So finally in Barcelona and have to say what an incredible city. Tons of stuff going on and so much to see. Weather is great (compared to Moscow at least) and the city is decently decked out in holiday lights and ornaments too.
There are basically no tourists here right now. Did not hear any English at all or really even see a tourist until we went to the Mercat de la Boqueria today where there were a bunch but so far they all seem to be down there on the lower Rambla (which is kinda seedy and sucks - Boqueria is kinda cool though). I can only imagine that it’s the complete opposite of the summer months when the place is packed.
Last night I wanted to get out and see what the club scene is like here so I tried Apolo, but when I showed up it did not look like it was open, so I moved on to Shoko to give that a go. While waiting to get a cab I almost ran into two Chinese girls who were walking ahead of me and tried to open them up asking where I could find cigarettes. No response – didn’t seem to speak English nor Spanish when I tried that and they looked about 18 up close and just kept giggling so I moved on. No biggie, just wanted to get in the right mindframe.
Arrived at Shoko and first walked around a bit to familiarize myself with the area and check out the beach, where it turns out the drug dealer and other dudes were hanging out. Got back to Shocko and a host came up to me and started lobbying me to come in – I was rolling suited and I guess since there seem to be so few foreigners in town he wanted me in there? Anyway, when I got into the club another host showed me and then put me at a table in the back, which later turned out to be the VIP section (!)
Cool thing about that is that you can smoke there after midnight which was great.
Unfortunately, it was pretty dead from when the restaurant closed at midnight until around 1:30 with basically no girls in there at all and just a few social circle groups milling about outside the VIP lounge. Even after than when things started to pick up it the ratios stick sucked - 70-30 guys to girls, with 10 of those girls being a group of 30-something 4s and 5s who'd had a dinner party at the club earlier and I'd scoped out. By 2 it was more like 65-35 I’d guess, but sure seemed like there were a ton of dudes in there and very few targets worth pursing.
As a few more girls came in (along with tons of guys) I'd say most were so-so and younger, early 20s (at best) college girls. Basically a bunch of high 5s with a few 6s maybe. It stuck me that I’m going to have to seriously start lowering my Moscow standards. By 2:30 there were a good amount of people there - all locals from what I could tell. That’s not a bad turnout for a Monday night two days before X-mas I’d say. But given how tough the locals can be and how young everyone was for the most part I wasn't all that motivated to approach and so didn’t get to do more than 2 sets, which both went nowhere. First one was to ask two pretty (but young) girls out on the patio for a light – they immediately pointed to the two dudes sitting down behind me and said they’ve got one (ouch), sort of ignored me and walked off. Then to add insult to injury the two guys both bummed cigarettes off me as well!
Second set one was just a standard bar chat with the girl next to me when I was getting a drink. Went ok but no English, my Spanish is not up to par and she was sort of a ‘good from far but far from good’ kinda girl so I got nowhere and bailed out quickly. At that point I was tired and figured I’d had my fun so I packed it in around 3:30.
For sure I am going to have to recalibrate a bit here given the apparent slowness and lack of tourists. I figured Christmas time would be pretty slow and last night wasn’t great but I'm glad I got out. There is so much to see and do here and given that the club scene seems to be a bit slower and younger now I will most likely just focus on relaxing and enjoying myself, eating great food and seeing the sights I think. Not expecting much but not going to fret about it - the city is great and liking it a lot so can’t complain. But will try to check out a couple places Thursday – Friday to see if it picks up a bit.
RE the women here, I’d say that the locals all seem to dress pretty well and are fairly feminine - and there is nowhere near the amount of fatties that you see back in the US. Most girls tend to be in ok to decent shape, if not overly slender. The older women (35+) also seem to at least try to keep their figures as well for the most part. That said, there are not really many stunners here from what I have seen, and there are a lot of younger girls sporting the ‘hipster’ vibe with the big nerdy glasses look, funky tennis shoes, etc. But I’ve only been here a day so let's how I feel about it by the end.