Dear Reader,

Spain has meant many different things to me over the years. Maybe that’s why it has taken me so long to write about it – my apologies. I know you’ve been practically balancing on the edge of your seat since I left Europe in late June. I am an expert in anticipation.. or maybe I am still finding it hard to put into words. Bear with me.

In 2009 Spain was my intended exchange destination. In coming to terms with the shortcomings of my own Spanish tongue in 2010 and ultimately choosing Copenhagen, Barcelona became less of an exchange prospect and more of a travel priority. “Once I get to Copenhagen I am boarding the first plane to Barcelona,” I used to say. Later I found myself not doing that at all and sticking around in the North for the majority of my trip. What was once my headliner became a footnote-sized eventuality in my tentative itinerary.

When it dawned on me that I had yet to visit Spain and my time in Europe was quickly coming to an end I packed my bags and left Copenhagen for Ronda with a heavy heart. I was to visit not only Ronda but Valencia and Barcelona, too. When I was return to Copenhagen I would only have 5 days before I got on my plane back home to Canada. My entire time in Spain was dampened in thinking “I bet so many awesome things are happening in Copenhagen right now… I am missing all of them.”

There were so many amazing things in Spain but still I found myself wishing I were in Copenhagen simply because I had grown to love it in Denmark. Inherently there was nothing wrong with this, however I did not fully appreciate Spain in wishing I was somewhere else. Looking back on it now I wish I had not gone to Spain being such a prude and enjoyed it for what it is. It’s unfair for me to judge any city within the context of other cities. I found myself thinking “Oh, well that’s better/cooler/more efficient in Copenhagen.” and that is not a sign of a good traveler. Or designer. I should evaluate each city in its own context and visit not longing for other places. I feel part of being a traveler is growing to numb sentimentality (see my post on sentimentality). It’s essential in appreciating new places. So for that reason, I need to apologize to Spain and return one day the right way.

Anyway here are 5 best things about Spain that I am now writing in retrospect.

5. Spanish Omelette
I’d live on this if it wasn’t so awful for you. I am convinced I can make this myself. It’s just potatoes and egg often served on bread. Outdid the paella for me. Also though, I was limited to vegetarian paella which I assume is less spectacular than seafood paella or other carnivorous varieties. I am pretty sure I had this almost everyday I was in Spain. Ronda to Valencia to Barcelona – Spanish Omlette was a must.

4. Tolerance
Spain is so gay. Like, really gay. I honestly can’t believe how gay Spain was. This was entirely unplanned, however when Mo and I got to Valencia we had arranged to rent out an apartment in the heart of the city. (To anyone traveling btw, I strongly recommend AIRBNB. Rent out an apartment, cook your own food, save money, have your own shower. Amazing.) In and around our apartment we saw quite a few top-down party-buses full of drag queens and blatantly gay young men. The first we saw we simply brushed off as a strange incidence but by the time we hit the 5th or 6th in the span of two days we knew something was up. On our last day in Valencia we had planned to take an overnight bus to Barcelona in order to kill two birds with one stone – sleep on the bus while we move between cities – however this meant that we needed to find a place to stay between 10am – when we were to check out of the apartment – and 1am – when our bus left from the station. We stashed our bags in the lockers in the station and went out exploring. When day turn to night we saw gay youth moving northward almost everywhere. Mo stopped a girl as asked what all the fuss was about. In broken English she replied “You know… uhh, gay? Big party of gay.”

Most people I met in spain just dealt with people being gay. It wasn’t a big deal. Once we got to Barcelona a guy and his boyfriend wearing a T-shirt that read “HIV POSITIVE” blew on my ear. I have no idea if his shirt was worn for awareness purposes or he was simply gloating – but no one looked twice, which I think is pretty awesome. Think what you want when it comes to gay men who advocate being positive. I enjoy being negative but more power to you if you have the balls to wear a shirt like that and simply want to educate. My point wasn’t to be political – all I am saying is that I’ve never been hit on more than I have in Spain and to know that is something that just happens on the street in other places of the world is awesome.

3. Colour
After spending months in Denmark it was nice to see some colour. The Danes absolutely hate colour. And whatever, with good reason. They wear neutrals but look fantastic! The Danes are some of the most fashionable people I’ve ever seen. I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed their very selective palette when it comes to fashionable clothing, though. When I on the metro from the airport upon first landing in Copenhagen it became clear that with my bright yellow and blue jacket I was going to stick out like a sore thumb in the Copenhagen cityscape. A coward would have bought a new jacket – and that is what I intended to do. However everything in Denmark is made for giant Danish men so I just had to deal with it for the winter months. Anyway, going to Spain was a relief because they absolutely are not afraid of colour. From the works of Gaudi in Barcelona to the man-thongs in Valencia, colour was necessary in Spain. I landed and said to myself “Dammit! I wish I had brought my pastels! There they are all the way in Denmark making no one happy.”

2. The Metro
Bar-none Copenhagen’s metro wins the award for best metro system (Update: see my post onThe Copenhagen Metro). However, I enjoyed the Metro systems in Valencia and Barcelona. I just have an affinity for well designed metro systems that provide an enjoyable traveling experience. If you strip down the crowds and petty thieves what you get in Barcelona and Valencia are two very beautifully designed metro systems. It is the lack of large crowds and petty thieves (all of which can arguably be discouraged by implementing good design) that make the Copenhagen metro much better, by the way, but what Spain has going on is nice too. The trains used in Barcelona and Valencia are now being used in Toronto, which I found nice to return home to and I suggest you check out if you are interested in that sort of stuff.

1. Public Space
In Barcelona, Mo and I stayed with a nice lesbian woman who took us out at night. She took us, along with a couple others staying with her, to a neighbourhood square in which youth simply just sat on the ground and drank. It was a perfect night and the atmosphere was great. Spain was littered with public meeting places that were used to their full potential. There was nothing great about this square to be honest. William Whyte put it best when he said “people will sit where there are places to sit.” It was places like that, that made me feel that retrofitting suburbia is possible. Just a couple of food places that are open late, some lights and a place to sit and community is born. That’s an over simplification obviously, but in all honesty there were few things in this square that could not be made possible in Canada. The interaction between people in this square was amazing. Strangers bonded. Dogs roamed between clique to clique initiating intermingling between owner and admirer. It was far from the isolation in suburbia I was used to and I loved it and it only reaffirms that landscape architecture is what I should be doing.