My journey to Barcelona started with a sad fair well to my travelling companion Sara. Her bus left earlier than mine and I needed to stay at the flat to check out with Dior (our host for Paris). As I sat in the flat waiting for the check out time alone, I was struck with sudden fear and anxiety. I was going to have to figure out where to go and travel alone. I mean, for the most part, I have done a large bulk of the navigating (more because of my own hubris than Sara's lack of navigational skills). So I shouldn't have doubted those skills, but at the same time, I knew that I was the only mind to come up with ideas and many a time I have benefited from being able to bounce off ideas and validate my ideas through Sara. Dior was running a few minutes late, but I had a good 2 hours and 45 minutes until my bus. I gave myself plenty of time because I wondered how easy it would be to find the particular bus station that I was leaving from. It turned out to be well labelled and easy to find and as a result, I had to do a little waiting around until I could check in and then get on the bus.
The bus journey was a wonderful (said sarcastically) 15 hour journey with a (1 hour stop for dinner and a 30 minute stop for snacks/bathroom). It started off a bit nerve racking though. The other reason I was anxious about travelling alone is because I felt at risk. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel vulnerable as a woman travelling alone. A kind Spanish gentleman began talking to me as I was putting my bags on the bus. He spoke only Spanish and we conversed in what was broken Spanish for me and fluent Spanish for him. I did my best but I felt rusty and hadn't expected to be confronted with the language so quickly. I tried to be nice, but there was a voice in the back of my head that was immediately questioning his motivations for talking to me out of the blue. It didn't help that when we got on the bus, he proceeded to take the seat next to me. I had a mini anxiety attack, and spent the first hour or so trying to put as much space in the seat between myself and him. Of course, these suspicions were unwarranted and he really did want nothing else than to be nice and I also got the sense that he wanted to protect me like a father would to his daughter. The ride was long and my butt hurt through much of the journey, but I have to say, I'm getting pretty used to it.
We arrived in Barcelona a good hour early, which wasn't necessarily a good thing as that meant it was 4am. The directions I had to my new hosts, Isis, apartment required me to find the metro. There were no signs in the bus station, but I figured I could at least find a map (often at individual bus stations) or the Metro itself. Turns out I have bad luck with picking streets and I ended up wandering for a good hour trying to find a Metro station. I would learn later that I wandered quiet far towards the centre of town. I did eventually find the metro and I was not too upset as I knew that I had lots of time and the kind gentleman had informed me that the metro doesn't really start up until 5:30 am. I followed the remainder of the directions and had no difficulty finding the flat. Isis kindly let me in at an early 6am and I proceeded to take a nap in the lovely room that she provided.
When I awoke a few hours later, I felt rather refreshed and ready to start my adventure in Barcelona. I knew the first thing was to get food and Isis, who was also up, kindly showed me the grocery store as she also needed to make a trip. I then had a belated breakfast, grabbed the remainder of my snacks from my travels and went out exploring. One of the major sights in Barcelona is la Sagrada Familia, which is a large church that is still in the middle of construction. It is a large building and has a modern/contemporary feel. It looks almost like a sandcastle (pic below). I then attempted to wander towards La Rambla and completely failed. I quickly learned that Barcelona was going to be one of the most difficult cities to navigate (in my lost wanderings I found my way back to the bus station that I arrived in from Barcelona). I don't mind the wandering too much and did eventually find my way to the coast. I didn't actually find the beach but instead went after the number of old buildings I could see. This included a stop by the Cathedral. Entrance to the Cathedral is free in the early morning and late afternoon (after 5:15pm). It was about 3:30 and I decided to wait, by reading and enjoying the sunshine, and then entered during the free hours. Before this I also stopped by Starbucks, which I wouldn't normally mention, but this time it was significant. With this Starbucks purchase and with Barcelona being the last of the "new" countries that I will visit in Europe, I can officially say that I have had Starbucks in every country (where it is possible to get Starbucks, looking at you Italy) that I have visited. This is sad, but I thought it worth mentioning. By the end of the Cathedral,I was struck by how exhausted I was and decided to head in early for dinner and some relaxing. Isis and I spent the evening chatting a bit and sharing dinner while watching a spelling bee type game show (in Catalonian of course).
The next day, Isis had offered to take me to La Castillo, an old fort that sat on a mountain near the coast of the city and then invited me to Japanese food with some of her friends. The mountain that the Castillo was situation on meant that we had to trek up it a bit. Along the way, we saw the art museum, the Olympic stadium and a few parks. There was a small fee for the Castillo but it allowed us to get a spectacular view of the whole city as well as the coast. Unfortunately, it began to lightly rain and the cloud cover made the view a little foggy. We didn't have a lot of time and went to meet up with her friends at the Japanese restaurant. Her friends were really nice and all greeted me with the traditional Latin tradition of kissing both my cheeks. Unfortunately, while I know Spanish decently well, I know very little Catalonian, and that is all Isis and her friends spoke through the meal. I made many attempts to follow the conversations and occasionally picked out enough cognates that I could get some idea of what they were talking about. But between the speed and the foreign language it quickly became difficult to pull out individual words and my mind often had difficulty separating the voice from the surrounding background noise. I didn't mind too much as it was fascinating to see how a group of people speaking a completely foreign language communicate. You could pick up a lot from body language and gestures. Also, I was once again struck by the normalcy of it all. I could imagine a similar situation in which I was with a group of my friends talking amicably and excitedly with them, full of jokes and laughter. It made me even more home sick (home includes both Oxford, Indianapolis, and Kansas City). I also couldn't help but contemplate how hard it must be for foreign students not very proficient in English to be out with people who are fluent in English and quickly jabbering away. The food was very good and reasonably priced for the amount of food. It was quite a late lunch, however, and Isis and I were quite worn out by the end. We turned into the flat and after a quick skype call with my parents, Isis did my nails and we watched a Japanese drama that her and her friends had talked about earlier. Isis and I both have a love of Japanese culture. After a very late dinner, I turned in, ready to hit much of the remainder of Barcelona the next day.
The next day, I woke up early and had a quick breakfast and then set out for a destination that I was really looking forward to, Park Guell. The park is famous for being designed and constructed by Gaudi and is the beautiful vibrancy that I expected from Barcelona but hadn't experienced yet. The park is free except for the region specifically built by Gaudi, which only allows 400 visitors per half hour. I went ahead and begrudgingly paid for it and I honestly felt like it was worth it. His architecture is so beautiful and after and hour in the restricted section and another hour wandering the remainder of the park which also happens to be on a hill overlooking the city, I was quite pleased.
I returned to the flat for a quick lunch and then finally went to La Rambla. Rambla is a main street about a mile or so long that has plenty of shops and general touristy things. After picking up the remainder of the souvenirs I needed to get for family and admiring the street, I moved on to see the beach. On the way, I passed a lot of what I saw the first day, but there was an added twist of a flea market which had hand crafted goods and number of food stalls. I avoided them in favour of the beach, at least at first. The beach was beautiful and I took the time to dip my toes into the Mediterranean (so I can say that I have been there). I read a little and sunbathed for a little as the weather was warm, but the clouds began to roll in for the evening making it a little less nice. On my way back I succumbed to the smell of warm food and the realization that after today, I would be in the US and no longer legal to drink, I grabbed a nutella crepe (because I can't seem to get enough) and a authentic Catelonian beer and sat near the marina to consume them. All in all, it was a great day. I came back to the flat, did some work out routines including archery reversals and now I am writing this blog.
Barcelona is probably the most modern city that I have visited. Most countries in Europe are trying to maintain the historical buildings they have, but Barcelona seems to want to create new history with new and contemporary art. I really admire its beauty and climate and its unique feel when compared to the rest of Europe. It was also really fun to see random bits of art in places you wouldn't expect (See below). Another thing that struck me was how political the people were. Isis and I never talked about it directly, but with her friends and the city in general, the independent vibe is very strong. I don't mind this so much, and merely find it intriguing to see another country/city that is so entrenched in its politics. I imagine Quebec must have a similar vein. Overall the trip was a good one and I had many moments of fleeting beauty, in which the moment was twinged with awe and sadness. Awe, because the beauty of the moment, and sadness, at the knowledge that the feeling would not remain. I am so grateful to Isis for hosting me. This couch surfing experience has been another good one and the housing situation is much nicer that even places that I have paid for. I am looking forward to going home and seeing my family, but this is also twinged with a little sadness. With how well this trip has gone so far, I feel a bit like a wimp for wanting to head home. Or maybe these feelings are just the beginnings of all the homesickness that have threatened to leak from my eyes over the last 6 months. Either way, the next adventure is my home. I may post in a week if I feel a particular culture shock, but otherwise, I'll post at the end to summarize my trip. I hope it will be a great trip of seeing family and friends and getting a taste of the parts of America that I love and miss from my time abroad. Until next time.
Adventures Await!
KH
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