Spent Friday and Saturday in Barcelona with my friend Helen. Besides Ibiza, I think this city’s the biggest tourist destination I’ve been to all summer. A recap:

• Visited two contemporary art museums: the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and the Centre d’Art Santa Monica.
• Did a lot of hanging out around the Gothic Quarter and La Ramba, the major pedestrian walkway in which street performers and tourists abound.
• For meals: did everything from tapas to fast food to fruit from La Boqueria, a public meat and produce market.
• Hiked up to the tallest point of Park Güell, best known for featuring a ton of work from the Spanish architect Gaudí.
• Had dinner on the boardwalk with my friend Ben in Barceloneta.
• Saw the amazing production, A Disappearing Number, as part of the Grec’08 Festival de Barcelona.

Spain as a whole was fun and different, but I don’t really like tourist-packed cities for the most part (despite — or maybe because of — my birthplace being San Francisco, one of largest tourist destinations in the United States). Unlike New York or London, Barcelona seems like a place where the economy would collapse without tourism. San Francisco is the same way. And because I barely speak Spanish and definitely don’t speak Catalan, I’m attracted to establishments that serve English-speaking customers. How do you get an authentic feel for a place if the place is too busy trying to serve your needs as a visitor? This is why I’m very much looking forward to Southeast Asia this summer, and hopefully sometime next year, South America or Eastern Europe. I can’t wait to explore lesser known spots.