|
Description
|
Manuel is a 22-year-old guy from
Austria. He lives in a very small village near the Alps and he had never
visited Spain before. We agreed to meet in front of Sagrada Familia’s monument
because I have been living in that neighbourhood since I was born. Once I
arrived at the place we met, he was taking a lot of pictures and he could not
stop saying that it was one of the most amazing monuments he had ever seen. When
I told him that there was another building’s façade behind the one we were
looking at, he was really surprised. Then I realized that something which is
obvious for me, since it is part of my quotidian life, could be shocking for
someone who has a different perspective.
After having visited the Sagrada
Familia, we went by subway to Les Rambles. He had been listening Catalan for a
while, so he was more surprised about the lack of people speaking that language
in Les Rambles. For that reason, he was immediately aware of the fact that it
is a place of the city which gathers more tourists and foreign people rather than locals. As he wanted to be more
engaged with the local culture and avoid crowded and “tourist trap” sites, we
decided to go to a popular bar among students in Barcelona: L’Ovella Negra. He
enjoyed a lot the young environment of the pub, the songs that were played and
how cheap everything was!
Finally, we decided to end the day next
to the sea, in Barceloneta’s beach. Even if he prefers to spend a relaxing day
in the mountain, the sea and the sun is something that he loved so much,
especially because he would not have thought before about having such a big
beach in an important city. It actually made me think that I should appreciate
more the positive things about my city which I usually consider as normal ones,
such as it has been pointed out with La Sagrada Familia anecdote. It is always
good to see your own city from a different perspective!
|