So here I sit on the side of the road, potentially in urine but... sometimes that happens. This city smells like a toilet all over! There are garbage men and street cleaners constantly roving the streets 24 hours a day yet the heated smell does not seem to be depleted. The walls of the city's giant stone buildings loom up along the sides of the narrow streets, creating a vortex that just seems to trap smells of all sorts.

Anyway, I just came from the craziest block party extravaganza (like the Fernwood block party x25). Each block in the Gracia neighborhood creates a themed area with sculptures, a live band and a decorative ceiling that hangs between the buildings. Last night I visited 5 of the supposed 20 areas within the pocket of the Gracia, a neighborhood in the north of Barcelona. They were encouraged to use recycled materials and I was really impressed with their craftsmanship and creativity. There was a North Pole themed block which had hundreds of crocheted snowflakes hanging amongst the icicles that were made from cut open, clear water bottles. Another favorite was the video game themed area (of course) where they used recycled materials to create hanging pac-man ghosts, a giant Tetris board with hanging pieces and a life sized game boy. We, I picked up a couple friends along the way- French guys who drove down from a town in Northern France that day, ended up at the Catalan street party and oh my goodness... it was a major Spanish dance party! The intersection of 4 streets was jammed full of Catalan locals and I think we were the only white people in the mix. It was a load of fun and totally unplanned... this is the best kind ;)

So back to the urine that I potentially sit in. I'm outside the flat of my French friends where I await their return. We are going to go check out the beach in the wee hours of the morning and probably grab a bite. Another great and notable night along my adventure.