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Highway A2 to Barcelona

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Christopher and Nico Standing on a wall on the Shores of the Mediterranean Sea in Barcelona, Spain. January 5, 2020.
Blake is still too little to do much more than hitch a ride.



January 31, 2020


On the A2 highway in Spain, the family and I traveled across the highway from Madrid toward Barcelona. I am in awe of the countryside as I focus on land I have never seen before. It’s as if I’m reborn and seeing a world that, no pun intended, is foreign to me.

The scenery is vast swaths of land littered with mountains and cliffs, and, of course, shapes of Toros (Bulls to you and I) loom large on the summit tops. Clouds lay thick in the valley while we traveled above it as if we were in an airplane at 36,000 feet. My mind wanders about. My family conversation is controlled chaos, and they discuss things like music, games, or activities. But I can block it all out and imagine the history that could be told about the land surrounding me.

I’m so lucky to be here. A trip for the ages for my family and me. This trip lets us forget about our life in America for a little while.

The sun begins its final push for the horizon, and the day silently ends as the dark sets in. The sky is a magnificent blue and orange. The mountaintops are a beautiful purple haze. At this moment, I’m lucky to be alive.

We made our way into Barcelona. After we paid our toll, it was too dark to tell where I was based on the scenery. Really, I could have been anywhere. There wasn’t much difference between the Port of Barcelona and the Port of Miami. Until daylight changed all that.

My eyes opened up the following day in a town called Sant Adrià de Besòs. And I eagerly got out of bed. The church bells tolled on the hour, every hour, a memory I’ll never forget. I made my way to the Port of Barcelona once again. Only this time in the daytime.

I parked our car at Plaça del Mar and went to the topside to see the beach. I could barely contain my excitement to see another ocean body other than the Atlantic and Pacific. As we reached the sand before the great sea, I stopped and stared before moving forward again. My whole grade school and middle school life, I have seen the name Mediterranean Sea on the map, yet I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime. But yet, here it was before me. Damn, I needed to think bigger when I was a kid.

I slipped off my shoes, removed my socks, rolled up my pants, and headed to the sea. I wanted to tell people and write in a blog that I touched the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. I felt fearless. Even braver than the young woman who decided to skinny dip in the 32-degree water 100 yards to my right.

This experience was just a peek into what would be a long adventure into a culture and country that was new to me. Spain was offering everything to me at that moment. A dream from a map to reality. So far, Barcelona and Spain are as beautiful as that sun-setting sky I marveled at during my drive to Barcelona on Highway A2. From highway to ocean. What a dream. 


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Captain Imperfecto enjoying the Mediterranean Sea with excellent company. January 5, 2019

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