Barcelona in Autumn. Think an orange glow to the daylight, a sun that keeps you warm when your in it, but deserts you when you stand in the shade. Think streets lined with trees, their leaves gone from green, to yellow, to brown, to falling and covering the ground in piles that crunch as you walk through them. Think stunning blue skies contrasting the leaves that are still on the trees. Think wearing a just hoodie to keep warm, over long pants and top, but wishing you had slightly more on when the a cloud passes over the sun.
It was Thursday afternoon. I was standing in Plaça Catalunya, twirling my "free tours" umbrella, waiting for someone to ask for a tour. I had already taken a group of Italian tourists that afternoon, and was waiting to see if I would get a second group that day (the closer to Winter it gets, the less tours I give).
A little girl jumped through a pile of leaves, laughing as they crunched under her feet. People fed the hundreds of pigeons that flock in the plaza. People came in and out of the big department store, El Corte Ingles. A group of teenage girls took selfies with their shopping. The world seemed so happy.
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The airport bus pulled in, and a man stepped off with a bag and a suitcase, only to drop them so that he could catch the two kids who flew at him. He scooped them up in his arms and hugged them tight. A lady with a baby wasn't far behind, and he put down the kids, to pull her into his arms and kiss her. I watched them as they all talked over each other, and hugged each other over and over again, and wondered how long they had been apart. Not that it mattered: the family was reunited, and it made me really happy. It also reminded me how much I missed my family. I sighed, watching the family make their way home.
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I missed my family, but I loved living in Barcelona. And, besides, the next day I was going to the concert of my favourite band, Why Don't We, and Eben was opening for them. I was so so excited, and had been wearing their merch all week. I was, at that very moment, wearing the Big Plans hoodie, and a beanie with the Eben logo on it. My mind slipped into a daydream of what the next evening would be like.
"Hey, nice hoodie!"
I turned to see to whom the american accent belonged. And gasped.
"What the actual flipping-" I shook my head in disbelief. "Where did y'all come from?"
I had turned only to find that the person who had complimented my hoodie was none other than Daniel Seavey, and he was accompanied by the rest of his band, Eben, and Zach Caspary.
"Nice to meet you too," Daniel chuckled at my reaction. He came closer and pulled me into a hug.
"I knew I was going to see you on stage tomorrow night, but I never dreamed I would actually meet you!" I told them, still freaking out, but only internally.
Soon I had gone around and hugged them all, and introduced myself.
"We were told that the people with the umbrellas give free tours," Said Jonah, "And we saw your hoodie, and thought we'd ask for a tour."
"I would love to give you a tour!" I smiled. "You want to see the Gothic Quarter, and Las Ramblas, and Columbus, I assume?"
"And who?" Zach asked.
"Columbus. The tour ends up down at the port, where there's a monument of Christopher Columbus, Christofer Colón, the man who discovered America back in 1492. I'll give you the full history when we get there," I smiled.
"Are you a walking history book?" Jack joked.
"Oh, yes. I am a walking, talking, polyglot, history book," I replied, all seriously.
"Wait, polyglot?" Corbyn's eyes widened. "How many languages do you speak?"
"Almost 5."
"And they are...?"
"English, Spanish, Catalan and German fluently, and then most of Italian, and I know quite a bit of French and Portuguese, and I can say hello in more than 20 languages. Yes, I am a language nerd," I laughed. "Anyway, enough talk about me. Let's go!"
And with that, I lead them off on the tour of my dreams.
