there are a few surprising similarities between barcelona and san francisco...things i hadn't known about or realized before. one (and granted it wasn't around when i was here 20 years ago) are the little flocks of parakeets that fly around screeching. you see them sometimes in san francisco, and they frequent a few palm trees on dolores street. you know they're in there if you walk by because they make a racket! when we first moved into our place here, i saw some little flocks of birds from far away and thought i heard that distinct parakeet screech, but it wasn't until barak and dorian reported that there were bright green birds on a plaza near arel's soccer practice that i began to wonder. when i finally saw them close up, i saw it is parakeets, and there are a lot here! the funny thing is that here they mingle with the pigeons some times, pecking at the ground. i've never seen one not in flight in san francisco. i asked a friend about them and she said that supposedly they came off a ship at some point and are spreading like wildfire.
not a similarity, but speaking of birds, i saw a funny thing the other day as i rode the bus home. there were some pigeons in a real live tree, eating berries off the tree! i found it very bizarre because i don't think i've ever seen a pigeon acting so much like a bird. i still hate pigeons, but it makes me believe that maybe at some point they weren't so rat-like and ground-dwelling.
the other funny san francisco thing that's a couple blocks from where we live is the tranvia blau. looks just like a san francisco cable car, but it's bright blue! we haven't taken it because it only goes a few blocks right near here, and just like cable cars it's absurdly pricey!
the last thing we're reminded of every day is the hills of san francisco. barcelona only has water on one side and pretty much starts sloping up from there until makes it all the way up to tibidabo which is at our back. there are a few random lumps along the way, but right before you get to our house, things start to get really steep. and that's what we walk up pretty much every day, much to arel and dorian's dismay! it makes the hill up to our house in san francisco from church street seem very easy.
