Okay, well, here goes nothing. Barcelona. Pictures will come in due time. So. Saturday morning was my first real time in Barcelona. Having been up so late the night before, I slept all the way until 9h15, at which point I leapt out of bed for fear of missing the free breakfast (which closed at 10h). Of course, I was helped on my way by the Brazillian men sharing our room, who had little regard for the needs of their sleeping co-inhabitors and were bustling around loudly, getting ready for the day.
After getting ready for my breakfast, I easily made it in time, and was greeted by some cereal (rice puffs, unfortunately accompanied by whole milk I think, but on the whole, not bad), good bread with not-so-good jam (it also had the possibility of cheese and ham, but I consider these suspect under the best of circumstances, and my apricot/strawberry jam selection was nothing to complain about!), muffins (which I actually only tasted the last day, but they were surprisingly good!), oranges (which were fantastic), and coffee (and, of course, tea, milk, etc. but that did not concern me). I met some other traveling student from Tennessee who was exploring Spain, and we ate together, had a solid conversation, and then I left, never to see her again.
We checked out and re-checked-in (we had to do this every night because our numbers changed but we wanted to be in the same rooms as one another), and then headed out to see the city. We started off walking down La Rambla, where we stopped to look at various items in the market. At the end, by the sea, there was an antiques market, which we browsed for a bit. Then, we continued along the seaside until we decided that we wanted to visit Park Guël, and started off in that general direction.
After a bit of walking through the Barri Gòthic, we found a little café and stopped in for café/thé/sandwiches/etc. Generally a nice mid-morning snack. I just had water (since I had just had breakfast, unlike the others who slept through it) and we sat around talking for a while, before continuing towards the park. We found many interesting little shops, an outdoor band playing for a circle of children dancing with their parents, a tree and a wall full of pigeons, and a delightful bakery where I bought two tiny treats. I do not know what they were, but they were delicious!
We swung by the Cathedral, then headed over into the Ribera, past the Mercat, at which point one of our friends left to go see the soccer game, and up around to the Palau de la Musica, where we found a nice little tapas place and had lunch. Afterwards, we realized that we would never make it on time at this rate, so we bought Métro tickets and took the train most of the way there, and then walked from Alfonso or whatever the station was called. It was a nice, hilly walk, and well worth the effort. The park was beautifully situated, and the plants were really interesting. We wound our way around the park for a while, and then headed back, on foot, to the main city area. This took quite a while.
We met our soccer-fan friend on the way to a mexican restaurant just off La Rambla, where we enjoyed a highly decent meal, and then wandered a bit, stopping for "kronuts" (croissant-donuts; twice as bad for you and four times as delicious as a regular donut. Super flaky), and, after stopping at the hostel to grab the belongings of the two friends who were leaving, bought some ice cream. The soccer-watching friend went back to the hostel for an early night and my friend and I walked with the two early-leavers to the bus station, where we saw them off. My friend had a 6am flight Sunday, and was taking the 3am night bus to the airport, so I stayed up with her.
We walked to the beach, where we stepped in the sea, froze, and climbed a web. We walked along the sea side until it ended, then back and along La Rambla to the hostel, where she grabbed her stuff. We wandered a bit, spent an hour sitting and slowly freezing over in the Plaça de Catalunya, and then discovered the wonder of a 24-hour Metro, namely heated waiting spaces. We passed an hour or so there, and then left for her bus. Unfortunately, we just missed it, but she had plenty of time, so we went into a Supermercat to stay warm (it was getting rather chilly, and it was the sort of chill you don't feel until it's deep inside, and hard to shake free). Eventually, she left, and I made my way back to the hostel, where I fell asleep immediately.
Pictures and Sunday/Monday will come. I don't want to overwhelm you, after all! Also, homework exists. Oh, and the title comes from the fact that I got to see my friend from the Strasbourg area, Pauline, today! Unfortunately, you will have to wait for details!
After a bit of walking through the Barri Gòthic, we found a little café and stopped in for café/thé/sandwiches/etc. Generally a nice mid-morning snack. I just had water (since I had just had breakfast, unlike the others who slept through it) and we sat around talking for a while, before continuing towards the park. We found many interesting little shops, an outdoor band playing for a circle of children dancing with their parents, a tree and a wall full of pigeons, and a delightful bakery where I bought two tiny treats. I do not know what they were, but they were delicious!
We swung by the Cathedral, then headed over into the Ribera, past the Mercat, at which point one of our friends left to go see the soccer game, and up around to the Palau de la Musica, where we found a nice little tapas place and had lunch. Afterwards, we realized that we would never make it on time at this rate, so we bought Métro tickets and took the train most of the way there, and then walked from Alfonso or whatever the station was called. It was a nice, hilly walk, and well worth the effort. The park was beautifully situated, and the plants were really interesting. We wound our way around the park for a while, and then headed back, on foot, to the main city area. This took quite a while.
We met our soccer-fan friend on the way to a mexican restaurant just off La Rambla, where we enjoyed a highly decent meal, and then wandered a bit, stopping for "kronuts" (croissant-donuts; twice as bad for you and four times as delicious as a regular donut. Super flaky), and, after stopping at the hostel to grab the belongings of the two friends who were leaving, bought some ice cream. The soccer-watching friend went back to the hostel for an early night and my friend and I walked with the two early-leavers to the bus station, where we saw them off. My friend had a 6am flight Sunday, and was taking the 3am night bus to the airport, so I stayed up with her.
We walked to the beach, where we stepped in the sea, froze, and climbed a web. We walked along the sea side until it ended, then back and along La Rambla to the hostel, where she grabbed her stuff. We wandered a bit, spent an hour sitting and slowly freezing over in the Plaça de Catalunya, and then discovered the wonder of a 24-hour Metro, namely heated waiting spaces. We passed an hour or so there, and then left for her bus. Unfortunately, we just missed it, but she had plenty of time, so we went into a Supermercat to stay warm (it was getting rather chilly, and it was the sort of chill you don't feel until it's deep inside, and hard to shake free). Eventually, she left, and I made my way back to the hostel, where I fell asleep immediately.
Pictures and Sunday/Monday will come. I don't want to overwhelm you, after all! Also, homework exists. Oh, and the title comes from the fact that I got to see my friend from the Strasbourg area, Pauline, today! Unfortunately, you will have to wait for details!
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