the Devil and the Sea

76| First date

"Well, that's it," Vincent sighs.

"Yes, you will miss this place."

We head towards the railway station.

"Unlikely," Vincent chuckles, and his answer makes me smile too. "But I'm going to miss you." He says cheerfully.

I silently smile, clinging my eyes to the clear blue sky.

It's only when I get on the train that I realize that I didn't take any money with me.

Oh shit! What was I thinking?

To be honest, at that moment I could not think of anything, I was just watching the relentless passage of time.

I sit by the window and Vincent takes a seat next to me. I watch him take a card out of his wallet.

"Are you paying for two?" Smiling, I ask.

"Of course." Answers as if it could not be otherwise.

I thank him and feel glad: it's nice that Vincent will pay for me.

As the train pulls away, I stare greedily at the landscapes we pass, to remember just like it looks with Vincent here. He puts his hand on my knee and squeezes, it takes me back to earth.

I steal a glance at his profile. He is so handsome. I want to remember him forever.

We start chatting about little things and I'm glad we can communicate so easily.

At some point, I put my head on Vincent's shoulder and fall asleep. I open my eyes only when the announcer calls we've at Sants and I wake up Vincent, who fell asleep as well.

Sants is the main train station in Barcelona. A horrible monster of concrete and steel, someone in the nineties thought it was beautiful. From Sants, the metro will take you anywhere in the city. Traffic in Barcelona is really bad. So, the subway or bikes are what you need.

Our first stop on our date in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia, the unfinished church of Gaudí. We arrive there at ten in the morning to avoid the huge crowds that form when bus after bus of cruise ship passengers arrive around noon.

"This is one of the main symbols of Barcelona. The most famous masterpiece of the architect Gaudí." I say to Vincent as he surveys the gigantic structure in the shape of a Latin cross surrounded by many pointed towers that seem openwork and airy. "And the second most popular place in terms of attendance."

"Only the second one?" Vincent is surprised.

"I hope you feel humiliated by the pure genius of Gaudí." I'm talking.

"I was just trying to describe exactly these feelings of mine." Vincent answers.

We go inside the church and find ourselves in the main hall, Vincent's jaw drops. It is monumental: the hall is dominated by huge columns of complex organic shape, illuminated by the morning sun filtering through massive stained-glass windows.

"Do they remind you of anything?" I ask Vincent, pointing to the pillars.

"They look like... trees?" He answers, trying to find the right word.

"Right! Gaudí was a devout Catholic and considered nature to be God's masterpiece. So everything in this room is about nature: the columns are trees, see? Now look up!"

Vincent stares up at the vaulted ceiling, gazing at the intricate shapes.

"Stars?" Vincent tells me, without waiting for my explanation.

"Yes! This hall is a night forest: the columns are trees and the ceiling is the night sky, so a person who comes here and prays feels as if he is alone in the forest in the company of God."