La Ciudad (Day 1)

(Friday, October 7th)

WE MADE IT!

We found a taxi fairly easily, and Melanie was able to give directions in Spanish (at least one of us paid attention in high school!) to get us to the hostel. 

Marisa, Me, Zoe. Melanie and Anna are seated behind us. 

So that part was easy. 

We arrived at the pre-registered Bed & Bike to find out that, even though it was technically the 7th, we couldn't stay because we only paid for the night of the 7th. All the beds were taken. So at 2 am, we went on a search for another place to stay. Two hours later and three (full) hostels later, we finally found one that was open. 

I was ready to pull an all-nighter and take a "morning" stroll around the city. A few of us were not thrilled with that idea, however! I will say, though, it truly felt very safe. We did a good job of staying calm and sticking close together. The city was well lit and quiet.

Here was my temporary bed. The first person I saw when I walked into our room was a man in his underwear... A little taken aback, I wondered what we were getting ourselves into. But a place to sleep is a place to sleep, and I trusted God to take care of us. Nevertheless, I slept with my passport and money in my money belt under my pajamas. I am so thankful to have had a roof over my head at night for my entire eighteen years!

(Left) my sufficient breakfast for 2 euros at the hostel, (Middle) strange nets (to catch what?) on every floor of the stairwell above the front desk, (Left) the hostel in daylight. "Equity Point".

We headed to our original hostel Friday morning, and let me tell you, it was well worth the wait!

Any place with free books is a plus in my book!

I highly recommend this place. Aside from the artiness and earthiness of the inside, it was awesome because we had free access to their bikes! Bike rentals are crazy-expensive here, so to have it included was well worth more than worth the 20 euros per night. 

It´s been awhile since I´ve used anything other than my legs to get somewhere! 

The Arc de Triomf  (former entrance to the 1888 World Fair) is five minutes away from our stay.

This guy and his bubbles made my heart smile. He didn´t even have a tip can or seemed to want extra change, but he stayed out all day (we passed him on the way back) providing soap bubbles for people to enjoy. 

Around lunchtime, Melanie´s boyfriend, Nick, met up with us and we headed for the beach. 

Lunch stop on the way. I had a falafel wrap and Zoe found her long-awaited hot dog!

So much street art paintings along the way. And impressive ones, at that!

And then it was BEACH TIME. This girl stepped foot in the Mediterranean!

While Zoe, Mel and Nick went swimming, Anna, Marisa and I guarded their clothes. Eventually we were sick of sitting in the sand and I decided to buy a tapestry from a local vendor. I was very proud of myself for not giving in on their set price and managed to cut the price in half :) And then we kind of got roped in to buying these drinks...the four of them for the three of us. It was very basil-y. To quote Anna, we were "drinking garden". 

 

From the beach we could see a Ferris wheel, so all of us decided to check out the carnival:

We joked that the carnival was more American than London´s attempt to have "American Day" with the NFL on Regent Street (see earlier post). Montana Gold Mine? Also so much Cotton Candy, Peanuts, etc. 

The carnival was by the harbour and this little port had me a little nostalgic for Rhode Island <3

On the way home, we finally settled on an Italian restaurant for dinner. We were sooo hungry...and Spanish people seem to like to take their time! The waiter didn´t speak English, so it was a good thing Melanie was there to translate. I ordered a Mozeralla, Basil, Tomato and Coca-Cola pizza (I figured I'd be as adventurous as possible!). It was absolutely delicious but almost too sweet. 

*In case you haven´t noticed, Melanie seeks to ruin just about every picture I take, and I never notice until after the moment is over. The yearbooker in me cringes every time. Thanks, Mel!*

And that´s pretty much it for today! I´m settled in with fresh Sangria (Richie, the owner of Bed&Bike, made the entire hostel some) and catching up on blogging at their computer area. 

Stay tuned for Barcelona Day 2!

Oh, and one more thing...

For Alaina and Tyler:

Love you, kiddos!