Barcelona: Day One

Well this past weekend I had my first opportunity to travel outside of Pau. Elizabeth and I left Thursday night at 6:38 on the night train, scheduled to arrive in Barcelona at 9:00 AM Friday. The night train was...different. I was on a sleeper car, which means instead of seats we slept in a tiny little bunk bed, the room fit 6 beds- three on each side. I had a great night's sleep surprisingly, even though the pillow was about an inch thick.

Barcelona was a little chilly and it was raining when we arrived, which put a slight damper on my mood. But I was determined to make the most of the experience, especially since one of my best friends (Kelly Berry) was meeting me later that day. The hostel... was DISGUSTING. I guess you have to expect that sometimes with the cheap rates you are paying, but I was completely unprepared for the grossness that was Abba Youth Hostel. The showers were SO gross- I don't know if they ever got cleaned. The sinks were always full of hair and the toilets didnt flush. I slept clutching my belongings because we were in a room with 5 people that we didn't know. I think that might have been the only good thing, besides the location, and by that I mean we got to meet a lot of different people with such different backgrounds. We met two Canadian twin girls who had been studying in Germany for the past few months, and decided to travel to other European countries for a few weeks. It's amazing the kind of people who have the ability to just backpack through Europe, with no agenda really, just kind of making up their adventure as they go along. I don't think I could ever do that. I always need a plan and a companion or two.

Well, after we got settled and showered (EW), we headed out to see some sights and get something to eat. It was such a nice change going from French to Spanish. I quickly refreshed my memory of spanish vocabulary and conjugation. We ate a quick lunch of chicken salad at a buffet restaurant named Micky's. Then we found an internet cafe and planned out the rest of our day. We decided to see two of Gaudi's houses: Casa Batilo and Casa Mila. We didn't go inside because the lines were ridiculous and it was pretty expensive. After seeing those things, we wanted to check out the rest of La Rambla (the main street in Barcelona that is a mile long).

Because it was so crowded on the strip, we walked down by the harbor in the opposite direction, to a mall called Maremagnum. Now, I hadn't intended on doing any shopping, the stores we had gone into were pretty pricey. But we wanted to walk around and see what was available. Needless to say we saw a European store called Lefties and I was in HEAVEN. Prices ranged from 2,95-14,95!! I bought a lot. I found an adorable sweater that is a really pretty teal blue a gift for Meg, two pretty sundresses, a cute summery shirt, and a fun shirt that is totally European that I would never usually buy.

Then the real weird stuff starts to happen. So I guess European bachelor parties are a lot different than American ones, or maybe I'm just naive. When we were trying to enjoy a nice dinner, a rude, obviously drunk (no, make that WASTED) group of British men decided to harrass us. They were on a "stag tour" for one of their friends, and were so obnoxious and creepy. They kept asking us to come back to their hotel and offering to buy us drinks, and even trying to kiss us. I was appalled- and we are thought to be the embarrassing country! But anyways, after dinner I was getting worried because I hadn't heard from Kelly yet and she was supposed to stay in the same hostel. So before Elizabeth and I went out, I left a note for her.

We went out to that bar, Dow Jones just to check out the atmosphere. It was really cool and I was glad that I went. We stayed for two rounds, and then left because we were so tired. When I walked in the door of the hostel there was Kelly!! She had arrived late- around midnight. But I was so glad to see her! After that we went to bed because the next day we had to get up early to see the Sagrada Familia.

To be continued....