Today is our first day in Barcelona. The night train was so much fun and a once in a lifetime experience. Even though it was really small, I loved it. I think I even like the fact that it was kind of crowded. My "roommates" Dennis and Sandy were talking about the size and decided that it felt as if we were camping. :)
We got off the train (some well rested and others not so much) and got the day started off right. We began with a guided tour. Our first adventure was riding in the bus to the top of this hill in order to get a view of the city. The road was small and curved in all sorts of directions in order to get up to the top. We were given about 20 minutes or so to take pictures and just soak up the view. It was definitely a change going from rain and clouds to having the sun almost blind you. A good change I must add! After getting a few pictures of the beautiful view and the Mediterranean (another first for me), we boarded back on the bus and headed back into the main part of the city.
After that, our tour guide brought us to the Gaudi Cathedral. Our plan was to go inside because they were offering free admission, which never happens, but the lines were so crazy long that we would have been there all day. The amount of people waiting to get in was overwhelming. The lines went up and down the streets and wrapped around the Cathedral I don't even know how many times. It was CRAZY! Instead of going inside, our guide brought us along the outside and explained a lot of the architecture. I'm not going to lie, I found this to be the worst part of our entire trip. Her explanation about put me to sleep. I got to the point where I just stopped listening and would stand facing the other direction to watch the people. After a long time of what I thought was pointless information, we finally got back on the bus and were taken to our hotel.
We were given a very short amount of time (I think about 15 minutes or so) to get ourselves ready for the day. Mollie and I did the unthinkable. We allowed ourselves to take a 4 minute shower. I went first and probably went over that 4 minutes by a minute or two. Mollie hopped in next and we hurried to get ready in order to meet the group on time. I'm pretty sure Alyssa thought we were crazy. Most of the people in the group gave us funny looks when we came down with partial wet hair.
My first order of buisness was to get to an ATM. Luckily there was one on the next street over and was right next to the Metro. My main goal for the day was to get some shopping done. Surprise, surprise! Lauren, Olivia, Mollie, a few others and I grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant on the main street. This was really the first time we struggled with any sort of language barrier/not being able to figure out who ordered what and who owes what for their food. In Spain and Paris, if you ordered a meal with people, it was all put on one ticket. They wouldn't seperate it, so it made it difficult for those of us who only had larger bills to get our change. Anyway, we had a somewhat frustrating time at lunch and then went our seperate ways.
Lauren, Olivia and I did some shopping (mostly at Zara) and were able to find a few good deals. We spent a couple hours on the main street before heading back to the hotel. We met the rest of the group in the lobby and headed out to dinner.
Our first group meal in Barcelona was super fancy! We went to a seafood restaurant down by the ports and the Mediterranean. We were served salmon. Even though I hate fish with a passion and had a terrible experience with the tuna in Paris, I was willing to give it a try. I just told myself it was chicken and got down as much as I could. Eventually my mind game stopped working and I could start to taste the "fishyness" in it. I gave the rest of mine to Lauren and was rather proud of how much I was able to eat.
After our fine dining meal, most of us went out. We went down to the beach and this was the first time I have ever touched any major body of water. Being able to say I have actually been to the Mediterranean and touched it is something I never though would happen. What might not mean that much to someone else, means a lot to me. We snapped a few pictures and proceeded to find a club or place to dance and hang out. We ended up at this place called Australia (which I loved because I will actually be going to Australia to study abroad next fall) and stayed there for most of the night.
I think it was about 1:30 or 2 before I got back to the hotel. We took the Metro and made sure to have Gordon along for our protection. :) It was an amazing first day/night in Barcelona and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Barcelona=my new best friend!
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