Hola amigos, como estan? Si, estoy en Barcelona!
Yes, I’m speaking Spanish 24/7 now that I’m living in Barcelona for the summer. Since the Sun is entering the sign of Cancer now, I thought it would be perfect to talk about my new home here. Not only is the Sun entering the sign of Cancer on June 21st, but the rebel, Uranus, has just entered the stable sign of Taurus. Since Uranus is such a slow-moving planet with an 84-year orbit, that’s a rare phase and will be with us until 2026. In fact, it is so rare that I wrote an entire article on Uranus’ ingress, or entrance into Taurus. If you haven’t read that article, please do, so you will be up to speed with this exciting time in humanity. Here it is, just in case you haven’t read it yet. http://www.susiecox.com/blog/uranus-in-taurus-barcelona-is-beckoning
For a brief summary of Uranus entering Taurus -- it’s going to bring excitement as well as uncertainty to us all. Uranus is associated with the wild sign of Aquarius, who loves change, just for the sake of change. Uranus is the planet that welcomes the future as it breaks old patterns with the past. On the other hand, Taurus doesn’t do well with change at all. That earthy, earth sign loves routine and stability. Yes, it’s an odd combination. Since Taurus relates to the earth, many astrologers are predicting earth changes. It has been interesting to see the massive volcanic activity in Hawaii as well as in Guatemala since Uranus entered Taurus. We can expect more of that.
One fascinating thing to note is that astrologers see a cross section of what the world is experiencing, through our clients. I’m noticing that almost half of the readings with my clients now are Astro*Carto*Graphy interpretations. They all want to see where they might want to move. I’ve done AstroMaps for many years, but suddenly, almost everyone wants that technique to help them made decisions. Astro*Carto*Graphy is a map showing your planetary lines and indicates your power spots around the world. Where was your Sun rising when you were born? That will be a place for a personal rebirth. Where was your Moon rising? That is a location I call “Your home away from home”. Your AstroMaps tell that and much more.
Typically, my clients have used it to decide where to travel for their family holiday or maybe where to move their business. But now it seems they’re using Astro*Carto*Graphy to decide where to move their home. This transit of Uranus in Taurus
Back to Barcelona -- after high school, I traveled here for the first time and have since then visited this beautiful city about a dozen times. I’ve always had a dream of spending more time here one day and it seems this Uranus transit was the trigger that allowed that to happen. When Uranus entered my 4th house of home, I rented a sweet Airbnb here from a lovely Italian woman and her daughter. It turned out to be the perfect arrangement for my first time really living here. Her home is in the Gotico neighborhood which is one of the oldest barrios in this medieval part of the city. The streets are pedestrian and are barely wide enough for a car, thank goodness. We live on the 3rd floor and with no elevator. (I counted 54 steps to get to our apartment). Hey, good for daily exercise. Here is my street in Gotico.
La Vaca
While I’m here I am renting a co-working space at the very cool, La Vaca. It used to be an old d
One exciting part about La Vaca as well as Barcelona in general is all the different languages spoken here. As with much of Europe, maybe with the exception of France, most people speak several different languages. The 10-year old daughter of my Airbnb host speaks 5 different languages! So I’m not only speaking Spanish, but they slip in a lot of Ciao in Italian too. My brain synapsis are working overtime, which is a very good thing!
Lifestyle
One of the first things that I noticed was that I walk about twice as fast as everyone here. Even though it’s a big city, people almost stroll as they walk down the street. The first few days I tried to pass people walking but realized the people in
Another thing that was strikingly different from the US is that people are very slender here with hardly anyone over weight. I'm sure that the natural food and so much walking contributes to the healthy bodies. Even though many people smoke and drink, they seem to handle it quite well. There aren't many street people or beggars, but there is one guy always in the same spot. He has four paper cups for donations. This is how they are labeled: "Beer, Weed, LSD and Disneyland". I guess food wasn't as important. Hey, at least he's saying what he wants!
Yes, Barcelona is a foodie city. Almost every block has fruit and vegetable stands that make Whole Foods look sad. I’m walking to the famous historic Mercado, Santa Caterina, for my grocery shopping about 3 times a week. Instead of shopping for the entire week, people here shop only for a couple of days. Then they shop again for their next few meals, which adds to the healthy lifestyle. Here is a typical picture of a Tapas sign. A bit tricky to figure out what you're eating.
I do admit that I’m a fashionista and wow, the fashion here is truly stunning. The Spanish women typically wear little kicky skirts with an off the shoulder almost peasant style blouse. Lots of lace cutouts for their fabrics. I would call the style sassy chic with an edgy flair. Many women, no matter the age, have very colorful hair. Pinks, purples and multi-color hair is common. And a huge percentage of people have tattoos. There are so many majorly tatted bodies. Speaking of tattoos, I decided that since I am being reborn here, I needed a tattoo also. So here is my butterfly or mariposa in Spanish.
Arch de Triumph and Park Ciutat Vella
It seems that most c
Gaudi![]()
The skyline of Barcelona is dominated by Gaudi’s huge unfinished church, the Sagrada Familia. Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926) was a Spanish architect best known for what is called Catalan Modernism. He used broken tiles to make mosaics in his creative style with no square corners, which I’m sure was unsettling at the time. His main passions were architecture, religion and nature, which he wove seamlessly into his buildings. His masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Much of Barcelona is what I would call Gaudiesque as the city is filled with art, music and geckos crawling up the side of buildings!
La Playa
Oh yes, Barcelona is a major port of the Mediterranean and La Playa, or the beach, is a main attraction of the city. Many of the fiestas happen on the beach as well as yoga, meditating and just playing in the water. I went to La Playa and the first thing I noticed it that most of the people on the beach weren’t wearing any clothes. No one was flaunting it, but quietly doing yoga with a bare bottom. Somehow it feels natural here….not so in Tucson. This picture is of my bag with my poi that I'm spinning on La Playa.
The Planets
The only problem that I've had here is that it's hard to see the planets with all the tall buildings and small winding streets. I'm so used to seeing them each night from my big back yard inTucson and it threw me off, I admit. That is until I found Plaza Catalunya. This picture was taken on the evening of my birthday as I saw both the Moon and Venus. it was truly a birthday present from the Universe for me!
I know that this summer will somehow change me, in addition to the Uranus transit triggering off my chart. I do know that my already good relationship with food is different. I’ve gotten spoiled with all the organic mercados here. For sure my Spanish will get much better….mucho mejor. We’ll have to see what else will change by the time I re-enter Tucson as a new person. Que Bueno!