Barcelona and then some...

I am cheating since I am writing about my times in Barcelona now that it is officially over. But describing everything that happened there is highly necessary and amusing. In advance, I apologize for the length of the post, but I cut out as much as I could. And it begins...

Day 1
As mentioned, the day started off with the "prisoner in train" experience. After that, we basicallz made our way down to downtown Barcelona to claim the room that Nicki had booked. We decided I was going to sneak into here since her hostel was apartment style, and no one would be at reception there. After getting lost on horrible directions, we found the building where the owner of the business was staying - it took us at least 3 annoying buzzes (worst than the ones at my place on Barking Frog night Adam) to wake him up - at around 830am. We made our way with our bags once more to the apartments, and after feeling like my shoulders were going to fall off, we finally made it. Took a well-deserved nap until 1 pm, which was late since we were supposed to meet Nicki`s friend at 2 on Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a 1km strip that leads from the center of downtown to the waterfront, and it constantly filled with tourists, vendors and action. Nicki`s friend didn`t make it,so we walked ourselves for a few hours, and stopped at tourist information to find out what exactly this "Saint Juan" night was all about. We decided to go back to the apartment, relax for a little and then go out for dinner on Las Ramblas before checking out the party.

St. John Night (deserves its own heading)
So NOTHING could have prepared us for this night. To give it proper credit, this night is so crazy that people travel to Barcelona ESPECIALLY for this night. We started off by walking on Las Ramblas again, and going for dinner in a nice restaurant with a second floor patio view onto the Ramblas. We finished off dinner with gelato, and I was actually starting to feel a little ill, but we decided to walk it off by following people down to the water. The whole time, there were children setting off fireworks and cherry bombs every second (literally). When we got to the waterfront, there were thousands of people there, of every age. We were shocked, since it was past midnight, but we kept walking to the actual sand. At this point, it was so crowded that you could barely walk: people were drinking, swimming, dancing, generally having the time of their lives. We walked in search of a bathroom, and eventually found a tiny restaurant with a line. We bought some wine in order to use the bathroom, and I started the long wait. While in line, some French guy (who heard me speak french) motioned me over and led me downstairs into the constuction part of the restaurant. In order to "be safe", I dragged a drunken girl with me. It turns out he was just trying to show me the secret, empty and CLEAN bathroom. Long story short, Sam was a painter from France who was especially talkative, and bought us wine and champagne. We celebrated the night with the owner, and left them around 230am. We kept walking to the end of the beach, taking pictures and basically commenting at amazement at our luck of being here.
We decided to walk home around 4, and on our way out, this group of people all dressed in matching shirts and started playing the drums in a small circle. I grabbed Nicki and we started dancing, along with about 200 other people for the next half hour. It was surreal. No other word to describe it! (I have it on video.) We got home after an exhausting experience on the metro, and fell asleep at 6ish.

Day 2
Our morning (much needed) beauty sleep was interrupted at 945, since we had to move rooms. Sleeping after that was impossible, since we had to meet Nicki`s friend at noon. Tina was a 26 year old from Australia, and I could have listened to her talk all day. We walked a bit on Las Ramblas (yes, again) and then made our way waaaaay up north in Barcelona to Park Guell, a huge park designed by Gaudi. Of course it was beautiful, and the uppermost point had a view of al of Barcelona, and I of course took tons of pictures. The magic of the day was when the 3 of us, exhausted and on no sleep, made our way back down away from the crowd. People, people may be sheep, but even sheep know where to go. We got lost, and exited at the bottom of the park from greenery and isolation into a ghetto of run-down apartments. After using my knowledge of 5 words in Catalan, I understood we had to make "two rights" to get back. Long story short, we finally did, took some more pictures and made our way back home. Tina, showing her true Australian (Austraylan) spirit, climbed several walls to try and find other signs of life while we were lost.
We spent that night inside, and went to bed early, since Nicki had to catch an 845 train to Nice and I decided to join an old people tour to the surrounding area of Barcelona.

Day 3
I started my day carrying my backpack downtown, and saying bye to Nicki, and got on my bus to leave at 9. I was still extremely tired, and slept on most of the bus ride. We visited a winery, the oldest in Catalunya, and it was great, but it did NOT help with my tiredness. Our next stop was in Montserrat, which is an ancient Basilica built high up in the mountains about 50km from Barcelona. Although I doubted yet another church making an impact on me, I was truly impressed by the views and the architecture of Montserrat. I walked around inside, admired the landscape, waited in line to see the miraculous Madonna. I spent the rest of time eating crackers and olves (by choice) on the roof of the cafeteria and planning the rest of my Europe trip. It was the perfect quiet break to a chaotic previous days. From there, we went to Sitges, which was a much smaller and cleaner beach town on the coast, and I went in the water for a bit while people-watching. It`s amazing how comfortable Spanish women are with their bodies. I am not even talking about bathing topless, which they did, but they seemed to show off their imperfect (read: un-Hollywood) bodies without any trouble. It was inspiring to me, but I was obviously not ready to go there myself. I remained a clothed admirer. =)

Day 4
I can say with pride that I decided to sleep in on Day 4 until noon thirty. I took my time, got ready, and went on a mission for shopping and a conclusion to my Spanish trip. The day was exactly what I asked for: I started off at Sagrada Familia, which is a huge church in the middle of Barcelona. It has been in construction for dozens of years, and will be done in about 30 years. It`s a sight to see, but I wasn`t about to pay to go inside a building where all you see is rocks falling overhead. I sat in the park nearby, and ate the fresh and juicy cherries that I had bought in the fruit market on my way over. I then took the metro to the aquarium, which is the biggest in Europe. I know it sounds childlike, but I really wanted to see the sharks, penguins and seahorses up close and personal. Guess what?? It was totally worth it. I walked underneath the tank, and had sharks swim above me. Finally, I did some shopping, which added up to a travel bag.
My last night in Barcelona, I decided to spoil myself and go out to dinner in a square right by my hostel. The host saw that I was alone, and put me at the best table, and basically took care of dinner for me. I ate fresh fish from the ocean, got 1/2 litre of wine (no, Mom and Dad, I didn`t drink it all) and got creme brulee for dessert. It was the perfect night!

All in all, Spain made up the first week of my trip - even though I`ve been to Europe about 15 times, I never visited Spain or traveled alone. It was the perfect place to start, and I met a ton of interesting, friendly, and incredibly adventurous people. There`s so much more I wish I could see, but it will have to wait for another time - adios chicos y chicas.