Last recap, finally!
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Tues. 4/1 – Sat. 4/5
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Crazy coincidence number one
On the bus from Marseille to Montpellier, Catlett started talking to two Moroccan guys, Yohan and Ali, who were hilarious. They were very friendly and silly, and one of them kept singing crazy songs. Yohan is actually going to study in Sheffield this fall–what a coincidence!
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Crazy coincidence number two
Heat, Frannie, Craig, Catlett and I hop onto the train that will take us from Montpellier to Barcelona. Catlett’s in the lead and I’m behind him talking about something when suddenly he stops. I hear him say slowly, “No…way…” and the next thing I know Steve and Brandon from NM jump up and we’re all laughing and talking loudly and excitedly about how crazy it is we’re all on the same train and how our seats are right next to each other!
Steve said afterwards that as he and Brandon were sitting in their seats, he thought he heard my voice, then he turns around, sees Catlett and I, and isn’t that just crazy? So funny! It also made the five hour train ride so much more fun!
It was also a gorgeous day outside and the train ride was magnificent. We also saw flamingoes!
CATLETT: Well, this reminds me of home. I know a lot of rednecks with flamingoes on their lawns.
Hahahaha! That cracked us up.
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Crazy coincidence number three
So, not only were we randomly on the same train with reserved seats right next to one another, but we were all also at the same hostel! Originally, we were supposed to be at Barcelona Be Hostel, but they told us to go to Barcelona Sound, which was where Steve and Brandon were. The boys met up with Brandon from OK there as well, and the next day Ashley and Britney showed up at the hostel as well!
That first night, we went to an Irish pub down the street from our hostel, which is a side street from Las Ramblas (the big, main street of Barcelona pretty much). We girls were feeling a bit smothered by the boys, so we left them to find some ice cream. We sat there enjoying our dessert and venting about the boys, and when we came back, it turns out that the boys had a good time having a somewhat guys’ night out.
We also acted very silly on what we considered a three-person wheelchair. Don’t ask me why.
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Beach day: drunks, log-rolling, buoy trophies, spanish speaking, wax museum/bar
The next day was BEACH DAY!
Everyone bought some wine, and we were all drinking and having the best day ever there at the beach. I took quite a long nap after about a fourth of my bottle. Frannie and Heat finished off my bottle and two each of their own–I guess it would be useless to say they were drunk hahaha! Some of the boys also bought some hash from a cerveza-beer man haha!
So I woke up after my first nap and made Heather and Frannie drink the rest of my wine. Frannie madefun of Heat for not drinking fast enough, and so Heather downed some of my bottle and handed the rest to Frannie who literally went bottoms up, chugging like it was water.
Later, after we all passed out again, we heard a story of how Frannie woke up and tried to stand up, then just keeled over like a chopped down tree, face-planting right in the sand! When I woke up soon afterwards, she got up a bit later and was obviously incredibly drunk lol. She kept trying to stand up and falling back down on her butt, and then she would lie down in the sand and do some log-rolling, like a puppy in the grass. It was the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen! This is still a day we keep bringing back and laughing about because she was so funny and cute.
She then went back to sleep.
The next thing I know, Catlett and Steve are running toward the ocean to swim to the jetty. That jetty was very far away, and they were both drunk so I sat there watching very carefully for any signs of drowning. I don’t know what I would’ve been able to do as a very pathetic swimmer, but thought that if I did see them in need of help, I could use my limited knowledge of espanol to yell for some Olympic swimmer that may have been there on the beach.
They swam all the way to the jetty, and when they came back frozen and triumphant with a buoy as their trophy, I couldn’t help but laugh. Those boys are so silly!
We went to go get food at one of the food kiosk-restaurants on the beach, and I went to another kiosk afterwards to ask for salsa, and they understood my spanish! That was very exciting :o)
We later went back to the hostel where everyone took naps before we were to head out. I took a shower and when I came back, Frannie rolls over on her bed as I rummage through my locker.
FRANNIE: Mika-chuuuu…
MIKA: Um…Franiiiieeeee….?
STRANGE SILENCE: …
And then nothing else was forthcoming so I quietly went back to the restroom to finish getting dressed. It was utterly hilarious!
Crazily enough, she came out that night!
That night, Klimkow met up with us at the hostel and took us out. We also met Jamie, Heat’s friend who we stayed with the next two nights. Klimkow took us to this crazy wax museum/bar, and it was the creepiest place ever–also the quirkiest. When we walked in, it looked like a bar, but then we realized that it was occupied by was people. That was very odd. We walked further in and for some reason, the place turned into a rainforest. It looked similar to the Rainforest Cafe. Very neat, actually, though one side room had a crazy wax lady hanging from the ceiling. We didn’t stay in there.
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Gaudi buildings, Las Ramblas, markets
The next day we walked around Barcelona during the day, exploring and just enjoying the nice day. It was really gorgeous outside. We went to the port in hope of finding the cable car, but it was so expensive that we ended up not doing that. It was cool though because as we went to cross the bridge, we were stopped with everyone else because a boat had to get through. The bridge opened and twisted so that there was an opening for the boat to pass by.
We later met up with Jamie and Klimkow down Las Ramblas. They showed us around the Plaza Catalunya, took us to a couple Gaudi buildings, the Sagrada Familia and then we split up with Jamie and went to Klimkow’s senora’s apartment, his home-stay. It was such a cute place with a very cool balcony.
Afterwards we left him because he had to go to class, and we went to the humongous market off of Las Ramblas. It was so cool and had tons of dried fruit and candy, both of which I bought! YUM.
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Jamie’s apartment, Opium
That evening we moved into Jamie’s apartment, which is so big and pretty and in such a nice area! We made pasta there that night, then pre-gamed at her place. Klimkow came over to hang out with us, but he was leaving for Amsterdam the next morning so he didn’t go out with us.
Apparently in Spain they don’t go out until 1-2am. We left for the club at 2:30am and got back at around 4am. We went to Port Olympus to a club called Opium, and it was a really chic and expensive club. Very cool though. Lots of fun :o)
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Beach again, spanish-speaker, light show, tapas, Dow Jones bar
The next day we woke late and went back to the beach where we met up with Steve and the Brandons. It was fun again, but rather cold. We got food at this delicious sandwhich place. I wanted to try gambas, and was surprised when it came in a baguette! But it was the most scrumptious sandwhich I’ve ever had in my LIFE. There was corn and tomatoes and chili sauce in it and I think that was all. I ordered espanol and the guy thought I spoke Spanish! That was so exciting and flattering!
That evening/night we went to watch a light show and it was really wonderful. Catlett said it was one of his favorite parts of the trip, and I agree. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so cool! It turned out to be a humongous fountain in front of the palace which lights up and sprays different heights of water to very loud and triumphant music (one song was that from V for Vandetta).
We then went to eat at a Tapas bar and it was the most delicious thing ever. It was our last night in Barcelona and of our spring break as a whole, so I decided to just splurge. I dropped 21 euros at that restaurant on gambas con anillo, cod on toast (which I didn’t eat because it was raw like sashimi), las bravas (potato wedges with a tradtional spiced sauce + mayo, which I took off because mayo is gross), and catalan creme for dessert (essentially creme brulee). SO GOOD and fun!
That night we went to the Dow Jones bar with is similar in nature to the stock market. The prices go up and down according to how much people are buying certain drinks, and every so often the prices crashed, dropping all the prices and people would take off for the bar. Fun stuff, but I was so tired I think I slept.
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Parc Guell, and then THE END.
The next morning, Catlett, Heat, Frannie and I woke up really early to go see Parc Guell, which is a very famous and unique park at a very high point in Barcelona. It too was designed by Gaudi, so it was amazingly quirky and different. It also is home to the longest bench in the world.
Then we went back to Jamie’s, packed and left for home. :o)
