My last class on Thursday was cancelled which I took as some sort of positive sign because I was planning on skipping the class anyways to make sure that I didn't miss my flight to Barcelona. I was wrong. Stina and I began our adventure around 5:15 Thursday afternoon, hopped on a city bus to try to make the 6 o'clock bus headed to Malaga, where the airport is. After completely missing the first bus, 15 minutes later another bus finally arrives, we hop on it, and head to the bus station constantly checking our watches as the time is quickly passing. We run into the bus station at 5 minutes until 6 and wait in the long line to purchase our tickets only to find out that the bus has been delayed until 6:30 (somewhat of a relief, I guess). So we take the 1 1/2 bus ride to Malaga and get off the bus 20 minutes away from the airport not really knowing what our next move was. We walked around trying to find a bus stop because we knew which bus we should take but a bus stop was nowhere to be found. It was nearing 8 o'clock and our flight left at 8:45, we finally find the bus stop but realize that it takes 20 to 30 minutes by bus to get to the airport. We decide that we have to take a cab or else we were never going to make it to the airport. Instead of paying a 1 euro bus fare, we end up paying an 18 euro cab ride. BUMMER. Finally make it to the airport, on our flight and we are off to Barcelona...
Get to the Barcelona airport at 11:30 and have directions to get to our hostel that say take the train from the airport. As we are walking to the train station a very nice boy tells us that the last train already left and that he is either going to try to take the bus or get a cab into the city. He offers to help us out, so we follow this strange boy through the Barcelona airport, he asks someone where to get a bus (he luckily spoke Catalan). We get on the bus and he tells us which stop to get off and points us in the direction of our hostel. He was our lifesaver that night and saved us probably 30 euros from not having to take a cab. We finally get to our hostel and it was awesome. It was so clean and everyone who worked there was super nice. We went out to try to find tapas but everywhere was already closed so we ended up going to this Irish pub for a beer before turning in for the night. Went to bed around 2 to only be woken up by the 4 Portugese girls who were also staying in our room at 7:45am. They were literally talking in a normal voice, laughing, eating, knocking on the door, blow drying their hair. IT WAS AWFUL. But we were in Barcelona staying at a hostel for 16 euros a night, what can you expect.
Barcelona is beautiful! Interestingly enough, Stina and I had just done a project on "A Day in Barcelona" so we kind of knew a couple of things that we wanted to do. We walked down one of the main streets in Barcelona, La Ramblas and into the marketplace that is really famous. There was fruit, vegetables, and meat for sell EVERYWHERE. We unfortunately found ourselves in the meat section the majority of the time where I saw the most disgusting things ever, if I wasn't already a vegetarian I think this would have convinced me to be one. There was whole rabbits, skinned with eyes and teeth still attached; stomach lining, brains, and intestines of various animals all on sale. It was foul to say the least. We quickly left the market and walked down to the port which is one of the biggest ports in the world (second according to dad), it was so pretty there were all of these sailboats anchored in the water so we just sat on the dock and enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine. We then walked up Montjuic, which is this hill that offers some of the prettiest views of Barcelona. It was really cool! After our big hike we were pretty hungry so we found an awesome little hole in the wall restaurant. In Spain they offer "Menu del Dia" where you choose from a list of appetizers, main courses, red or white wine, and a dessert for like 8-10 euros. It was delicious, by far my best meal in Spain. I ordered pasta alfredo, fish with vegetables, white wine, and fruit. The waiter brought the fish out and it was a whole fish with eyes, he immediately offered to clean the fish for me when he saw my face. The fish was delicious though but I'm really glad I didn't have to skin it myself...
The next day we woke up early again and walked over to La Sagrada Familia which is this really big, beautiful church designed by Gaudi. Construction of the church began in 1882 and it is still being built today. From there we decided to walk to Parc Guell which is also designed by Gaudi and is one of the most famous parks in Barcelona. A lot of it was being renovated but it was really cool, there are all these intricately designed paths and mosaics everywhere. Stina and I found a grassy area (it is really odd, in Spain the majority of the parks don't actually have grassy areas to sit in) and took a nap. The park was about a 45 minute walk from our hostel so we decided to take a bus back. It was really nice our hostel had a kitchen so we chose to eat big lunches out and then cook dinner to try and save money and because I miss cooking so much. We made delicious pasta on Friday night and then vegetable stir-fry on Saturday night. On Saturday, we went out to the oldest bar in Granada with Kristen and some of her friends who are studying in France and Italy. Then we went to this bar called Dow Jones which is designed to be like the stock market. They have screens up all around the room with different drinks and the price next to them. Every couple of minutes the prices change so you have to decide when the best time to buy your drinks is. It was pretty cool.
Woke up this morning and went to the beach, it was amazing. I literally just napped on the beach and enjoyed the sun for a couple of hours before we had to go. It wasn't warm enough to be in a bathing suit but it was still awesome to be on the beach in Spain in March. Flew home around 7 tonight which was one of the weirdest flights I've ever experienced. We flew Ryanair which is one of the cheapest airlines in Spain, it only cost 40 euros to fly to Barcelona. You have to pay to get an assigned seat which obviously most people don't do so it is just like a mad rush to get on the plane and not get stuck with the middle seat. After finally settling into our seats and taking off, the flight attendants literally walked up and down the aisle trying to sell various products the ENTIRE flight. They were trying to sell perfume, drinks, scratch-off lottery tickets--it was really weird and really disturbed my nap time. So we finally landed into Granada and everyone on the plane began to clap as if they were unsure if we were going to land safe or not. After the clapping seized, an announcement comes on "don donno don, another Ryanair flight has safely landed." Real unnerving, might need to do a little more research on Ryanair before I take another flight with them... Just kidding! It was fun though and I can't wait for this weekend, I'm going to Rome!
p.s. everyone should go ahead and start my birthday countdown...13 days
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