Love for Barcelona

Catalunya Metro Station

One of the reasons I love living in the heart of Barcelona is the buzz of the place. Cituat Vella is constantly in motion, filled with throngs of people peregrinating to and fro along La Rambla and meandering down the dozens of alleys that connect the plazas, home to al fresco dining and wining.

La Rambla is turning springy.

Admittedly, this din occasionally causes difficulty either falling or staying asleep. And, truth be told, I am just a tad nervous about having to make a difficult choice between closing the balcony doors and broiling or leaving them open and stuffing plugs in my ears during one of the heatwaves to which the city is prone.

Performance art is found everywhere.

But, I assuage my fears with the belief that this is a small price to pay to live in a city I enjoy so much. I also have confidence that what passes for a heatwave in Barcelona would be little more to a native Floridian than a spate of unseasonably warm April weather, but time will tell this tale.

In the meantime, I shall continue to enjoy the buoyant murmur of this vibrant city and watch in anticipation as the trees once again grow verdant and bask in the breezy warmth of the southerly, Saharan air beginning to prevail over the Siberian chill. Catalunya is waking from its winter lull and I look forward to see what the warmer months have to offer.

Parque Guell is usually packed throughout the year.

The beach is where you'll find some fun, get some color and find some colorful fun.

Places I Haven't Been...Yet, Episode 1: The Chilly

I opened Google Earth just a few moments ago for some reason that evaporated into the ether before I had time to look up what I was searching for. I had left the grid on from a previous session, though, and as the map zeroed in on its centering point above our new flat in Barcelona I was reminded of the fact that I would like to visit some place on the Prime Meridian at some point in my travels. As it happens, Barcelona, like all of Catalonia and most of Europe, lies to the east of the line demarcating east and west, but the Meridian travels through Spain, France and (naturally) England. I have always had a love of geography, or at least I've always enjoyed looking at maps. And part of that love affair has involved looking at places that would seem to be difficult to get to but stunning once you got there. As well as the aforementioned penchant for imaginary lines that bisect the globe.

Here, then, is a list of places I'd like to see before my time on this planet is done and a bit about why I'd like to see each place. It is by no means comprehensive and I am taking suggestions:

Tierra del Fuego--Any place named "The Land of Fire" has to be interesting, right? It's the farthest south of any part of any continent not named Antarctica. One can even expect to see snow in the summertime. It's got a boatload of mountains and two of the southernmost towns in the world (Puerto Williams, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina). How can that be anything but cool?

Antarctica--Speaking of southernmost and Antarctica, I definitely have my heart set on someday stepping foot on the continent at the bottom (or is it the top) of the world. It has penguins and scads of snow and glaciers and it's ridiculously cold and it's probably as alien a landscape as one can find without leaving the planet. Sounds like my kind of place.

Mongolia--Saw a movie that was filmed there back in the 1990s and it looked really beautiful. Not kidding.

Tromso, Norway--Or just about anywhere in Norway, really. But this is one of the furthest NORTH towns that anyone can go on the planet. I think it would be really awesome to see the Arctic Cathedral or the Aurora Borealis or the Midnight Sun.

There are a ton of other places I'd like to see in cooler climes as well, but as I've been working on this post for an inordinate amount of time given the subject, I'll leave you with those for the moment. More lists will follow, though, so be on the lookout. Better, tell me where you'd like to go and why.

A Rough Overview of Tampa Bay

Downtown Tampa

Sprawled lazily across a hundred miles of Gulf coast from Crystal River south to Englewood lies the Greater Tampa Bay area, a loose confederation of cities, suburbs and exurbs anchored by Tampa and Saint Petersburg, the twin hubs of culture and commerce around which the area revolves and the place where I spent most of my life. The area is home to a wide array of activities and places to explore, from the cityscapes its two largest constituent cities to semi-exotic island beaches, from highly-cultivated orange groves to verdant parks and just about everything in between.

Fog sometimes visits in fall

The city of Tampa is my preferred haunt, boasting some 330,000 residents spanning from the Interbay peninsula to the Pasco county line and it is here where you'll find the most urban setting in the region. Tampa hosts a number of attractions for a number of different tastes. Visitors can dance the night away in Ybor City, mix and mingle with the young urban professional crowd in SoHo, take in a Lightning hockey game at the St. Pete Times Forum (named for the paper that bought the rights to the building, not the city in which it is located) in downtown, a football game at Raymond James Stadium or visit Busch Gardens for some theme park fun.

Gulf Coast sunsets are captivating

If the beach is more your style, then the Pinellas county side of the bay is the one you're looking for. The best beaches are to be found on the barrier islands that stretch the length of the county's coast and draw millions each year. Clearwater and St. Pete Beach are two of the more popular and commercial beaches, but for those looking to get away from the din of the crowds the county offers Fort De Soto in the south and Honeymoon Island in the north. They'll each cost you a few bucks to get into, but I can tell you from personal experience that they're both worth the price of admission.

St. Petersburg is also home to one of my favorite cultural icons, the Salvador Dali Museum. The museum boasts of having "the world's most comprehensive collection of the renowned Spanish artist's work." It is here that you'll find seven of the painter's 18 original masterworks, including my personal favorite The Hallucinogenic Toreador. Central Avenue in St. Pete is a good place to look for nightlife on the western side of the bay. The area has been made-over in recent years to house a younger more artistic crowd which has given rise to a distinctive culture all its own. Not far from this hipster hangout is Tropicana Field, a distinctly shaped dome that houses the Tampa Bay Rays.