Barcelona, Spain

November 7th
Friday night Kristen and I flew into Barcelona to meet Marci and Hannah. Getting there was a little interesting…but it all worked out as usual haha. For some reason on the way to catch our plane that day, the train we were on just stopped on the tracks for an hour. As the time was passing I kept getting more and more nervous that we might actually miss our flight, especially since we’d already missed our train to the airport. So when the train finally started up again and pulled into Pisa about 5 minutes later, Kristen and I just got a taxi. God works in mysterious ways and sure enough we ended up sharing a taxi with a man on a business trip who was on our same flight and he paid for the taxi and let us just run to check-in. Anyway we got checked in 10 minutes before the ryanair check-in closed which was a close call but we made it hahaha. Oh the adventures :P

After we landed in Barcelona we took an hour long bus ride into the city and then two metros to our hostel. And the hostel is another experience to say the least haha. It was the first hostel with just the two of us (therefore we couldn’t reserve a private room with the 4 or 6 of us roommates) it was a mixed male/female room, one bathroom, and 16 bunk beds. It’s a really weird experience falling asleep in a room with 14 people you don’t know! But surprisingly I felt more comfortable than I thought I would, and Im just glad that was my last night in a hostel hahah!!!! This hostel was called Gothic Point and it was actually pretty cool. The bunk beds were really high up and fairly separated, so it felt like there was a little bit of privacy. And I have pictures, but pretty sure the whole room just looked like a giant jungle gym.

Anyway, enough about the hostel! That night Hannah and Marci rested up from their day of sightseeing and Kristen and I split a huge plate of nachos at a restaurant the girls suggested. Afterwards the girls and I signed up for tapas and a flamenco show for 18E. The tapas were small portions of meats and cheeses on French bread, they were all a little interesting haha but I did have one with brie and a dried plum on it which was actually really good. Oh and I tried Sangria for the first time! I was surprised that I actually liked it, I think it was the fruity flavor because I love fruit and the fact that I was parched from traveling the whole day. Next the group went to a small theatre which was basically a relaxed bar atmosphere with a stage at the front. The beginning of the show was instrumental with clapping, guitar, and a drummer. Then after awhile the dancer came out and she was AMAZING! I was seriously soo impressed. Afterwards the girls and I were a little confused because the hostel leaders (who were leading the whole night) took us to two bars after the show. The girls all took their first shot ever at the first bar. It was Russian vodka, fanta, and orange juice. I tasted one of them and it pretty much just tasted like juice. Lastly, we went to the final bar which had a club downstairs. So we all just went downstairs and danced. It was soooo fun I haven’t just danced for the heck of it in so long and it was so great! The four of us decided we need to go out dancing more often, therefore we’re going to try and find a place in Florence soon. There’s actually a place here, in Florence, called the Red Garter that I really want to go karaoke at!

That night I fell asleep around 2 and then just tossed and turned throughout the night because I was cold. That’s one weird thing about our hostel. They didn’t provide us with top sheets, blankets, or comforters….so night times were a little chilly. Kristen and I were both sleeping with our scarves over us but that didn’t do a whole lot haha. And oddly enough neither Kristen nor myself heard any of our other roommates come in during the wee hours of the morning! After waking up we started the morning with golden crisp cereal at the hostel and muffins.

November 8th
We started the morning pretty early because Marci and Hannah had to leave to catch their plane around 1. First we went to the Picasso museum. That was actually really neat (I feel like lately I’ve been so reluctant to go to museums just because I’ve been in so many the last couple months and I have a hard time remembering what I see in them anyway). But I learned a lot about Picasso’s life and it was really awesome seeing how his work changed as he went through different phases of his life. Afterwards we walked to the beach, which happens to be the area where the Olympics were held. Being in a beach atmosphere made me miss California and beach bon fires soo much but it was also a really good feeling. I honestly think that was my favorite part of the trip. There’s something really amazing about being at the ocean where everything’s just wide open….and I feel like Im always so so happy at the beach even when it is cold outside. Afterwards Hannah and Marci left and Kristen and I took the metro up to Park Guell. It’s a large park on top of a hill designed by Gaudi. His architecture was absolutely incredible and the unique shapes of the buildings looked like they were straight out of Dr. Seuss or something! Kristen was fascinated with the park because there were mosaics everywhere and she loves mosaics!

We spent the rest of the day walking and taking the metro to different buildings Gaudi designed: Casa Mila, Sagrada Familia, and Casa Batilo. By the time we were done our feet were killing us and we were ready to take a break at the hostel. Hannah and Marci recommended a smoothie place, founded off Jamba Juice in California so we stopped there on the way back to the hostel. Mine was orange, strawberry, banana which tasted like heaven because I have not had a smoothie in so long. We used internet, which was free for once, for a little while at the hostel before heading to a mexcian restaurant for dinner. Kristen and I both ordered enchiladas and mine actually kind of made me sick, it wasn’t a typical enchilada, but their guacamole was good haha. Then we jumped on the metro for about the 5th time that day and headed to the west side of the city. We wanted to see a light show at this huge fountain but we missed it so we just sat on the steps and talked for awhile. It was so nice to just sit still for awhile, and that’s basically what we talked about. How we’re trying to slow down and take everything in because on our last couple trips we’ve been going non stop and sometimes it’s just nice to do less sightseeing and more relaxing haha. So that’s kind of my aim on my next trip, which is visiting Sha Sha in Germany this weekend and we’re not planning any sightseeing so that’ll be perfect :P
After wandering back from the fountain we stopped at a coffee shop called Cappuccino. First we ordered a piece of chocolate cake to split and then decided we might as well get another. So we got a gelato ciocolato which was a scoop of vanilla and chocolate gelato in hot chocolate with whip cream on top. It was delicious and right when we started eating it Jewel “Pieces of You” came on and we were both singing and eating our amazing dessert haha. We’re seriously such dorks but that’s what makes life fun hahaha.

November 9th
The next morning we got ready, had breakfast, and checked out of our hostel at ten. Our plan was to have a shopping day…but apparently a lot of clothing stores are closed on Sunday in Barcelona. I guess we should have realized that because that’s how it is in Italy as well. Anyway, we just went into a bunch of souvenir shops and walked around the city. As usual the highlight of the day was the food. We split vegetable paella for lunch which was absolutely necessary since we were in Spain hahah and it was so good! As we were leaving the city we stopped at a little shop to have churros and hot chocolate because that was on our to-do list for Spain. Then we bought a few postcards and caught our hour long bus ride back to the airport. I really like all of the traveling time. I’ve really grown to like my time on the buses, trains, and planes to read, listen to music, and just gather my thoughts. So we flew into Pisa around 6:30 to find out Italy was having a train strike hahaha not surprising. So we hopped on another bus back to Florence. It’s always so nice getting back to our cozy apartment after traveling. And I love it when all of the roommates are back together. I feel like we’re always just talking, laughing, cooking, and listening to music! We don’t have a family room or kitchen so our kitchen table is pretty much our gathering place hahah. So that was Barcelona…fast and furious, but so fun!
Adios!