Sitting here on the train to Florence I am finally having time to tell you all about my trip to Barcelona! I am sorry for not updating my blog sooner but I have not had Internet access. As soon as we got back from Barcelona we caught a train to Italy the following night at 6. So, I have been a little busy. But here they are my adventures in Barcelona!
Let’s start at the very beginning. Yep bright and early at 7am because that is when our train was. We were at the train station at 6:45 ready for our 10-hour trip to Barcelona! We or (I) could not be more excited! Aye Carumba! We would be taking four different trains with one connection time being only 10 minutes to get to one train to the next. Hopefully we could do it! I am not going to lie we had gotten pretty good working our way through those train stations. You might say we have it down to an art. But unfortunately our train connecting to the other was late so we had negative 2 minutes to get to our next. Even if we had our running shoes on we still would not have made it. Oh well, it was not that big of deal because half of the group had the later train anyway which was just an hour after ours.
So 12 hours later we finally arrived in the great city of Barcelona! With bags and maps of course in hand we came out onto Las Ramblas and began walking up and down looking for our hostel. Las Ramblas is the happening street in Barcelona. They have it all. There are little stands all up and down it selling everything from birds in cages, to umbrellas, to flowers, to any souvenir you could image. There were also about 50 people spread out along the street dressed up in some eccentric costume with makeup painted all over their faces posing. You had Princess Fiona from Shrek, to Edward Scissor Hands, to even just blobs laying on the ground with scary masks on their faces that would jump out every once in a while at the people passing by.
After walking the street down and back we finally found our hostel. The first night we were staying at Kabul. We had heard that it was THE place to stay in Barcelona. So naturally, we needed to stay there even if they only had one opening for one night. We needed to experience all of Barcelona’s greatness, right? That was our thinking at least. It was located right in the heart of Las Ramblas. We stayed in a 24-person room. But do not worry this hostel was very safe and even had huge lockers to keep all our stuff in. Once we got settled in we were off to eat Tapas! We ended up eating at this small tapas restaurant on the side of Las Ramblas. I mean they probably ripped us off, okay they did, but hey we experienced the tapas!
The next morning we got up, packed up, and headed to hostel number 2. Along the way we spotted a Starbucks. Yes, real American coffee! The next three nights we were staying at Equity Point Centric. It was on a street right off Las Ramblas. We had a room all to ourselves this time! This place was great. It served us breakfast in the morning and even had a terrace overlooking the city on top. I would recommend it to anyone! After we got situated in our new room we were ready to hit the beach for a little fun in the sun!
So let me explain to you the beaches of Barcelona. In France they are fans of the Speedos but in Barcelona they are fans of apparently nothing. No shoes, no shirts, no bottoms. Mmhmm, that is right. They must be very comfortable in their skin…
Circled around us was nakedness. Everywhere! We or I was dying! Everywhere you looked there would be some guy just taking off his clothes and plopping down on his towel. But at least the sun sure felt good! It was suppose to rain the whole time we were in Barcelona, but luckily as it turned out it only rained the last day we were there. Thank you God! The sun was shining so bright but yet there was a little wind so you did not get hott. It was very nice, especially for those like me, who get too hott just laying in the blistering sun. After a while we went to go eat at a little beach side restaurant and once again I got a tuna fish sandwich. I do not know why I have been craving them so bad but for some reason while I have been in Europe I have been loving the tuna! This place was great! After our fun filled day in the sun we headed back to our hostel to shower and our plan was to find some place to watch the American soccer, or should I say futball, game.
On Sunday we decided to get an early start at being tourists. We got up early and headed to the Picasso Museum. Man that man painted a lot of pictures! I suppose this is silly of me but I did not know how fairly young he was. He just recently, like when my parent’s were children, passed away. But the museum was fascinating and he painted in all sorts of different styles ranging from cubism to his blue period to his rose period. It was located in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona occupying five town houses. After visiting the museum we went to the famous Sagrada Famille! We of course had to walk a little while to get there and happened upon the Arc de Triumph. Now do you know what famous show was shot there! Sorry mom you probably will not guess it and I am only kidding about the famous part. But the Bachelorette! It was where Jillian Harris and Ed rode bikes in Spain, down the path in front of the Arc de Triumph! We were so excited we spotted the location!
So after our little detour at the Arc we made it to the famous cathedral. Wow! Is all I can say. This building is not only beautiful but mind boggling. How in the world could someone ever create such an astounding building! Sagrada Famille’s first stone was layed in 1882 and it is still being built. Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece is one of Barcelona’s most popular tourist attractions. The expected completion date is 2031, but from an inside source apparently that is not very realistic. The building’s progress has been quicker over the years because more money is being funded and help from tourists like us who go visit it. We stayed walking around and listening to the audiotapes for 4 hours. We could not get enough! We also went to the very top of one of the towers and took the winding staircase down. What a view!
When our sightseeing was finished we headed back to the beach. We did not stay out there long before we began to get hungry and the sun was dulling. So we decided it was the perfect time to go eat! We walked along the beach and landed on one of the many restaurants. It was an outside restaurant that was right on the beach and had televisions. As we were finishing up our meal we noticed that people had brought blankets and began to sit on the beach facing the televisions. Along with the people on the beach there were people with German flags painted on their faces and wearing the German colors at the tables around us. We quickly realized that it was because the futball game against Germany and Australia was on tonight! So we decided to stay and watch. I guess we were going to be German fans for the night! It was so fun! We sat there along with all the others watching the game cheering for the Germans. I am coming home a futball fan. Go team Germany! I have to say that watching the game on the beach was my favorite thing we did in Barcelona. Let’s just say I am a local now.
On Monday we had so many things that we wanted to do but not enough time to do them all. Luckily the weather helped out our decision process. I really really wanted to take a bike tour around Spain but it was about 4 hours and right in the center of the day. We also wanted to go shopping and try to squeeze the beach in one last time. So since it was rainy outside it made our decision quite easy. No to the bike tour and beach, yes to the bus tour and shopping! But let me let you in on a little secret. Never take the bus tour. Now I have loved everything that I have done in Europe, but that dang bus tour is one thing that I will never do again. Maybe it is just because Barcelona does not have too many attractions? I do not know, but they took us all over that city being and to the right is the train station and to the left is the back of a church. Oh why thank you Mr. audio guide that is exactly what I wanted to see. Oh well you live and you learn right. So after our bus tour we did what every girl does best, shopped. The shopping was great in Barcelona! They had the cutest little shops right near our hostel and all around. And we even got to see a lady belly flop in the middle of the street! I have never seen a husband move so fast after dropping his 10 bags of souvenirs from Hard Rock. Only in Barcelona!
Now after shopping we did my second favorite thing! We went to a sushi conveyor belt buffet. Now I know you are thinking that sounds nasty because that is what I am thinkig as I am typing. But let me assure you this was not nasty and was so much fun! You sat at a table along side a conveyor belt that kept circulating sushi and you could pick what you wanted to eat. Sushi lovers, this and you would have been a match made in heaven. So after our fun with the sushi we went back to our hostel and were planning on doing something fun since it was our last night in Barcelona. But as soon as we sat down on our beds we passed out and were paralyzed because we were so tired.
After our long trip in Barcelona was over it was time to return for one last night in Vichy before going to Italy. The trains in Europe, I would say do a good job at being on time. Well the second to last train we were on was just taking its sweet time. When we pulled up to the train station we were late, real late, like 1 minute until the next train leaves late. So there we went. I hiked Vera up high and ran like there was somebody chasing after me. Now let me set the scene for you. This was unlike our run down the gravel road with just 2 people. We once again were traveling with about 17 people. So there were 17 young American kids running along with the rest of the train we were with! Apparently everyone was trying to make this train! Finally I got my Home Alone moment in the train station I had been waiting for! Leading the way I was dodging people here and there. We were going to make this train. I was determined. (I even thought about just dropping my bag and letting someone get it so I could be lighter on my toes). When we got to the officers checking passports they asked what nationality we were and we all just shouted AMERICAN! They laughed and waved us on, hurry hurry hurry, they said! Luckily we all had our running shoes, or flips flops on. But do not worry we all made the train along with everyone else. We were so out of breath and laughing so hard we could not even breathe. It was our last hoorah! The perfect ending for our last train ride together as a group.
Au Revoir!
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