We flew to Barcelona last weekend to escape the cold and see a touted Spanish metropolis, but mostly to visit friends. Silvia Prada and Kim Ann Foxman. On the day we arrived they were preparing for a rather large Aids Awareness party. There were 600 people on the guest list including Pedro Almodovar and Mayor Jordi Hereu. As it turns out though, the real Mayor of Barcelona was the one hosting the party.Silvia knows everyone. She is a professional knower of people. On her street, shop proprietors and neighbors shout the latest news to her from their balconies and doorsteps. One neighbor (an overly protective ex-con) brings her plates of food, cleans her apartment and watches her dog - a rambunctious weimaraner named Silvia - when she is out of town. Yes, her dog is also named Silvia. Silvia and Silvia. It's
genius.Those of you attempting to pen the next hit Broadway musical (West Side Story meets Greece meets Rent) should spend some time on Silvia's street in El Raval. It's the cutest, grittiest, most Barcelonian little street you could conjur, replete with vintage shops (run by a pastiche of characters ranging from the "street" Betty Page to the fedora'd Cuban refugee), tattoo parlors, skate shops, fashion boutiques and
record stores. Laundry hangs from the balconies above. Kids, dogs, old ladies and hipsters parade by. Silvia knows them all. Or rather, they all know Silvia.On our first day Silvia and Kim Ann took us to Mercat de Sant Josep (Mercat de la Boqueria), a mind-blowing open air market that trounces Pike Place Market. It's on one of Barcelona's best known streets - La Rambla (street performers, flower stalls, shops, cafes) - just a five minute walk from Silvia's doorstep. La Boqueria has it all; seafood, fresh fruit and veggies, baked goods, butchers (whole skinned rabbits with their
eyeballs intact!), chocolate, and a bunch of stands serving full meals (paella, stews, sandwiches etc.). Silvia and Kim Ann treated us to fresh fruit drinks (coconut-strawberry, papaya-mango) and slices of first rate pizza pie direct from the oven. Then they had to go set up for the party, so we tagged along to hang and 
help out. There was a lot of action at the club; balloon and food deliveries, promo packet assembly, decorating. After a few hours of that we went back to Silvia's to get ready.The place was packed about an hour in to the dinner portion of the party. The food - served tapas style from trays circulating the room - was very good but was getting snatched up fast. Kim: "I saw a tray with some puffy appetizer on it! Where did it go?!" Silvia: "I need a break. Let's go outside and find something to eat." Kim: "You're going to skip out on your own
party? Are you sure??" Silvia: "Of course - is fine! We won't say something. We go, we come back and no one knows." I love a hostess that doesn't sweat it. So Silvia, Kim Ann, Kim and I left the Psuedo-Mayor and his crew to fend for themselves and went off to grab a bite down the street. It was fun until I became convinced I had left my bag sitting at a booth in the club. We rushed back just in time for Kim to remember that I hadn't brought a bag to the party. Yes, I am always me.
On stage, one member of a performance art duo was transforming the other into Devo, Madonna and other pop music stars using only tape and cleaning supplies. Hmmm. Then Kim Ann jumped on stage to begin her set. She spins records and has got skills. She took it from an AIDS Awarness dinner with Mayor Hereu to a 600-person dance club party. At some point during
this set, she got Kim and I drinking Red Bull and vodkas. I had been avoiding this drink on principle. That, and the off-putting associated visual of Demi Moore with a Red Bull in one hand and a cigarette in the other (courtesy of my mother's 'Ketchum sightings' reports). But they were tasty beverages. And they kept us chipper. 
After Kim Ann's first set, Lady Kier (formerly Lady Miss Kier from Deee-lite) spun a set. She was Divaesque in her purple prom dress, lace gloves, and trademark bee-hive wig and she kept the dancefloor packed. Kim Ann got back up for a second set at around 3 am, which was fever-pitch fun, but Kim and I had hit the wall. We took a cab back to Silvia's apartment and slept like logs.
The next day Kim and I walked to La Boqueria to get our morning juice (coconut-kiwi and dragonfruit-banana) and cafe con leches. Then we walked down La Rambla and its side streets until we received word that the girls were up and about. We met up and they took us to a great lunch spot near La Placa Rieal for veggie burgers and cheese crepes. Then they showed us around Ciutat Vella (one of the city's oldest areas). We popped in to Santa Maria del Mar cathedral and a variety of shops. It was
fabulous to have Mayor Silvia and Kim Ann show the way. Kim and I just bumbled along behind them, taking in the sights and eating stuff. Later that night Silvia and Kim Ann took us to a friend's restaraunt, Las Fernandez, also just a five minute walk 
from Silvia's door. The food was so good I can't think of the right adjective. Smoked meats and cheese, salad with roast squash, mushroom-stuffed gnocchi, a perfectly cooked whitefish and a dessert plate with a little of everything. After dinner they brought us anise which tastes sort of like sambuca or jagermeister or chartreuse, but grows on you (like gluhwine) as you drink it.The next day Kim and I did some shopping on Silvia's street. We scored big. Then, despite the rain, we all took a cab to the beach to eat paella at Escriba. Again
Silvia's expertise was key as there are a million places that serve paella. She knew the manager (of course), so he brought us special paella. All I know is, it was good. We also ate steamed mussels, anchovies and sardines. Then they brought us a bottle of Orujo Hierbas, a florescent green "herbal" liquour. It, too, grows on you as you drink it.Later that night Kim Ann spun at another club at 3 am. Silvia went but Kim and I were too exhausted to keep up with those crazy girls. We stayed in and watched a movie with Silvia (the dog). The next day Kim and I took a cab to Gaudi's Segrada Familia. One word. A-cid. They started construction on this hallucinatory house of
worship in 1862 and are hoping (a "wildly optimistic" date, according to the brochure) to complete it by 2026. Advice: Don't pay to go inside - you can't see anything because of all the scaffolding - but it's worth taking a look from the street.Later that afternoon we said goodbye to Kim Ann, Mayor Silvia and Silvia (the dog) and flew back to negative 4 temperatures (celsius, but still) and sleet. Home sweet home. As Silvia advised in a recent e-mail, we considered this short but sweet trip our Barcelonian appetizer. We can't wait to get back for the main course.
