A Love Affair in Barcelona

I am in love. With a city. Barcelona.

I had SUCH a great weekend this past weekend! Goodness, I don't even know where to start... but I guess the beginning always is a good starting point.

So, on Thursday after class I ran home to get ready because I only had an hour and a half to pack and shower and all of that. I got ready, barely just enough time to get to Plaza Nervion to miss our first bus and wait about 15 minutes for our next one. We got to the airport and through security and onto the plane and were ready to go! I ran into some people studying in Cadiz that I had some Spanish classes with at the UW on the plane so that was totally random and cool. When we landed, we weren't actually in Barcelona, but like 2 hours outside of it (cheaper that way, trust me)... but the bus system was not very well planned out there. We got there at like 11:30 pm, and there were no tickets you could prebuy for the bus... so there was a whole crowd of people in front of the bus, pushing and just being downright rude trying to get on the bus to get a ticket... because, not only was it 11:30 at night, cold, and dark... but there were more people than seats on the bus. Talk about survival of the fittest. We eventually pushed our way towards the front of the line and got on the bus and I had the pleasure of sitting next to a grumpy old man who obviously smokes like a chimney because he smelled like a lit cigarrette and he also swore like Spanish sailor :) FUN for me. But I just turned on my iPod and slept a little bit.

We got to Barcelona's bus station around 2 am and we were planning initially on walking to the hostel from there since it was only about a mile... but as exhaustion hit us along with the cold cold night air, we opted to split a taxi, which was a fabulous idea. We got to the hostel in no time and the guy was awesome, he didn't make us check in or anything, he just let us go up to our room. We had a room of 6, and there were only 5 of us, so the sixth bed was actually occupied already by this awesome chick from Victoria BC! Talk about neighbors. We woke her up, so hopefully she didn't mind, but later we got to know her and hang out with her and stuff, she was awesome. Anyway, as soon as I laid down I was out like a light bulb. I was quite tired.

The next morning started off with a deliciously hot cup of tea in the hostel. I was still pretty tired, but we wanted to get an early start on sightseeing... so this is what we did on Friday. Jenni, Lolita and I set off towards the centro, which was actually pretty close. We started at the Placa de Catalunya, where I was totally a nerd and excited to see the Credit Bank of Barcelona and a branch of the Bank of Spain, their version of the Fed... can we say business student? Yes. There was also a hotel named Olivia's Plaza Hotel, so that made me excited. There were a ton of pigeons in that plaza, which reminded me a lot of Krakow, too. After that, we made our way down the Avenida de Angel and hit up the Cathedral, which was actually being renovated from the outside, so we didn't get to see it in ALL of it's beauty, but it was still pretty beautiful. The inside was cool, there was a room underneath the alter with a tomb of some saint... I forget who now, but ask me later and maybe I'll remember.

Afterwards, we went to get a cup of coffee in the plaza by the Cathedral, which was actually really good and not so expensive. Only 1.30 euros. Not bad for a tourist town. Anyway, we decided to start our way down to the Picasso Museum and stopped by a very funky store with a lot of cool artsy wallets and earrings and things. I got an awesome wallet and a pair of earrings for Ola's mom because they reminded me of her :-) Can we say I can't wait for Christmas! I just can't wait to give everyone their presents :-) Anywho, we eventually made our way to the Picasso Museum where we proceeded to spend about three hours of our afternoon. It was SO cool. I loved it. Picasso was such an interesting guy and his art was fabulous. He did variations of Velazquez's "Las Meninas" painting - and there was a whole room dedicated to that, and there were a few I wouldn't have minded in my house :) I was already having visions of where it would be hung and what kind of furniture I'd have... haha, hey, a girl can day dream. But anywho, it was amazing. I learned a lot, actually, but I won't bore you. If you'd like to know more, just ask!

After the Picasso Museum, we were getting hungry for lunch, so we went nearby to a cafe where a nice fat lady helped us out :) She was really nice and didn't hate on us for speaking Spanish instead of Catalan. I was surprised at how different the languages are! So, we got some bocadillos and stuff, got filled up, and reenergized. We wanted to hit up the Sagrada Familia still, so we went to the Metro where we totally navigated our way to the other side of town with minimal extra help :) We took the Metro and visited the church, which was absolutely gorgeous. It's definitely still a work in progress, though :-) It was dreamed up by Gaudi who is actually from Reus, the city we landed in on our way to Barca, and he is a crazy cool architect/artist that gets all of his inspiration from nature. So this church looks like a stone forest, quite literally. Instead of massive ionic and doric columns, we get trunks of trees with brances and leaves at the top... all made out of stone. But anyway, it was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. So much detail. We also took the elevator to the top of one of the towers and walked down the stairs so we could stop at all of the balconies to take in all of the sites. It was just fantastic. Totally boggled my mind.

After hanging out in the Sagrada Familia and touring that museum that was attached, Jenni, Lolita, and I headed back to the hostel. While those two napped, I went out for a cafe with our new Canadian friend, Aisling. She is wicked cool and really fun to talk to. She's in Barca for ten days by herself without ANY Spanish knowledge. Talk about gutsy. I'd never. Haha. Anyway, for dinner that night we decided to go to the marina and get some seafood... but that proved to be unfruitful. It was wicked expensive for the tapas, which are tiny, so we opted for the trusty fallback meal: KEBABS!!! They were cheap and delicious, and we just sat on a bench by the marina instead of at a restaurant. Good choices. We also stopped by Las Ramblas, the main street in the city, which was busy and bustling. It looked like Black Friday, no jokes. There were random pet shops in kiosks set up and street performers dancing to some hardy American rap, awesome. After that, we decided to call it a night because it was already late and we needed to rest up for the next day of touristing! I wore my new boots and at this point my feet were absolutely done. It hurt so bad to go home! But we finally made it and I quickly went to take a shower. It was heaven, quite literally. I haven't had a shower that good since... well... since Seattle! I hate my senora's shower, AH! But anyway, I took my time and turned the water on super hot and enjoyed. Happiness ensued. Sleep was amazing.

The next morning, Jess and Tiffany and Aisling slept in a bit, but Lolita, Jenni, and I definitely had a lot to do that day, so we set out at like 9 am. We took Rick Steves' guidebook with us to tour the Ramblas, that main street I mentioned earlier. We also used his book the previous day to tourist the Avenida de Angel. He was our best friend this weekend. Anyway, we saw a bunch of cool sites on the Ramblas, the first one being a cute little coffeeshop off the Ramblas with Halloween decorations still up and a totally adorable little guy to help us out. We got delicious coffee in a TO GO CUP! This is amazing because Sevilla does not know what a to go cup is. We knew we were in a civilized city after this moment :) Anyway, we toured the Ramblas, stopping first at the market dubbed "La Boqueria" but formally knows as the Mercat de Sant Josep. I was in love. It was Pike Place Market on Speed. It was MASSIVE. The colors, the smells, all of the people. It was just amazing. I took a ton of pictures and a video. We got bocadillos for lunch there, and also some fruit. This was a very good idea.

After we were done being amazed at the market, we continued our walk down Las Ramblas towards the marina. We stopped at La Placa Real (yes, placa, not plaza... it's Catalan, different language and all)... where Gaudi's first public work was: A lamp post! He is so cool. We finally made it down to the marina and stopped at a little bazar there with a bunch of cool old antiques and stuff and looked around. We then walked to the Catalan History Museum. The best part: IT WAS FREE FOR STUDENTS!!! The best price EVER. We had so much fun. Such a learning experience :) And we all know how much I love learning. So anyway, we walked through this museum for a few hours and read all about the history of Spain, mainly northeastern Spain and Barcelona in particular. After doing that, we were definitely hungry for our bocs (sorry, boc = bocadillo = sandwich... we have a little Spanglish thing going here). We sat by the marina by all the boats and tourists and just took in the sites and the delicious food.

We wanted to make sure we had seats for our return bus that was the next day, also, so after we ate and reenergized, we walked to the bus station... er, to what we thought was the bus station! We had an interesting experience. First we thought it would be cool to stop by this parque where America's Next Top Model actually filmed once for a Cover Girl ad. And since this parque was on the way to the station, it made sense! We stopped by there and it was just beautiful - this old gothic looking building in the middle of a park, BAH! I can't express my joy for the majesty of this city. So we stopped for photos and walked around the park, which actually had GRASS! Something that Sevilla lacks. After that, we walked by the Arc de Triumf and went to the station... which was the wrong station... hmph. We seriously walked at least three miles to this station just to find out it was not the right one, and the guy at the info desk was SO not helpful. We had NO idea where any other bus stations were! Doesn't every city just have one station??? Guess not. So we figured it all out and it turns out there's another station by the train station... so we just decided to go there the next morning. We had some more things to see :-)

After that debacle, we walked all the way back to the centro to the Placa de Catalunya to grab the 24 bus which took us to the Parque Guell... only the coolest parque I've ever seen. It's also in Barcelona thanks to Gaudi, that amazing man. It was really cool, awesome architecture and just interesting fusion of art and nature. We walked around, snapped photos, and enjoyed a coffee on the top of the hill and watched the sun set over Barcelona. Can we say perfect? I had so much fun with Lolita and Jenni, I am like STILL on Cloud 9 about our weekend. We took the bus back to our hostel after we were satisfied with our stay at the Parque Guell. We had decided to have a homecooked meal earlier, so we stopped by the store and got some pasta and sauce and of course a bottle of red wine to enjoy with our meal :) (don't be mad mom, I'm 21!! haha) We got back to the hostel and got down to business. I opened the wine bottle, it was my first time, I was really excited because it worked! I kept the cork :-) We made our food and ate it at the hostel table and listened to awesome 80s music. It was perfect. Dessert was Nestle chocolates with butter crackers. So good. Afterwards, we went out to get a drink in town just to feel the Barcelonian atmosphere, and since Barcelona is known for it's amazing nightlife and we weren't going to partake in it, we thought a drink would be an appropriate dose of nightlife. We got home and I showered in an amazing shower again, and we read some Cosmo and called it a night.

The next, and final, morning in Barcelona, Jenni, Lolita, and I packed up all of our things while Jess and Tiffany and Aisling still slept (are we seeing a trend here??), and put them in the storage room and were off for the day. We took the metro to the RIGHT bus station and it took us a while to get to it - the train station is this HUGE thing, and then there's the bus station... one tiny kiosk to the left of it... which was closed on Sundays. We were scared. And then we found the time table... that said the bus to Reus left at 9 am. It was 9:15. We were shaking in our boots, but then a kind bus driver showed us the light and showed us the correct time table, thank goodness. There were several buses going to Reus later in the day. Silly girls. So we figured that all out and went back to Las Ramblas to enjoy Barcelona for a few more hours. Our friend Laura got in to Barca the night before, so we stopped and met up with her and her parents for a bit, and then looked at some amazing street art... I bought a really cool painting from this guy, it's a small one, but so cool, and I can't wait to frame it and put it up above my desk :) I will be so happy when I'm studying and look up and see it and remember all of the good times this weekend gifted me with :-) So cheesy, I know. We stopped to get a coffee and the guy asked us if we wanted small or grande, and usually even the grandes are small in Spain so we said grande... I saw cups up there - a small kind and a big kind - and the big kind was like, a small cup of coffee in Seattle, so I thought that would be good... oh no, no. We get our coffees. HUGE. Like, I was full after drinking it. I'm pretty sure it was more grande than a Starbucks grande. I don't know where the hell those cups came from, I did not see those behind the bar. But anyway, it was delicious cafe con leche. We drank that and walked around to some souvenier shops afterwards. I bought a little coffeetable book about Barcelona and a soccer jersey for my nephew because Barcelona's team actually kicks ass and is really good. So my nephew can wear it. Shhh don't tell him, Mom. I know you're reading this.

At this point, we wanted to get to the bus station to avoid the mayhem of the previous bus experience at the Reus airport. So we stopped to buy a bocadillo and went to the station and waited for about an hour. This experience was a little more orderly, but these people don't understand the concept of LINES. People just push and cut and it's horrible. We got a spot, no problem, though. While we were there, we started talking to this guy who was on his way back to London, but he was from Victoria BC. So we were just chatting, and I was like I'll be in London in two weeks from now, and he said great I'm there on business for two years. I said cool.... and then I THOUGHT about mentioning the global rotation thing I want to do with KPMG in Madrid, but I let it slide... and later, in the airport after he checked in and stuff, he was like, well here's my card to look me up when you're there... AND HE WORKS FOR KPMG!!!! WTF. What are the odds, ya know? So I was like OMG SHUT UP! And I showed him my duffle bag that I got at the leadership conference over the summer I use as my travelling bag. We laughed a little, how funny.

Anyway, that's pretty much the adventures of my Barcelona weekend. I could talk more about it, which is disgusting because this entry is already longer than a novel. Sorry. End of the story: We had so much fun, we got home safe, and I am so not looking forward to working this week! I will be glued to my books and homework because my goal is to finish it all before December 9th, when Erin gets here!!! I am SO looking forward to hanging out with her and showing her my city :) YAY, I can't wait. I love this place. Only 31 more days until I'm back home, though :) I REALLY can't wait for that. I got a cute little Hallmark card from my dog when I got home last night. My mom said Jasmine picked out the card for me because she misses me, haha. How adorable is that? I miss my doggy so much, there are so many ankle dogs that run around in Sevilla, I just want my own to be with me! But anyway, the card was a nice touch, thanks Mom. 31 days!!!

Okay, that's enough for now. Next weekend will bring Gibraltar and Cordoba.

Cheers, hugs, and kisses,
Olivia