city, or when the bad guy walks into the bar in an old Western. 

Everyone scatters to the back, and one person tentatively walks up and just stares at you.  We stare at each other before I bungle through some greeting and then we kind of go back and forth in a mixture of Spanish/Catalan/English until I am sitting down.  By now they have figured out that I am American, and despite the frosty reception, they clearly want me to feel at home, so the music changes.  seriously, every time, each restaurant must have a cd it keeps and written on it must be, "Play in case of American"  It has been the most eclectic mix of music with the one common thread being that the songs are in English.  For example:

"The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers
"Imagine" by The Beatles
"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton
Something by the Ramones
"Talk that Talk" Rihanna and Jay-Z

Probably not a great surprise to those who know me that I have found the interpersonal experiences awkward and difficult to navigate, but Barcelona in the Winter is great for wandering around by yourself.

I spent most of the day exploring Montjuic.  Which, as near as I can tell is either translated Mount Judah, or Jew Mountain.  This is a very broad hill that offers a gorgeous view of the city and harbor and has many museums, gardens, and a large stadium.  The view might have changed my life a little bit.