The gods are bowling + an update on my weekend

It has been raining in Barcelona for the last several days, reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest at about this time of year only not as cold.  Right now the skies are full of thunder and lightning and I'm reminded of SoCal storms.  I can hear little apartment dogs all over the neighborhood accompanying the crackling, flashing purple sky.  I had Catalan class this morning, but laying in bed half asleep was just too delicious.  Plus, the utility of learning that language is going to be very short-lived for me.  Being the nerd that I am, I love going to school, but it really isn't worth it anymore to invest time in learning a precious, but obscure language.

This last weekend was mostly laying around and being self-indulgent.  On Thursday night, one of my roommates offered me a Moroccan pastry I just couldn't resist: crispy, flaky dough - shiny glaze - sweat peanut filling - sprinkled with pistachio dust.  By Friday morning, I was writhing in pain from disregarding my food allergy.  I was late to Spanish class that afternoon because the cramping made it hard to walk.  Later that day I had to cancel my class with the 5 year old twins because I couldn't get out of bed.  I spent most of Saturday in bed as well, recovering from the stomach cramps, watching movies, and generally getting cozy during the storm.

Sunday was my sushi date with Jen.  We went to Nakashita in Born.  For some reason, I was not all there that day.  It should have taken me 15 minutes to get there, but instead...

1. I missed the metro stop to transfer lines.
2. In an effort to correct my mistake, I transferred at a different station, but I took the metro in the WRONG direction.
3. I had to get off the train, get back on in the correct direction and then transfer to get to the correct stop.
4. I had forgotten the map I had drawn.  It would have taken me about 25 minutes to walk to the restaurant from my flat instead of 45 minutes on my ridiculous metro route.

Anyways, Nakashita  is a darling little restaurant near Arc de Trionf.

The food was decent, but ordering sushi in Barcelona is definitely not the same as in the U.S.  They had no tea.  Also, they didn't have a list of fish with the pictures.  I don't know the names of a lot of the fish in English, and I definitely don't know them in Spanish.  I tried to order some things with the Japanese names and the server was super confused.  It was no Maneki.  The rolls were a little skimpy on the rice and not rolled very tightly, but I did manage to get my unagi fix.  

After sushi, Jen and I went to Ciutadella Park to meet up with her girlfriend, Martha, and Martha's parents who were visiting from England.  The park was filled with screaming children, tap dancers, and feral parrots.  

We had tea (well, everyone else had tea and I ordered wine).  the cashier at the bar tried to charge me 4€ for a glass of wine which is normally never more than 2.50€.  I yelled, "NO," and he said, "3.50€".  I grumpily paid.  In hindsight, I should have just stormed off or kept bargaining.  

To complete my day of decadence, I bought myself a fat cup of gelato: cinnamon, pistachio, and dulce de leche.  

Right now, I'm waiting for the storm to let up a bit so that I can take Duke out for a poo.  He doesn't like to go when it's raining.