Part Eight: Barcelona, Update One!

Two updates in two days! Look at me go. I'm giving you all lots of reading, hope you can get it all done before the exam. Yes, there will be an exam. Anyway, I realized that it is a lot easier to write about things when done in small chunks; three cities at once was a little much for the last post and I felt like I was not quite as detailed as I would have liked to be. So, here I am in Barcelona, the last stop on my grand tour of Spain. I must admit, I am a little sad to be leaving the warmth of Spain in a few days to hit the colder regions in Switzerland and Austria but I am sure that those places will be fantastic as well!

I arrived here in Barcelona this past Monday after the longest train ride of my life. Now, I like trains but I think that twelve hours was pushing it. Originally, I had thought of splitting it up and stopping somewhere like Valencia but for some reason when I researched that particular city it didn't excite me too much so I decided to take the long haul from Granada to Barcelona. Let's just say it was long. But there were some good sights, particularly in the beginning as we went past the mountains with the sun having just risen and the light still in its early morning, golden stages. I had a great view until someone put curtains across there part and then I had a much smaller section to look out but it was still great. It was a very small train for the first part of the journey, only the engine and one car, but we joined another longer train about 2 hours in.

On the train, there was this old guy who wandered around and sat in various places and just talked to everyone. I did my best to talk a bit with him when he sat down next to me. I even tried to explain how the headphones (the Spanish trains have headphones and movies like on airplanes) but that didn't really work out. Whenever we got to a stop and the conductor announced it the man would repeat it to himself with a great deal of excitement. Since he was on the train all the way to Barcelona as well, I had lots of time to watch him.

I arrived to Barcelona around 9 at night and then took some time to get to my hostel. I took a gamble this time around and booked a place that billed itself as a party hostel online. After all, I am in Barcelona so I thought why not. I had lots of visions of basically walking into dirty, nasty frat house so I was prepared for the worst. Turns out, the place is great and the building is really pretty and nice and clean. I really like it here. I have met a ton of great people so far. The hostel is run by a bunch of young Brazilians so they keep things really fun. More on that in a minute.

So that night, I just hung out in the hostel a bit and headed to bed because I was quite tired and wanted to have good energy for my first exploring day. I woke early and set out for a walk. My stomach guided me straight to La Boqueria, a large market that is pretty famous. I was in heaven there. Take everything I liked about the little market in Salamanca and multiply it by 100 and that is La Boqueria. Inside, there are all sorts of vendors of fish, meat, specialty items, chocolate, pastrys, ice cream. I knew I was in for some good morning eats.

I wandered for a while just admiring all the different cuts of meat and offal and all of the crazy different kinds of seafood. Everything looked amazing. The fruit all looked great too. My stomach was calling and I went to find the pastry shop. There I bought myself two little pastries. The first was a regular, flaky type of pastry with a cream filling and a chocolate covering. The other was a type of chocolate pastry, sort of like a chocolate dough kind of, also with a cream filling. They were fantastic. Easily the best breakfast I have had in a long time. After that I headed to the fruit stand where they were selling fresh smoothie juice type things. I washed down my pastry with a coconut, vanilla, guava drink. Also, very good.

My stomach full and quite happy, I walked on down La Rambla towards the port. I was eager to see a bit of ocean. There, I wandered the port a little while and just looked at the boats and enjoyed being near the water. Every time I go to the ocean I remember how much I love it. We used to go once a year when I was growing up but I don't go enough. There were a lot of very impressive yachts floating around.

I spotted a hill nearby and, like most times I see a large hill in a city, I decided that was my next destination. I walked all along and had some great views of the city and the ocean. I went over to the Olympic Park and saw the soccer fields and stuff which was cool. I can't say I've ever been to an olympic site like that so it was sort of fun for me. I headed back down the hill on what looked like a nice straight line on the map, but as I started down in front of the museum a giant closed off fair like space appeared. Apparently, this week is the world Mobile Phone conference here in Barcelona and man was it bustling. Tons of people were wandering, clearly talking about very businessy stuff, with little name tags. The entire street/square was blocked off for it.

I went around and headed up to the Park Joan Miro which was sort of cool and had a big, fun sculpture in it. From there, I hopped a metro, a rare thing for me, and headed up to Gaudi's Park Guell. Now, I have seen many parks here in Europe but this one was crazy. Gaudi had some whacky visions. The architecture was really amazing to see in person, though the place was packed with people. At the center, there is this sort cave like thing with huge pillars. Atop it, there are wavy benches. At first, they didn't look comfortable at all but somehow they fit my back perfectly. Really, it was one of the best sitting experiences I have ever had.

It was a fun park to see and I was inspired to see some more Gaudi. I took myself on a little tour of all the places I could find on the map that were designated as Gaudi buildings and ended at Sagrada Familia. I was sort of in awe of the Sagrada Familia, one of the most amazing churches I have seen. That is something considering it isn't even finished and probably won't be for atleast another 20 years. Gaudi's plans and models were destroyed during the Spanish Civil war so the current model is sort of an adaptation to what was known and pieced together afterwards. I did not go inside because it cost 11 euros and for me tha was just way too much but the outside was amazing. I could see little parts and influences from a ton of old cathedrals I have seen on my trip and it was just amazing to see the intense and innovative architecture that was clearly way ahead of its time.

The Sagrada Familia was a great way to wrap up my tour and it was time to head back to the hostel to see what people were up to. This hostel has the most social attitude of any I have been too. When I got back, I was sitting in the common updating my blog and these two older guys from Macedonia came out with a big plate of fried bacalao (salt cod) that they had just cooked up and a big pot of roasted potatoes. They invited me right over and I saw and ate and had some wine and really interesting talks with them. Their food was delicious and they were super fun.

Afterwards, I sat in the common room and had some drinks with some people. Slowly the crowd grew and soon enough we were playing some card games having a great time. Many areas were represented including: the U.S., Brazil, Chile, Australia, Germany and I'm sure some others. One of the great thing about this hostel, especially for us lone travellers, is that this guy Mauro who works at the hostel sort of loosely organizations socialization. Each day, he puts up a little paper that says meet in the common room at a certain time and we will have some drinks and meet each other and then head out some where. Most people are really into it and it was a great way to get together and meet everyone. It was a BYOB occasion but Mauro kept carting out stuff that other hostelers had left behind which was a nice, though a little too tempting, gesture.

After a good bit of hanging out, we headed out to a club. The club was sort of weird, but still a good time and gret to have a group of people I'd already me there. Not to mention, because Mauro is a little magic elf of nightlife we all got in free and got one free drink. Very nice. I stayed a while and showed of some of my fine little American dance moves, mostly just embarassed myself, adn then headed back home. It is amazing how late nightlife is here. I left at 2:30 am and the club was just beginning to gear up. But not I. All the walking had sleep on my mind.

I awoke this morning, a bit dizzy but feeling fine, and headed out again. The weather today was amazing! It was so warm and I knew that there would be no museums. I just can't think of spending too much time inside when the weather is perfect. I walked down to the Parc de la Ciutella which was really nice, though some of the bigger water portions of it were closed which was sort of a bummer. Nice nonetheless though.

I made a quick stop off at the train station to book my next ticket and then headed on towards the beach. On a day with no clouds and warm air, I could not resist the draw to the beach. I had packed some chorizo and some cheese and I was intent on finding a good spot for lunch. I walked for a while and just enjoyed the beach and all the different ports until I found a nice rick to sit on right near the water. I sat myself down, ate a bit, and then just sat in the sun and read and wrote a little in my journal. It was the perfect place to be. I decided that I couldn't resist the water any more and I took of my shoes and waded a bit. It was freezing! I had no idea the water would be that cold. But very refreshing and nice. I wish I could have gone swimming.

I walked back after a bit and saw more beach as the area begin to fill with all sorts of people. I also saw something quite weird. As I was walking I saw a guy swimming and I thought, "Wow, he is brave!" As my eyes focused, I realized he was completely naked. Completely! This did not appear to be any sort of nude beach. I mean everyone had clothes on and it was a public beach right in the city. Is this common? I do not know. He was certainly not embarassed as he walked right out and didn't put any pants on. He just stood there naked, in a group of people who he seemed to know though they were clothed. I was baffled.

Anyway, I was back on my way home and again my stomach dragged me to La Boqueria, though I didn't really resist too much. I was craving some of the things I had seen the day before that weren't quite breakfast fare. Namely ice cream and chocolate. I walked in and headed strait for the ice cream. I got a cup of frutos del bosque, which I believe means something about fruits of the forest, and let me tell you, it was one of the most amazing things ever. The flavor was so bright and full of the taste of raspberry and blueberry. Perfect for the weather. Then I let myself loose on the chocolate stand. I bought a ton of stuff and walked back to the hostel stuffing myself. Everything was amazing. It made me realize how oversweetened a lot of chocolate I've had its. I liked the less sweet ones and most had some great spice flavors.

I returned back to the hostel where I now sit and write. I have really been liking Barcelona and the people I have met here and the hostel. It is going really great. Tonight I will meet up with one Greg Amarra, a friend from Trinity, who is studying here for the semester and we plan on tasting a little of the food and drink together. I am super excited to be seeing a friend and to hang out with him a bit. Now I must go ready myself. More updates soon. Hope everyone is feelin' fine and living peacefully.