Tall and tan and Young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking, And when she passes each one she passes goes “a-a-ah!” First time I heard the lyrics to this song, “The Girl from Ipanema”, by Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz, I wondered if there was any truth to this song? I took a trip to Rio de Janeiro to find out for myself.
Adrenaline is pumping and my blood is pulsating to see Barcelona but I’m not trying to do it on foot. I found out I could rent scooters and headed over to the closest scooter rental shop. I get to the shop, excited to practice my Spanish and rent my scooter. After a few attempts of them not understanding my accent we decided to speak in English. Papers are signed, helmet is distributed, maps are in hand and the count down of my 24-hour time period had begun. The shop was located off of Avinguada Diagonal, a street that cuts the city in two, diagonally from east to west. The next destination Dream Team land, yes Olympic Village where the USA Dream Team made history and let the world know who reins supreme when it comes to basketball. I didn’t make it to the gym where they won but I managed to enter Olympic Stadium and I met some U.K. girls along they way. They were in there twenties and doctors, I was so jealous because they were making British Pounds, their money nearly doubles the US dollar.
Fellas, I know you want to know about the women in Barcelona and I must tell you they are dope! The city is a melting pot; I meet an entire rainbow while there. Theresa and Bambi from Stockholm, Sweden were super cool. Theresa’s parents are from Thailand and Bambi’s parents are from Iran. It was my first time meeting women from both countries and the cool thing about them were they were
easy going and knew how to have a great time! They move to Barcelona to work and go to school. Stockholm is about a 3.5-hour flight from Barcelona. The funny thing is we met while waiting for our movies to start at the English movie Theater. I was going to see Million Dollar Baby with Spanish subtitles and we later linked up at a party that week.
A visit to Barcelona, Spain or Espana as called by the Spaniards, was special because it marked my 1st trip outside the United State of America my homeland. Living in the US you always think of yourself as Black, White, Asian, Latino but never really American, that all changed while filling out my immigration form and writing USA in the origin country space. Disembarking from the plane and walking up the jet way, thru the terminal hall while reading advertisements in Spanish built excitement as I reached immigration. The following moments unfolded being asked; how long are you staying, why and whom you come to visit and finally a flip of a page to virgin passport page culminated with a fresh stamp and enjoy your stay. The day was March 08, 2005 when I first landed on foreign soil and it would mark the beginning of a journey. World Wide Nate was not thought of at the time but my desire to see the world was in full bloom. I came to Spain for two reasons; to visit my friend Akasha, a high school friend and visit my cousin Brandon playing basketball in San Sebastian. Akasha was studying abroad for grad school and that meant I had a free place to stay. I’m always trying to save a dollar or Euro in this case and I welcome sofas, futons and sleeping mats. The key is not to sleep much and you never think about where you have to sleep.
Written by: Nate in Trip Ideas
Visting Europe is best in the sumer jun-sept. Visiting south america is best in the winter especially december when it is cold in the states. South Africa is best visited during the winter also.
One of the best trips I ever took was NYE in Rio de Janiero. Our money doubles and all the action is within footsteps if you stay in Copacabana.
