Clubs and walking around

I guess the man capris should have been my first hint: Europeans are a little weird.

I went to my first club last night with quite a few American friends. You walk inside and the first thing I noticed was smoking was not allowed (score!) but there was a smoking room (which I later discovered to be ridiculously packed). The first floor plays techno music. It also had the most intense bass I have ever felt in my life. Oh my goodness. More on this floor later.

The second floor played hip hop, and naturally that's where we all ended up. It was a lot of fun, but there were a couple run ins with creepy Spaniard guys. Worth noting, it seems like there were a lot more Spanish men there than women. They also dance a little funny to hip hop. There's a few wannabe gangsters (or, as we call them in the States, "wanksters") and it's even funnier because they're European. It just seems that, as a whole, on a dance floor, American guys are just cooler. Maybe it's because Europeans lack cultural influence from black people. Hmm...

I also noticed that a few of the Spaniards (sheesh, had to be pushing over 30) who were trying to get in with our group (read: American ladies) would try to copy what we American guys were doing. Haha, man that was funny when Walk it Out or Crank Dat came on.

As the night winded down, I went back downstairs by myself to explore what I deemed to be a more traditional European club feel. The techno's blasting (I don't think my heart needed to be pumping blood. The bass did it for me) and it's way easy for one person to blend in. All you have to do, and I'm serious, is just stand there and sway back and forth a little. Maybe move your arms. It's hilarious, and also kinda creepy. Just a floor full of people, many by themselves, just shuffling in place. The atmosphere was very strange, and if I had a bigger vocabulary, perhaps I could find a word to capture it.

So I stood there, dancing probably too good, (Editors note: Chad's a terrible dancer so be careful when he says he was tearing up the dance floor) and just stared at the stage. What appeared to be 4 men dressed in drag (and perhaps makeup/masks on as seen in Mrs. Doubtfire) were just dancing up there. Everyone in the club was facing towards them. I'm not sure why, but apparently the club owner thought 4 men in odd dresses would really sell his club as the hottest spot in town. I mean, seriously, how do you plan something like that?

Club Owner: We need something that will really separate us from the crowd of other clubs
Employee: How about 4 white dudes dressed in outrageous dresses, just swaying to the beat in front of everyone.
Club Owner: Up on the stage?
Employee: Yeah.
Club Owner: I love it. Now go get me some new man capris.

I must say though, the club was a ton of fun.

As for the walking around part, earlier in the day, I went out to explore an area I had yet to be in Barcelona. I was going to Miró park where it ended up being mostly a playground with this thing


It was a nice, big park and had lots of trees and places to sit. I walked down around the corner and was greeted with this site

I stumbled upon Montjuïc, which is where the 1992 Olympics were held. It's a massive area. Very cool to see and I'm going to go back to do it justice. I also thought it was funny because while I was walking around, I heard music playing. I followed the sound to another big building in the area. The music was coming from inside the building and there were tons of people waiting in line and crowding a fence.


All of these girls were running up and looking through this gate. I looked too, and inside you could kinda see stage lights, but the glare was terrible. They're all screaming and chanting though, and it was quite humorous. It was like the Beatles had showed up.

Okay, sorry this was so long. If you actually read through all of this, thank you and I hope it was entertaining. I didn't think I'd have so many stories to share every day.