*The Rain in Spain...

The Rain in Spain may fall Mainly on the Plains, but the Rain in Barcelona makes the city smell like... urine. Yes, that's right. It doesn't smell like fresh roses or petunias;  nor like freshly mowed lawns;  nor pine needles that have been laying on the ground all summer. It doesn't even smell like worms. I think that would be better, actually.

You see, the thing about Barcelona that you might not realize right away, is that there is no grass. There are trees planted every 10 feet or so down almost every street, and almost every balcony has at least one, if not fifty, plants.. But grass is growth that is not featured throughout the winding one-way streets of Barcelona. I suppose no one has the time to look after it, cut it or care for it in any way. I have rarely seen a city worker hard at work doing anything besides picking up some litter or hosing down the squares where people drink until 3 am (this is necessary for washing beer, liquor and I'm sure urine, off the ground in these popular hang-outs around town).

This lack of little green sprouties means that dogs (and in some parts of town, humans) relieve themselves mid-sidewalk, on walls, on lampposts, on trees or on anything that isn't ... well... grass. You'll see little puddles with streams towards whereever lower ground is all over the sidewalk at all hours of the day and night. (Beware also of the poop. Some people don't scoop, which means other people step and drag and spread. It's gross. And also something I have not had the misfortune of experiencing firsthand. And you have to watch for them everywhere- they're like little mines, and you never know if you're going to accidently not be paying attention and have your shoe smell like poop for a day).

As I was saying, no grass means pee-pee all over the sidewalk. Of course the heat in Spain dries the little puddles rather quickly and you'd never know that the spot that you might pick up a penny from might have just well been peed on an hour or so ago (I don't pick up change here- gross).

And so, when it rains in Barcelona, and the people go running because the sky is about to open up, it is a good thing and a bad thing. I feel like the rain is necessary to wash the city of wee-wee and doo-doo, but it means that while it is raining and for about an hour afterwards, the city smells like a toilet that hasn't been flushed. Luckily it has only rained twice since I've been here, and this is the rainy season.

So my advice to anyone wishing to visit this town of dogs, because I think there are as many dogs as there are people here, is to bring an umbrella, galoshes and a noseplug if you plan on walking in the rain.

Note: I don't recommend walking around in the rain. I've been caught in it both times, and it rains so hard you can't even tell where you're walking, and crossing the streets means jumping over rivers of water about a metre wide.

*This blog was written at the request of my lovely sister, who requested to know all about the rain in Barca, and the smell of urine in the streets. This is how much I love you.