Thursday, we packed up and went to classes with all of our suitcases in tow. It was difficult to sit still and stay focused when I had sunshine and sangria on the mind. Finally after class, we headed to the airport! I was so giddy the entire way there. It continues to blow my mind that London is the "norm" and that I can casually just take weekend trips to all of these amazing places.
We didn't arrive in Barcelona until around 11 pm Barca time. I was so excited about going, I forgot to brush up on my Spanish. Luckily Alex knew a little bit because we did not encounter ONE English speaking person. We finally figured out how to take the train but after trying to buy tickets, the security guard just let us on for free, simply because he could not be bothered to deal with the stupid Americans.
We got off after 4 stops like he said, but we were not where we needed to be so we hopped in a cab and got to our hostel.
The guy at the desk was absolutely adorable, too bad we never saw him again and then had to deal with moody women the rest of the time. Our hostel was really nice though. The first night it was just Jenna, Alex, Chelsea and I in the room. We were exhausted and decided to head to bed while it appeared everyone else was getting ready to go out. At this point it was almost 1am, apparently that's how it's done in Barca. Apparently one of the girls in the room next to us was from Carmel and we knew a lot of the same people. Talk about a small world.
The next day, we woke up, ate breakfast and headed to the beach! Everyone else had jackets and jeans on so we stuck out a little bit in our bikinis and dresses. That didn't stop us though! We were determined to get some sunshine. After laying on the beach for about 2 hours, we grabbed some lunch. I slowly began to realize how incredibly burnt I was becoming. Everyone made fun of me for burning so fast, oooh the perks of pale Irish skin. We asked for Sangria but apparently the woman didn't know what it was... (that proved to be a load of shitaki mushrooms because girls in our hostel went to the same place and got sangria. We made a point to go back and order it.) After some lunch we headed back to the hostel to change and go check out the Sagrada Familia. Brett (Alex's boyfriend) arrived and we were off! Good thing he knew how to get around because we had no idea!
The Church was absolutely beautiful. The outside is very old looking but the inside seems so modern. It was designed to make it seem like you are standing in a forest with tall trees. It was amazing. It cost us 12 euro to get in, but I think it was worth it because I love church architecture.
After that we headed back to the hostel again for a siesta and to freshen up. We planned to meet some of our other friends at the Arch di Triomf at 8pm so we could grab dinner and then party! Well unfortunately, none of them knew about the time difference so we ended up waiting an hour before we finally were reunited with them! We were starving and finally found an Italian restaurant (yes I know, we were in Spain, we should have eaten Spanish food but we were just TOO HUNGRY to keep looking.) We had a number of bottles of wine and had a really nice evening. This is when everyone else started discovering how burnt they actually were as well! (See?! I wasn't the only one abused by the Spanish sun!)
After dinner we went to a convenience store and bought some alcohol to drink before we went out. We planned on going to the shot bar that everyone talks about and then a club. We wanted to stay up and watch the sunrise on the beach. Well, we didn't leave the hostel until around 12. We wandered aimlessly for hours asking for directions and trying to find the bar. We finally gave up and wandered into some random bar/dance club near the beach. We stayed there until it closed. There were some injuries in the process that proved that Absinthe is just never a good idea. We headed to the beach and after a number of awkward encounters with sketchballs, we waited for the sunrise. At aroun 5:15, we gave up because there was no sign of sunlight. One group walked back to their hostel, a few took the metro and Jenna and I decided to take a taxi because we were too tired, too cold and too cranky for any of that.
The next day we slept in until around 1pm (OOPS!). We showered and got ready before grabbing some lunch and heading to Parc Guell! It took us a while to get there, but it was totally worth it. It was such a beautiful day and the place is gorgeous. It had phenomenal views as well as incredible architecture and plants and mosaics. It honestly took my breath away. It is a garden complex that was designed by the Catalan Architect Antonia Gaudi. It was built between 1900 and 1914. It was truly amazing.
We then headed back to the hostel to chill for a bit before heading to dinner. We met up with the London crew at a place that apparently has the best paella around. I am not the biggest fan of seafood or paella, so I stuck with steak.
After that, we grabbed some drinks and got ready to go out! We FINALLY were able to find the shot bar. It was quite a walk, but nowhere near what it was the night before. When we first walked in I was hit with a wall of heat. All of us were sweating instantly and didn't think we were going to make it. We started ordering some shots such as the Boy Scout, the Willy Wonka, The Terminator, etc. It turned out to be a really goofy night! After that, we decided to try and find the club we had signed up for on the guest list. Well once again, we wandered aimlessly taking silly pictures and just having a good time. It ended up being time for Jenna, Chelsea and I to head back to the hostel so we could pack up and head to the airport.
We arrived back at the hostel to find the originally empty 6th bed in our hostel room with a middle aged man in it. Sorry, dude, I know we made quite a bit of noise. We headed to the airport around 5:15 and tried desperately to find a cab. We ended up calling a random taxi number on a pole. I used my broken spanish to communicate where we were. The taxi finally came and we were off! It was a little expensive, but I would have paid anything to not have to navigate the metro or a bus while I was still a little intoxicated/ delirious from being sleep deprived.
On our way home, I slept until the absolute last possible second and then took a train and a tube until we FINALLY were back in Fulham. I originally planned to take a 2 hour nap... Apparently my alarm didn't go off and Chelsea woke me up around 6:30pm. I had a group meeting at 8pm so thank the good lord for her waking up! I could have slept through the night.
All in all, it was a fabulous last trip! I can't believe it is the last one. Barcelona is a fantastic city and I'd love to go back someday. There are so many places I have added to the "i've been to" list as well as the "MUST GO BACK" list. I am so incredibly lucky to have all of the opportunities I have had this semester.
Here's some pics from our weekend in Barca!
Chelsea and I heading to the beach!
Amsterdam flashbacks, drinking Heineken in the sun.
Sagrada Familia
from left to right: Jenna, Alex, myself, Chelsea and Sam
from left to right: Chris, Ben, Winston, Brett and Matt.
ICLC makes it to Spain!
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