Travel Report: EPT13 Barcelona, Arrival -- Surf’s Up

That redeye flight to Barcelona was easy enough. Nine hours or so in the air, I think it was, then a short shuttle ride to the hotel which will be home-away-from-home for the next couple of weeks. Am not far from the water, and so have already gotten a glimpse of those gentle Mediterranean waves lapping up against the eastern shore.

Watched one movie on the way over, this late 1970s coming-of-age flick from John Milius called Big Wednesday. As I’ve well established here over the years, I’m kind of a sucker for all things seventies, and so found the film engaging enough, if a little empty.

It stars Jan-Michael Vincent, Gary Busey, and William Katt as three Malibu surfers, checking in on their characters’ stories every few years as they grow into adulthood. The movie fairly obviously tries to evoke an American Graffiti-like depth in its reflections on having to let go of the fun stuff that marks us during our younger years and accept the responsibilities that come with growing older, though ultimately (for me) it didn’t really give the viewer that much to ponder.

I remember first hearing about this movie when I was a teen, but never seeing it. I probably would’ve been more intrigued by it then, not now that I’m on the other side of the growing-up process being depicted.

I suppose I have kind of a been-there-done-that mindset here in Barcelona, having been here before and gone through the routines of the reporting in the past. Then again, it’s hard not to be excited by the beginning of a new festival, and of course getting to reunite with the fun folks with whom I get to work on these things adds a lot to experience.

That’s a message of Big Wednesday, of course -- that friendships transcend pretty much everything. Except surfing, maybe.

Gonna float off to sleep here now as my clock is all screwy. More tomorrow, a.k.a. big Wednesday.

Image: Big Wednesday (1978), Amazon.