In Straight Trippin', OC friends and family share tidbits from their latest travels. This time around, OC contributor Fiona Duncan shares some photos from a recent trip to Barcelona.
Name: Fiona Duncan
Occupation: Freelance writer, independent bookseller
Travel destination: Barcelona
Carry-on necessities: iPad, Aesop Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol (keeps your skin from pruning on the plane), gum
Reading materials: American poet Eileen Myles’ The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art, the latest issue of 032c, the Prisons issue of CLOG, the e-flux journal iPad app, and Ben Lerner’s upcoming novel 10:04.
Most over-played tracks on your iPhone this trip: I downloaded all these mixes that friends made on SoundCloud, like oooooayooooo’s “Womyn & Thongs 6” and Eckhaus Latta’s one for SAFE HOUSE USA. Listening to them is enough like being in their company to never feel lonely.
Favorite outfit to travel in: Worn boy jeans (black or white), white T-shirt, Nike Flyknit sneakers. It’s an awesomely easy but gross outfit. The T-shirt I switched daily, but the jeans—by the end of the trip, the black ones had two new tears at the crotch, and the white ones revealed traces of what I’d eaten, drank, and rubbed up against.
Highlight of your trip: Too many. The Sónar Music Festival was there. Drinking red vermouth at a tapas restaurant called Bormuth, too. Getting to know a new friend: my host, Leticia, a multilingual Canadian-Romanian living in Barcelona whom I met last year in New York. She was definitely the highlighter of the trip, though. She made everything extra vibrant.
Souvenirs you brought back: An iPhone case from one of those tacky tourist traps (they’re everywhere in Barcelona; the city center is pretty much a giant, globalized strip mall). It’s holographic: a jean's fly unzips to reveal a literally-hot, like on fire, nude pin-up of a woman. Also brought back shoes—two pairs with nice leather. And a few extra pounds from the excellent food.
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A view from the lobby of The 5 Rooms hotel. I’ve visited a lot of boutique hotels and this one definitely topped among my favorites. The place is totally inconspicuous from the outside. There’s only the tiniest sign—like two business cards on the doorframe. I walked by the entrance five times before figuring my way in.![]()
A not-uncommon sight in Barcelona: overgrown balcony gardens.![]()
Lol at this tourist family![]()
At Barcelona’s Mercer Hotel, I accidentally ordered (from a Spanish menu) chocolate cake for breakfast![]()
Name: Fiona Duncan
Occupation: Freelance writer, independent bookseller
Travel destination: Barcelona
Carry-on necessities: iPad, Aesop Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol (keeps your skin from pruning on the plane), gum
Reading materials: American poet Eileen Myles’ The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art, the latest issue of 032c, the Prisons issue of CLOG, the e-flux journal iPad app, and Ben Lerner’s upcoming novel 10:04.
Most over-played tracks on your iPhone this trip: I downloaded all these mixes that friends made on SoundCloud, like oooooayooooo’s “Womyn & Thongs 6” and Eckhaus Latta’s one for SAFE HOUSE USA. Listening to them is enough like being in their company to never feel lonely.
Favorite outfit to travel in: Worn boy jeans (black or white), white T-shirt, Nike Flyknit sneakers. It’s an awesomely easy but gross outfit. The T-shirt I switched daily, but the jeans—by the end of the trip, the black ones had two new tears at the crotch, and the white ones revealed traces of what I’d eaten, drank, and rubbed up against.
Highlight of your trip: Too many. The Sónar Music Festival was there. Drinking red vermouth at a tapas restaurant called Bormuth, too. Getting to know a new friend: my host, Leticia, a multilingual Canadian-Romanian living in Barcelona whom I met last year in New York. She was definitely the highlighter of the trip, though. She made everything extra vibrant.
Souvenirs you brought back: An iPhone case from one of those tacky tourist traps (they’re everywhere in Barcelona; the city center is pretty much a giant, globalized strip mall). It’s holographic: a jean's fly unzips to reveal a literally-hot, like on fire, nude pin-up of a woman. Also brought back shoes—two pairs with nice leather. And a few extra pounds from the excellent food.
A view from the lobby of The 5 Rooms hotel. I’ve visited a lot of boutique hotels and this one definitely topped among my favorites. The place is totally inconspicuous from the outside. There’s only the tiniest sign—like two business cards on the doorframe. I walked by the entrance five times before figuring my way in.
A not-uncommon sight in Barcelona: overgrown balcony gardens.
Lol at this tourist family
At Barcelona’s Mercer Hotel, I accidentally ordered (from a Spanish menu) chocolate cake for breakfast
