Pétanque

Barcelona // Spain

By Lauren di Matteo

WRITTEN BY NICOLE BRAVO

As we walked through the Arc de Triomf we happened upon a group of men playing something similar to the game we know as Bocce. They seemed equally as intrigued by us as we were them and their strange game, Pétanque. As I watched, Lauren began working her magic, smiling and gesturing toward them and receiving their nods of assent to being photographed. The next thing I knew, they were explaining the game to us, showing us the different designs on their metal balls, telling us who the best players were, and waving over the local champ to have his picture taken. It was a lot of fun and we don‘t know how it happened, but yet again strangers became friends and welcomed us to share in a few moments of their lives, causing us to somehow feel indebted to them for their unexpected kindness.