Barcelona: Day 1 - Beach, Sangria, Clara and La Rambla

So this was a month ago, but trust me, the memory of this trip is as fresh in my mind as ever.

Before I start this joyous tale, I should give you a little background to keep in mind.  First, this particular weekend was my last weekend in London as a part of the Central program.  That also means that it was my last weekend before finals and all my papers were due.  Now, a smart person might not plan a trip on this weekend, but heck, I was in Europe.  I had booked this trip two months previous for about 60 pounds round trip.  That's a steal in the travel world.  It was also the UK national elections. You should also know that I had three papers due totaling 7200 words (roughly 18 pages) and two finals the coming week.  The Barcelona trip was supposed to be from Thursday night to Saturday night.  My logic here was that I could get all my homework done on Sunday.  Solid procrastinating plan to me.  Well, the fates had other plans, and that's where I will begin this story.

Our small group of four left for the airport just before 4 PM and we were in Barcelona by 9ish local time, hopped on a train and made our way to our hostel, Hello BCN.  It's a great hostel and we had excellent service.  They also had an interesting lock system that I had never seen before.  They give you a bracelet that gives you access to your building, room and specific locker.  Lose that bracelet and your screwed!

I was the first to enter our room.  I had taken two steps inside when I was stopped in my tracks.  Our room had roommates.  Two half-naked Brazilian men who were just about to go to bed.  Hello Barcelona.  I had stopped and stuttered hello in my shock, my travel partners become aware of my shock and pushed past me to see what was going on before they shared my expression.  I should have known that this trip would be different.

None of us slept well that night.  It was extremely cold in our room and we weren't given blankets.  We thought it was because we were in Barcelona and thought it was some sort of custom.  Who knew what we were thinking.  But we got up around 8 AM because we wanted to catch some sun.  All weather forecasts had said that it was going to be extremely stormy all weekend so we wanted to hit the beach while we could.  It was only 58 degrees when we went, so we didn't wear swimsuits but we laid on beach.  Even though it wasn't entirely sunny outside we all got some red coloring to our skin.  I swear the sun is harsher in Europe.  I would lay out all day in Iowa, under a blaring sun and 90 degree weather and not get so much as a light brown tint, but in Barcelona I can lay out in 60 degree weather and sparse sun and get burnt.

Sangria!

We enjoyed lunch along the beach and a pitcher of Sangria.  After lunch we explored the Rambla.  It's basically a street with a market running down the middle.  We bought some souvenirs and scouted where we wanted dinner.  We made it to the end of the Rambla and into a square where the pigeons were crazy.  I had never seen so many pigeons in one place before.  After messing with the pigeons for a while we took a walk through the gothic quarter before heading back to the hostel.  Two of the four in our group wanted to study for a bit.  Guess which twosome I was in?  That's right, the two that decided to take a nap instead.  Brilliant!  It felt wonderful though.

La Rambla.  This is where you need to really guard your belongings.  This pickpocket central.

The Cathedral in the gothic quarter.

Just before sunset and right at the beginning of the Magic Fountain show.

Me at the Magic Fountain!  So worth it!

After the study/nap break we made our way to the magic fountain show before dinner where we all enjoyed some paella (a spanish rice dish) and I tried my first ever Clara.  Don't know what a Clara is?  It's lemonade-beer.  Now before you write it off as completely disgusting hear me out.  People sometimes put limes in their beer right?  This is the same concept, and its delicious.

Me and my Clara.

We came back to the hostel to see some of the election results as they were being reported.  Labour was winning at this point, but the conservatives were dominating the exit polls.  It was shaping up to be a real nail-biter of an election, but since we were leaving the next night and had tour plans we decided to go to bed early.

Seems like a good trip so far doesn't it.  Well it's about to get interesting.  Stay tuned for the next post to hear about the nightmare that was the end of our trip.

Pip Pip Cheerio!