Welcome to sunny Spain!...sort of...
When I arrived in Barcelona, I was expecting sunny skies and warm temperatures. Instead I was greeted with a brisk morning and overcast conditions. After arriving at the airport, I took a bus to one of the main squares, Plaza Catalunya. From there I walked to my hostel, which by the way, was AMAZING! The staff were incredibly nice, friendly, and helpful, so if you're ever in Barcelona, stay at 360 Barcelona hostel!
Anyway, after arriving, I met one of the girls staying in my room who was from Rhode Island, and we went out for lunch to an Italian restaurant. We then came back and relaxed for a bit at the hostel, and met more Americans from Wesleyan University who were studying all over the UK. For dinner that night, the hostel staff made paella. Normally it has seafood so I wouldn't eat it, but they made one with chicken and sausage, and another vegetarian one. What was cool was that they let me help make it...
After eating the paella, my friend and I went out to a club called Jamboree in Plaza Real, which is right off Las Ramblas (one of the main streets in Barcelona). Here we discovered a strange thing about Spanish clubbing. They don't start until after midnight. We left the hostel a little after midnight, and were at the club just before 1 am. When we got in, there were maybe 5 other people there. Just when we were getting ready to leave around 2, a huge crowd came in, and the night really woke up. The club played mainly R&B and hip-hop music, which I definitely preferred over electronic club music. At about 3 am, we left for the hostel. We found out that in Spain, people go until 6 in the morning, after which the "after-hours" spots open. Is it just me, or isn't that completely ridiculous? How can people possibly have the energy for that?! Definitely not my scene.
Anyways, the next morning I went on a free walking tour of the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Our tour guide, Juan Carlos, was actually an American of Catalunyan descent, and he was a very knowledgeable and funny tour guide. We walked around the city and saw some of the main sights and learned a bit about Barcelona and Catalunya's history and culture.
Interesting thing we learned, the Catalans are very into poop...seriously. Apparently asking someone how their bowel movement was is a sign of courtesy. Anyway, we stopped at this shop where they sold figurines of famous people taking a shit. It was quite a sight to see. They had the entire FC Barcelona team, Michael Jackson, the Queen, Barack Obama, and others...
Another interesting thing I learned pertained to Star Wars. Barcelona is famous for being the site of many architectural works of Gaudi. One of the buildings he designed had chimneys shaped in the form of masks. These chimneys were seen by none other than George Lucas, who then used the overall design to make the shape of the stormtrooper mask for the Star Wars films. Check it out here:
After the tour, we stopped at a bar/restaurant where I had some patatas bravas tapas, then returned to the hostel. After relaxing for a little, I took the metro to the main train station to buy a train ticket for my journey to Sevilla the next day. However when I got to the station, the ticket booth workers were on strike, so no ticket that day. I came back to the hostel then, very worried, but the girl I met earlier made it better when she had extra pasta from the dinner she made. After dinner I played ping pong at the hostel with some of the Wesleyan students, then called it an early night, as I needed to get to the train station early in the morning to try again to get a train to Sevilla.
I woke up pretty early the next day, and took the metro again to Sants station and was extremely lucky because I got the very last ticket on El Ave (the high speed train) to Sevilla. After waiting at the station for a few hours, I got on the train and was on my way to Sevilla!
When I arrived in Barcelona, I was expecting sunny skies and warm temperatures. Instead I was greeted with a brisk morning and overcast conditions. After arriving at the airport, I took a bus to one of the main squares, Plaza Catalunya. From there I walked to my hostel, which by the way, was AMAZING! The staff were incredibly nice, friendly, and helpful, so if you're ever in Barcelona, stay at 360 Barcelona hostel!
Anyway, after arriving, I met one of the girls staying in my room who was from Rhode Island, and we went out for lunch to an Italian restaurant. We then came back and relaxed for a bit at the hostel, and met more Americans from Wesleyan University who were studying all over the UK. For dinner that night, the hostel staff made paella. Normally it has seafood so I wouldn't eat it, but they made one with chicken and sausage, and another vegetarian one. What was cool was that they let me help make it...
After eating the paella, my friend and I went out to a club called Jamboree in Plaza Real, which is right off Las Ramblas (one of the main streets in Barcelona). Here we discovered a strange thing about Spanish clubbing. They don't start until after midnight. We left the hostel a little after midnight, and were at the club just before 1 am. When we got in, there were maybe 5 other people there. Just when we were getting ready to leave around 2, a huge crowd came in, and the night really woke up. The club played mainly R&B and hip-hop music, which I definitely preferred over electronic club music. At about 3 am, we left for the hostel. We found out that in Spain, people go until 6 in the morning, after which the "after-hours" spots open. Is it just me, or isn't that completely ridiculous? How can people possibly have the energy for that?! Definitely not my scene.
Anyways, the next morning I went on a free walking tour of the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Our tour guide, Juan Carlos, was actually an American of Catalunyan descent, and he was a very knowledgeable and funny tour guide. We walked around the city and saw some of the main sights and learned a bit about Barcelona and Catalunya's history and culture.
Interesting thing we learned, the Catalans are very into poop...seriously. Apparently asking someone how their bowel movement was is a sign of courtesy. Anyway, we stopped at this shop where they sold figurines of famous people taking a shit. It was quite a sight to see. They had the entire FC Barcelona team, Michael Jackson, the Queen, Barack Obama, and others...
Yes, that is a turd under his butt
Barack Obama and the Queen...there was another one of Obama where the base said "Yes We Can"
Another interesting thing I learned pertained to Star Wars. Barcelona is famous for being the site of many architectural works of Gaudi. One of the buildings he designed had chimneys shaped in the form of masks. These chimneys were seen by none other than George Lucas, who then used the overall design to make the shape of the stormtrooper mask for the Star Wars films. Check it out here:
After the tour, we stopped at a bar/restaurant where I had some patatas bravas tapas, then returned to the hostel. After relaxing for a little, I took the metro to the main train station to buy a train ticket for my journey to Sevilla the next day. However when I got to the station, the ticket booth workers were on strike, so no ticket that day. I came back to the hostel then, very worried, but the girl I met earlier made it better when she had extra pasta from the dinner she made. After dinner I played ping pong at the hostel with some of the Wesleyan students, then called it an early night, as I needed to get to the train station early in the morning to try again to get a train to Sevilla.
I woke up pretty early the next day, and took the metro again to Sants station and was extremely lucky because I got the very last ticket on El Ave (the high speed train) to Sevilla. After waiting at the station for a few hours, I got on the train and was on my way to Sevilla!
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