World travel: Spain’s east coast – part 6
By: Alex Elkjær Vasegaard
Tags: Travel Writing, Travel, Contemplation, Spain, Vacation

On our way to Barcelona, we reached 252 km/h with the “high-speed” train, so everything about Spanish infrastructure — I retract that, I like the Spanish infrastructure, and I am embarrassed that Denmark doesn't have any high-speed trains. And I know we have the “lyntog” that can reach these speeds. They never do that, though. Also, 252 km/h isn’t particularly fast in terms of newer high-speed trains — but still!

The last two days in Barcelona were good, but we both walked around with a weird feeling. The first time we were in Barcelona, something like three weeks ago, the colours were different, and we were much more eager to visit new places. Everything seemed exciting and in abundance. This time around, I just wanted to sit in the hotel room. We, of course, didn’t. We had to enjoy our last time together. So we decided to book a tango lesson on a rooftop on Friday morning. It was super fun, and the teacher was super present in her explanations and communication with us. I’ve mentioned it before, but it is always inspiring when passionate people express themselves through their talents, arts, and craft. In my line of research, there is an entire field of study focusing on how other experts, animals, or natural phenomena operate in their environment—looking for patterns that could be utilised to improve systems. Most notably in optimisation, where the behaviour in evolution and genes are emulated in the so-called evolutionary algorithms such as the genetic algorithm. Side story: In a cave in New Zealand, we looked at glow worms in silence for 15 minutes trying to allow our eyes to adapt to the darkness for us to see them properly. I started thinking about how to emulate the movement of glow worms to an allocation problem – Only to find that such behaviour has already been imitated (glow worm swarm optimisation), and there are tons of examples of this. So even though a dancing lesson like tango has no obvious connection to my work, I can still be inspired. For example, to investigate how the couple is to operate cooperatively and in a synchronised manner while operations are computed independently from each other. Anyway, it was a surprisingly fun experience. Probably some of the best money spent on our entire trip. And it was the first dance of Sophia and me. It is always fun to experience something new, and when it’s both active, in an exotic city, and with your special someone, it doesn’t get much better. Not the last time we’ll do that.

The food at Koh-ndal thai bistro. Photo by me.

At a Thai restaurant, I also found a new superpower of mine — I can eat spicy food without breaking a sweat. Thanks, Korean food!

We also visited the Casa Lolea restaurant yet again. From our short but intense experience of Barcelonian restaurants, I think it’s still pretty safe to say it’s one of the cosiest tapas restaurants in Barcelona. They serve some really nice Sangria, and their tomato bread and Iberian ham are the best we have tried through all our weeks here.

In Spain, we have played a card game called 500 a lot. We both hate to lose. So much that we sometimes even refrain from playing. However, when being in Spain, no matter how much we lost (and I have lost a lot...), it didn’t really feel like losing. A side note to this, apparently, in some Spanish regions, it’s illegal to play cards on the open street during nighttime. The police will give you a fine if they catch you in the act. A bartender warned us in Costa Blanca, so thanks to him.

But mostly, thanks to Sophia. It has been great to spend three weeks+ in Spain with you. Surpassing all my expectations, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I really think it has made us stronger — both as a couple but also as individuals. Learning how we fit together and how I fit with you. It’s the first time we have been on such a long trip on our own without all-inclusive hotels, etc., indirectly hindering growth as they try to remove obstacles and accommodate us. We shouldn't be accommodated (all the time, at least). A healthy amount of hindrances and challenges are always good for progress. Paradoxically, It has been really engaging being this free, doing what we wanted to do, and being completely on our own in another country.

Initially, we planned to go on a road trip around the US, which was the plan for probably six months. Finally, when that couldn’t happen due to the border closure, we rescheduled to do a road trip around Italy because.. well, Italy is Italy, and Italian food is in Italy. Around a week before our departure towards Southern Europe, we found that Italy had put a mandatory Quarantine for people coming from Korea, leaving us pretty much baffled about the situation. I am happy to say that we had a successful trip to Spain, where we learned about the culture, the kitchen, the tango, arts, sciences, a little of the politics, but mostly we learned how we function as a couple in an uncertain/unknown environment. I can’t wait to travel around with Sophia for four months in the next year. We have kind of become a unit, so it is also weird that I know yet again have to be on my own in a new country, culture, and apartment. And despite us having thought about and even talked about saying goodbye to each other in the airport, the realisation of it came so suddenly. I’m glad I got a second final hug.

Photo by Matteo Raw on Unsplash

Time moves so fast; the best thing we can do is to appreciate the time we have with our close ones. Being a couple that moves apart is a weird feeling, even more, when it is voluntary. On the other hand, if a decision isn't scary, the gain and results can’t be very significant. And I am sure that Sophia and I are strong enough to cash in the profits eventually. Still, it is tough to leave each other. Especially after such an intense period together. I can only imagine a fraction of a fraction of how it will be to lose your partner after an entire life together—being on such a level of codependence. I can imagine, the only thing which comes close to being compared to it is losing a physical part of yourself. It is not my intention to talk about losing here — what I’m trying to say is that it’s about realising what you have when you have it. Losing is terrible, but because it is terrible, having it is worth it. The other way around is easier to comprehend, as if it was okay to lose something, then that something wasn't worthwhile. Because the only certain thing is that nothing is forever. Time moves so fast. I’m glad I got to spend some of it on Spain's east coast.