Barcelona was my final trip and even though it was a tight squeeze financially, I am glad I went and got to see the city. It would've been a bit heart-wrenching to leave Spain without seeing Barca.
It was quite an adventure getting to and leaving Barcelona to say the least.
We had to bus it to Madrid, then Metro it to the aeropuerto which took a good 3-4 hours. Our flight with RyanAir was peachy. However, the airport in "Barcelona" was in Girona, which is basically France and about an hour, 12 euro, bus ride to the city. So. Then we got to Barcelona, tired, hot, and confused having no clue how to get to our hostel. Finally, 3 hours later, we took the farrocarríl to the right stop and hiked up the MOUNTAIN to our hostel. Hot and exhausted, we were ready to hit up the "pools". So, we put on our swim suits and followed the path. But, we only found a deserted field with three dirt filled kitty pools and an abandoned building. AWESOME. We got an early dinner and had an early bedtime.
Friday was beach day. We walked and walked and walked to reach our final destination, but when we finally did, it was worth the wait. The weather was fantastic and we spent close to 6 hours soaking in the sun, tops optional. After a nice little Italian/Spanish lunch we invested La Rambla and the market for a while before heading back to our mountain-side hostel. When we got back to the hostel, we discovered that the majority of us were burned to a crisp. All we had the energy to do then was take some painful showers, and lay in our bunks, crying. And put on lotion.
Saturday was sightseeing day. First we took the Metro to Sagrada Familia. It was beautiful, but the most exciting part of the stop was almost being robbed! It was a three man operation involving two pairs of keys. But, Kate was on her game and caught them before they could escape with Allison's purse!! Go Kate.
After Sagrada, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the, in my opinion, poorly planned metro system, to try and get to Parc Güell. Many arduous hills and metro stops later, we got the the park, which was beautiful, but maybe not quite worth all the hiking. The last part of the day we investigated plaza Grácia, saw all the Gaudí houses, shopped at H&M (whoops!), and after some burgers and salads, headed back to the hostel, exhausted.
Sunday was a bit taxing. Mostly because RyanAir screwed me and many other people by charging 20 euros for not printing out my boarding pass?? Not cool. But, we all finally made it home. Even Allison, who bought tickets for the wrong bus and got home super late.
It was vale la pena, most definitely.
This next week is my final week! Gotta pack, do my finals and say goodbye to Valla. It will be bittersweet and probably a bit traumatic (I hate change). But, I'm excited to get back to the States, see Bill, and maybe start earning some money??? Soooo poor.
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