Barcelona

Hi!

So as usual I’m behind on everything, including updating this blog. I’m either traveling or in class so I don’t have a lot of free time! However, I took a shorter trip this weekend so that I could catch up on everything.

Last time I blogged, I was about to go to Barcelona, Spain. 13 of us took an early morning flight there and arrived around 8:30 in the morning. 6 of us were staying at a hostel- 4 girls and 2 boys. The girls and I had an apartment that had 6 double rooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and sitting area. It was in an old town home that had been converted into a hostel. All of the hostels we have stayed at have been really different, but this was definitely one of the nicest so far.

All we did on Friday was lie out at the Barceloneta beach. There was a restaurant on the beach that had great food so we split our time between that and the sand. The beach was kind of gross and the water was really dirty, but the water was cool and seeing as I haven’t been cool since I left the US, it was fine by me.

Friday night we all went out to a seafood restaurant on Las Ramblas. My friend ordered paella, which is a dish Spain is known for. It is mainly rice and seafood cooked in a skillet. I’m not big on seafood, but I really enjoyed everything I had. I tried mussels, clams and prawns that night. I’m not a huge fan of prawns because I don’t particularly like shrimp eyes staring at me, but all in all everything was good.The next day we decided to devote to sight seeing since we were all sun burnt from the day before. We started at the Park Guell, which is a park full of architectural pieces by Antonia Gaudi. It is up on a hill and the views of Barcelona were amazing.

Afterwards, we visited Sagrada Familia. It is a Catholic church that is still unfinished (they started in the late 1800’s). The line was huge so we didn’t go in, but the outside was really interesting. Every side of the building was completely different and the architecture elements were very modern-definitely not like your traditional old churches.

After that, we went to the Barcelona Aquarium. My favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit. They ranged from tiny ones that you had to use a microscope to look at to giant ones that were bigger than my hand.

Friday night we all had dinner at Restaurant Al Punt and then went out. Our first stop was at a place called Chupito’s. They are known for their creative drinks and have them all listed on a wall. My friend Mary Lindsay from Harpeth Hall was supposed to meet up with us, but we had already left before she got there. She is coming to Florence soon so hopefully we’ll get to meet up. After Chupito’s, we went to Opium. It was this really cool club down on the beach and everyone had told us to go. The place was huge and definitely like nothing we have in Oxford.

We spent all day Sunday at the FC Barcelona stadium and it was definitely the highlight of my trip! Their soccer team is one of the most expensive teams in the world, so their stadium definitely reflected that. We walked through the museum, which showcased their trophies, and then we were able to walk onto the field and into the press box. My friends and I were obsessed by the end and ready to join the team so we all bought jerseys. I have no idea when I’ll ever wear mine, but the tour got us so excited about the team that we just had to buy one.

So getting home Sunday night was a mess. We had all gone to the train station the week before to book an overnight train and were told that it had booked up months ago. Our only options were to take an 18-hour boat ride or give in and buy a plane ticket. Just the idea of having to ride on a boat made me seasick so I opted for the plane ticket. We had about an hour layover in Rome, but at the time that wasn’t an issue. With our luck, however, we should have known it would be a disaster.

When we all showed up to the airport in Barcelona, they wouldn’t give us the tickets for our second flight. Evidently there was a strike somewhere and we were told we would have to check at a desk in the Rome airport to figure everything out. Due to the strike, our plane from Barcelona to Rome left really late so we arrived in Rome at the exact time that our second flight was supposed to leave. At most airports in Europe, you have to take a bus between the plane and the actual airport and Rome was no different.

Since we were on a time crunch, I was naturally sitting in the back of the plane and was literally one of the last ones to get off. The first bus with all my friends had left and only my friend Stephanie and I were on the second bus. When the bus finally left the plane and we arrived at the airport, we started sprinting with everyone else. It seemed that almost every passenger had a connecting flight so it was utter chaos as people were literally sprinting through the airport. Of course when we arrived, we found all of our friends infuriated because our plane had waited “5 minutes” and then taken off without us. I doubt they actually waited, but we were now 13 tired, hungry and pissed off American students.

I didn’t take any part in the negotiations with the customer service people, but my friends, being the great negotiators that they are, got us a free hotel room at a 4 star hotel, free dinner, free breakfast and free shuttle service to and from the hotel for our flight the next morning. So it wasn’t all that bad. Unfortunately though, Monday was supposed to be our first day of the whole trip to sleep in, but instead we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport. All day Monday I alternated between sleeping and studying for my Tuesday exam which wasn’t fun at all, but inevitable seeing as we’re here for class, not vacation.

So that was last weekend and now I’ll try to write tonight or tomorrow about this past week/weekend!

MH