How do I even begin to describe my amazing trip in Barcelona? Here goes:
We took two buses to get to Stansted airport, where we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by about 25 women in bright pink boas and feather cowboy hats, all wearing sashes with their names. It was a hen party, or bachelorette party as we call it. We ran into Bill and his family which was fun, and then finally got on our hideous Ryan air flight. I think it was only a 2 hour flight and once we got into Girona, where the airport was, we hopped on a bus into Barcelona. Somehow we all spoke enough Spanish combined to make it to our very colorful and funky hostel. The rooms were hysterical, we were all literally on top of each other. Somehow I got one of the beds on top meaning I had to climb a ladder every time I wanted to go to my bed or get my stuff. We made two new friends immediately, Erin who was a 22 year old teacher in Texas, and Jeff who was from Canada (Toronto I think?) and also was a teacher. We all headed out to lunch together and to explore our area, which was so beautiful and very close to Las Ramblas and about a 20 minute walk from the beach. We had some delicious Gelato (mmm!) and headed to the beach even though it was late it the day. After being in London in the cold it was so nice feel warm weather and see water. That night we all had dinner at La Crema Canella which was one of the best meals I ever had. They were small portions because they were rich, so I had duck on top of sweet potatoes with strawberries. Sooooo good! And the funny thing is mid trip I checked my email to see if my friends from home(who all studied abroad in Barcelona for spring semester) had sent me an itinerary, and that was the first restaurant my friend Amy had suggested so we did good.
We made it back to our colorful hostel where everyone was really friendly and social, and we all hung out in the common area before heading out. There were also vending machines with beer for a euro so I think that made everyone want to hand out thee too. We met some nice guys from Colorado who were just beginning their backpacking, and Alicia, Rachel, the boys and I headed down to Port Olympic which is down the beach. We found a very chic club called Shoko, which had a whole indoor dance floor and an outdoor lounge area with white couches along the beach. VERY cool. We hit the dance floor and I was amazed when the DJ mixed Lloyd’s “Get it Shawty” with Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Jam.” Hahahaha I haven’t stopped talking about it, it was just that good.
The next day we woke up and had breakfast in the hostel. Breakfast consists of eating as much cereal and toast and fruit as you can in the morning, and then taking as much as you can carry up to your room so that you won’t have to buy lunch that day. We headed to the beach immediately and settled in for the day. The weather was gorgeous and we were all ready to catch a tan. Unfortunately our bliss was cut short by the women that walked by us every 5 seconds asking if we wanted a massage. “MASS-A-GEE!?” they would scream in our ears, especially when we were sleeping. There were actually people selling stuff all over the beach and the only person who I didn’t mind was the guy selling coconut because it was soooooo good! Actually at one point the coconut man was next to us and all of a sudden dropped to the ground in front of us hiding. There were cops patrolling the beach and selling things there is illegal. We didn’t want to get our friend the coconut man in trouble so we let him hide for a while.
That afternoon a few of us went to the Picasso museum which I had been dying to see. We were living right near it so it was really convenient to get it. I didn’t realize how much of his early work would be there, but the majority of it was from his youth and time in school. I absolutely loved it, I knew I would. Picasso saw things like no one else, and he wasn’t afraid to change his style and try new things. The thing I have always respected about Picasso is that he had talent as well as passion. He could draw a portrait completely in proportion, no problem. He just chose not to, and to be abstract and I just have always loved his work.
(Photos are of me in front of the Hen Party, Barcelona Harbor, our beds stacked on top of each other in our hostel, us girls at the beach,and Rachel and I at dinner one night)
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