In the continuing effort to ingratiate ourselves with Barcelona society, Lee and I attended not one, but two very very Catalan parties last Thursday. The first was a local hotel chain's annual party. Poolside cava, jamon serrano, fideuo, and, of course, a Beatles cover band to give it the real Spanish feel. Our host was terrific about introducing us to all sorts of helpful travel agency types. I guess the party continues downstairs to their meeting rooms turned disco for the night. Sadly we had to cut the fun short to make it to the next party in time, but it was worth it.

Our friends Amy and Ivan invited us to the College of Architects annual party. I guess it's the season for that kind of thing! The party was hosted in the castle on top of Montjuic. It has terrific views of the Mediterranean and the entire city. Apparently visiting the castle at night is a rare treat. It was indeed gorgeous. Unfortunately Lee and I opted for fashion over photo-ops so neither of us could shove a camera into our small clutches. We sipped more cava and ate some coca (spanish coffee cake). They provided us with cardboard forms that you could supposedly magically fold into stools to sit on to enjoy the live jazz and the vistas. Not being terribly architectually inclined myself, I wound up on the ground on my first attempt at a stool. By the time we figured it out, we managed to steal enough real chairs. But in true American fashion, we were the first on the dance floor once the DJ started. Someone had to show the locals the authentic moves from Thriller! I'm not sure people knew what to make of us, but it was an excellent night.