i lived in Barcelona for 4 years, from 1999 to 2003. it was a landmark time in my life, i went through so many highs & lows, i really got to see certain parts of myself i didn't yet know. i moved to Barcelona at 20, to get away from Switzerland and the mistakes i had been making there towards the end, to get out of the emotional mess i found myself in (a long story, as are ALL emotional messes); i wanted to learn spanish, to have fun, to be close to Alex and my mother.
my time with Alex was the most special time in my life so far, he was my soul mate, my best friend. i felt closer to him than i've ever felt with any man, including family. i will always be eternally grateful for the love he showed me: thanks to him, i don't expect anything less now.
then Alex had to leave and i stayed alone in Barca, a city which felt like home until there was no more Alex, and then i realized for me, Alex was my home but i was to scared (& scarred) to say that to him, so i wallowed.
the wallowing was Barca phase 2 - phase 3 was moving into my own place, on the 5th floor of Carrer Casanova, 20 (esquina con Sepulveda). i lived in that building more or less until the end of my time in Barca; in the 3 yrs i lived there, my flatmates were: Rosa (the tennis player who was never there), Olivier (the Belgian flamenco guitar player who used to pee in a bottle in his room cos he was too lazy to get up), Jo (an amazing Welsh girl whose inner demons sometime got the worst of her but whose heart was in the right place), Nathan (my darling Aussie brother), Bowie (the spirit of life - the human definition of happiness) and Steve (my best friend and love), lastly, the most constant friend, flat mate, sister i have ever had in my life, Tiggsy.
after a stint on the 5th floor, i moved to the 2nd floor. thank you Carmen for those amazing apartments and for being the best dueña i could have asked for. i got to meet some of my closest friends in Barcelona, and through them, i have created a web no gust of wind, storm or frost could ever destroy. i thank this magical city for the spell it cast on my destiny. in june 2003, i moved to Sydney, Australia in pursuit of a dream which never came true, but which led me to the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment