hideout

Back to Barna for a week amid the pandemic. Surprised that everyone is masked up both indoor and outdoor (with either surgical or KN95). Definitely a more socially responsible bunch than the ones back home. 

As I go solo, I have time to really “walk” the city. Funny how one pays attentions to different things of a city in different phases of one’s life. One looks the city from a different angles – restaurants, hotels, bars have been replaced by supermarkets, panaderias, transportation and demographics. 

Like what Tiet said, time stands stills in the Old continent. The buildings, the history, the traditions remind you of the past glory and make you feel that things don’t change much because no matter how long you’ve been gone and come back, the cities in the Old look the same. That’s where the Old has its charm. But deep down, it did change, not so much in appearance, yet “inside”– there are more e-scooters, bikes and people of color. The china-town-type of Chinese restaurants have been replaced by gentrified posh Asian bistros. Sagrada Familia did “grow” taller, and it is going to be finished (at the speed of the Old of course).