A Little Bit Of Everything

Sorry it’s been a couple days – so many things have happened! 

Upon arriving in Barcelona, finding our hostel was a breeze. Walking the streets of a new city felt just as good as it did in Madrid. Our first night in a hostel was… everything I thought it would be? Six beds: three 20-somethings from Igeria, one older Romanian gentleman, one Tommy, and one me. Problems I had with this situation include (but are not limited to): the lack of showering going on, the smelly sheets, and older Romanian gentleman’s excessive snoring that kept most everyone up all night.

made it!

made it, made it!

BUT, before we hit the hay – our first night in Barcelona was perfect. We started off strolling down La Rambla towards the sea. La Rambla is a bustling hub of street art, street acts, street vendors, street everything. I quickly found a delicious (yet pricy) tapas bar and enjoyed a few pintos (bruscetta – Spanish style) and a glass of wine. Wine everywhere in Spain is DELICIOUS and cheap, no matter how expensive the accompanying food is. This, I am into. We continued our walk to the Mediterranean and enjoyed the romantic view of the sea and the harbor; just Tommy, me, and a massive waffle soaked in chocolate and strawberry sauce J

romantical view of the harbor

love for us

The next morning, in the freezing rain, we made our way straight to La Sagrada Familia. Between the incredible sight of the cathedral and the icy chill in the air, my breath was truly taken away. People can tell you something is amazing a hundred times, but seeing absolutely is believing. Tommy and I gawked and gawked, taking millions of pictures and letting our true tourist colors shine through. I was proud to wear them. The fact that it is still a work in progress blows my mind. Even amongst the construction and the imperfection of something unfinished – it is the most amazing sight I have ever seen. We have decided to make a return trip to Barcelona upon its completion.

outside of La Sagrada Familia

one small part of the incredible inside

 So this is where things get a little screwy. We booked a hostel “just outside of Barcelona” for Saturday, our second night there. Our plan was to go out that night, the thought process being we wouldn’t mind the long train ride home as we would be schwasted. Whelp, the hostel ended up being student housing (dorms) for Universitaria Automna 30 minutes outside of Barcelona by train. PLUS another 20 minute walk. Just a little teence reminder – all walking between hostels is accompanied by 60 lbs of everything we brought to Europe. HMM. Not off to a great start. Honestly the rest of the things that went wrong are far too complex to write in paragraph form, so I’m just going to bullet point it for ya:

• Upon arriving there was no reservation under our name
• The office to the dorm was closed
• We had to do all dealings in the security office
• The security guard spoke no English
• The security guard really didn't care if we had a bed to sleep in at all
• The security guard was the biggest asshole in Spain
• We had to bargain and bribe to get a cable for the internet
• All bargaining and bribing took place with our best friend, the security guard

I'm not even going to go there. The bullets are all I can muster. Writing the bullets made me sweat just thinking about it. That's all. 

The room itself was AMAZING. Although in the middle of nowhere, it was the most beautiful middle of nowhere I have ever been. A whole wall of our apartment was a huge window with an incredible view of the Spanish forest J

"right outside barcelona" oh really

view from our room :)

This is the last of the negativity, I promise: upon checking in we that our funds situation is a little tighter than we originally thought it was going to be. We decide that we need to seriously sit down and ration out the money/book our hostels for the rest of the trip. As the hours roll by, we get hungrier and hungrier. All of the sudden we realize three horrible things: 1) it’s too late to go out and we can’t afford it 2) all restaurants, markets, places to get food in the middle of nowhere are closed 3) going into Barcelona isn’t a viable option because the last train has just come and gone. GRRREAT!

Please note the photograph of dinner below. Needless to say Tommy was very angry about this selection. Definitely has a little Keith in him.

vending machine + easter candy. doesn't get much better than this?

Because the security guard was the only person around in the morning and the dorm office was still closed, we were able to relax is our super nice apartment for most of the next day; securing our hostels, enjoying the view, and being so very in love. Through all of the stress of booking, cancelling, being late, being hot, being cold, and being hungry – this trip only strengthens what I already know about this exceptional person who walked into my life so completely out of the blue. If we can get through a night of vending machine dinner, I feel like we can get through just about anything.

Tommy is currently working on a post about our overnight train to Paris – lots on that.

Love and miss you all,

Alyson