Where my soul dances

by Nane Sargsyan (Canada)

Making a local connection Spain

All Spanish and especially music always attracted me. Spanish songs accompanied me first on the way to school, university and then to my newly opened travel agency in Yerevan. And on one of the May days of 2018 I received an invitation - an old friend of my father from Spain invited me to visit his city Lloret. I could not refuse. A few days later I had the visa and the tickets. But as it turned out, I wouldn’t go there alone. My childhood friend Seda from Moscow would accompany ме. Our paths came together at Barcelona El prat airport. We were met and taken to Lloret de Mar - the most popular Mediterranean resort on the Costa Brava. Dad's friend promised to show us everything, advising us to rest before “tomorrow's tour”. We could not fall asleep due to the increasing drum roll coming from open windows. My inner voice said, "Nane, don’t sleep, you are in Spain - no one sleeps here." Going down the street, we found ourselves on a dance floor stretching all over the city center. I saw this for the first time - children, adolescents, youth, old people, tourists and citizens - everyone is dancing! Someone with a glass of wine - someone without. Music, dance and joy. Sincere happiness in the eyes. The music poured indefinitely, on each lane different, but all the melodies were united by one thing - it was my playlist, guitar, music of my soul and body. I thought, “I definitely was a Spaniard in a past life, there is no other explanation.” As promised, for a couple of days we were shown from the car windows all the main attractions of Lloret. Patiently fulfilling our duty to the inviting party, we thanked and moved further... The intercity bus took us 10 km north of Lloret, to the neighboring town Tossa de Mar. If not for the inscription on the bus, I would have thought that I was traveling by time machine to the Middle Ages. Everything in Tossa was shrouded in the spirit of the Middle Ages: narrow, fortified streets with lanterns, stone houses and their windows with shutters, small noisy pubs and of course its 12th-century fortress, which defended the village from pirates in the Middle Ages, and today attracts strangers into Tossa's arms and captivate their hearts forever, as happened to me. First you are charmed by the sun, then you fall in love with the fortress and its secrets, and the Mediterranean landscapes that come before your eyes and remain forever in your memory as the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life. Before we got off the bus, we found ourselves at the annual religious festival of Tossa, during which the streets of the city were decorated with carpets of fresh flowers. But in fact, these were real works of art. Tossa and the whole Costa Brava - are synonyms for beauty and joy. You take photos continuously to carry away something with you, but the only thing you can carry away is the eternal love for Spain, its music and its cheerful people. I wanted to stay forever in this fairy tale, but we left, promising Tossa to return The capital of Catalonia and one of the world tourism centers Barcelona was waiting us. Time was short. Barcelona began to take offense - it rained. “We cannot help but see Barcelona,” I said to my patient friend. “Don't whine - hurry up,” she said and grabbed my hand and a map of the city. We left the hotel room. On that day we walked around Barcelona for 24 km. Barcelona is a night city, a city of lights, the crazy architecture of Gaudi, and most importantly - its crazy residents who have breakfast, lunch and dinner always in a cafe and always with friends. Sometimes they manage to work. As they say, “We work as much as we need to earn to spend in the bar with friends in the evening”. And their evening lasts all night, as we saw ourselves. The next day I was almost late for my plane to Armenia, but it was not scary to stay in Spain, because my heart sang and soul danced there.