Viva España

After months of traveling, I had finally reached my last destination of Spain. I was really bummed that I only had 5 days left until I had to head back to America, but I was determined to make the most out of my remaining time. And I sure did.

DAY 1

I flew from Porto, Portugal to Barcelona, Spain and arrived in the evening. I got to my hostel, Saint Jordi Rock Palace (the best hostel EVER), and checked in. I heard so many people talking and yelling in the common area downstairs and the hostel workers said that there was a club crawl leaving in about 5 minutes. I was kind of tired but I decided it would be a great way to meet people so I ran upstairs to my room, threw down my stuff, and headed downstairs. The club crawl leader had just begun yelling to people to start gathering by the door since they were about to leave. I saw a huge tub full of sangria so I found a cup and scooped a cupful. It’s legal to drink on the streets in Spain (or at least I was told that) so I got shuffled out of the hostel as I was still holding my cup full of sangria.

I instantly met so many cool people. Some guy named Ethan who was also from California, a Canadian guy named Mark and a guy named Ren from Manchester, England ended up being my buddies for the night, as we ended up getting separated from the group later (I remember their names solely because I have it typed into my notepad in my phone and have a picture with them). We were led by this club crawl leader who worked at the hostel and we were basically his cattle. We headed towards the subway after walking past a few restaurants with people who were just eating dinner at midnight! I could get used to this whole late-night Spain routine, and I sure got used to it when I was there. So the club crawl leader led us to the subway where everyone (with many people already drunk) had to buy their tickets on a machine. Let’s just say it took a little longer than it should’ve…So we ended up at some bar, then some club, then separated from the group somehow after these guys from Manchester got too crazy and needed help from the hostel club crawl leader. It ended up being a great night meeting new people, dancing to amazing music (hearing “Bailando” at a club in Spain made me so happy), and discovering Spanish nightlife.

DAY 2

The days in Spain all blurred together. Nights turned into days and everyone basically woke up at sunset and went to sleep at sunrise. The first club crawl night I think I stayed out until around 6am and managed to find my room and pass out. I woke up around 5 or 6 hours later when everyone else in my 14 person room was just beginning to wake up as well. I started getting ready for the day and was ready around the same time as this girl that I recognized from the club crawl the night before. She opened the door to leave and I couldn’t help but ask what her plans were for today. She said that she was just going to go “explore” and I asked if she wanted to be travel buddies. We instantly became “trip best friends” for the rest of my time there. Her name was Becky and she was from Canada and she was the best.

 We wandered down one of the most popular touristy streets in Barcelona called La Rambla, AKA pick-pocket central, and stopped at different booths and stores. There are so many people on that street! We approached Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (as you may have noticed, that’s not Spanish. They speak Catalan in Barcelona which is kind of Spanish-y, kind of French-y and kind of weird) and went inside. There were so many people in there and so many stalls with all types of foods. There were so many fruit stalls but there were also lots of mini restaurants inside this covered market. We found one, sat down and had our first meal of the day, breakfast or lunch or brunch or whatever you want to call it. As we were leaving, I walked by a stand that was selling lamb heads (!!!) and quickly got out of there. It’s so crazy that that is normal to Spaniards!

We continued down La Rambla and finally made it to the beach. I approached this huge statue that I remember seeing the last time I was in Barcelona so I got excited and took a lot of pics and sent it to my parents later on when I had wifi. We walked around Rambla de Mar which had many restaurants, cool looking buildings, and stores, but continued down to the actual beach, Barceloneta. It ended up being a longer walk than we thought it would be, but there was never a dull site so we were fine with that. We hung out on the beautiful yet extremely crowded beach until dinner time, then chose a nice restaurant directly parallel to the beach. I had been craving Paella since the last time I was in Spain 3 years before, and as I waited for that delicious dish, I ordered a mojito. Nothing says Barcelona like Paella and a mojito! Our Paella finally came and it was better than I even remembered. Paella is a popular rice dish that generally comes with all kinds of seafood but you can get it different ways depending on the place. That was when it really hit me that I was actually in Spain, as I was on the beach eating Paella and drinking a mojito. I was just so serene and happy.

It started getting dark and we heard about this fountain light show so we started walking towards it. It was way farther than we thought so we got in a taxi and got there a few minutes before it started. I actually had been there a few years before when I went on a Mediterranean Cruise but my family and I had went on a day when there happened to be no show so I was excited to finally see it! It was called the Magic Fountain of Montjuic and had beautiful stairs leading up to the top where you could watch the show from. There were so many people standing around, sitting on the stairs, and some right by the fountain. The music started and it played a range of songs from Frozen to classic rock. It was really random but the lights were beautiful and there were people from all over the world watching the show. We were there for about a solid hour since it was such a beautiful place, then we headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for club crawl round 2.

Saint Jordi is a chain of hostels (I think there are about 5 of them) and so on the second night of the club crawl, we joined with 2 of the other ones. I met some more really cool and fun people, we ended up at some club that was on the beach and so much fun, and I was just really getting the hang of the Spanish way of life!

DAY 3

I went to brunch with Becky at this amazing crepe place a few blocks away from the hostel. They were huge crepes and mine had cream cheese in it with salmon on top. It was so good and I am now craving it. We then went back to the hostel and hung out as I packed up my stuff. My flight to Madrid left in a few hours but I was really sad to leave Barcelona since I had met such amazing people and had such a great time. I went up to the rooftop of the hostel where people were hanging out in the hot tub and I hung out then said my goodbyes. Everyone kept telling me not to leave until a few days later when everyone else happened to be leaving. I was torn. I couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving Barcelona when I had met so many people, so I frantically called my parents and asked them to change my flight. They made all my flight reservations when I was on Semester at Sea since I had no internet access, so after talking to them (well pretty much begging them), they changed my flight to two days later. To make things even better, there was some big soccer game happening at the time and it happened to be Barcelona v. Madrid and Barcelona won. Barcelona won me over as well.

I went back on the rooftop and told everyone the good news and they were excited and said I definitely made the right decision. I suddenly heard a ton of honking on the street because the soccer game had just ended. The honking didn’t stop for at least 30 minutes! Everyone driving by did the same honking melody and the whole city came even more to life than it already was. I went to dinner with Becky and had more Paella, then we got ready for the third night in a row out.

When all the club crawlers got onto the subway to get to our first destination, it was completely packed. Everyone was yelling and celebrating Barcelona’s victory over Madrid, and it was a Sunday night! The first destination was fun but then we got to the prime beach club, Opium. We got in line and when I tried to get in, they pointed at my feet and told me I couldn’t enter. I had flip flops on. I had been backpacking for 3 weeks with limited space in my backpack so I literally only had a choice of flip flops and tennis shoes, but they would not let me in. They were nice gold flip flops but the other girls wearing flip flops who were allowed to enter had one extra tiny strap over their foot (which I don’t understand at all how that is any different) so I wasn’t allowed to enter. Some friends offered to help sneak me in or to go to another club with me, but I told them to have fun. I was in a pretty bad mood after that so I went into the other beach club that I was in the night before and just walked around alone. It was the weirdest experience! It was oddly enough kind of nice since I didn’t feel like talking to people so I just walked around and observed. I went outside close to where the beach was and some foreign guy tried talking to me but I just wasn’t in the mood to talk. I messaged a girl I had met the first night who happened to have a mutual friend who I went to high school with, and I ended up at her hostel hanging out with all her roommates. There was a group of fun British guys so of course I had a lot of fun talking to them! The night did not go according to plan, but it still ended really well.

DAY 4

I wanted to go more places around Barcelona this day, but Becky and I woke up really late (typical) and decided we would just walk to the beach again. Her friend from Canada, Cody, was teaching English in Barcelona and had just come back from a quick trip to Budapest, so he was back. We met up with him at the beach and hung out, went to dinner, drank the most delicious Sangria and had Paella. We kind of just walked around and they caught up, then we took the subway back to our hostel. There is a club crawl every night at the hostel but I was just done. 3 nights in a row was enough for me.

I stayed in my room in bed the whole night watching episodes from the new season of Game of Thrones that was on. I was happy and everyone in my room had gone out so I had the room to myself to just enjoy GOT. When my parents switched my flight and extended my stay in Barcelona, there was no more room in the room I was previously staying in with Becky so they transferred me to another room. There was a group of 4 American guys who were definitely entertaining. They came in at 4am and were really loud but saying the funniest stuff and commenting on their night. Hostel roommates are always entertaining in some way.

DAY 5

Today was my official last day in Barcelona; I wasn’t going to change my flight again! I went off with Becky like always and we walked down some streets close to La Rambla. I found the tattoo parlor I had looked up and walked in. I decided it would be cool to get a “travel” tattoo when abroad, and since I was in my favorite place to travel to, I had to get it there. I walked in and a guy gave me a tattoo on my foot that says “Explore”. That word means a lot to me since the Semester at Sea ship was called the MV Explorer and the word “explore” was said so much when wandering around new countries. I also wanted to remind myself to not be lazy when I got back to America (which has kind of failed…oops) and that there is a lot of exploring to do even in my own country. It didn’t hurt as much as my first tattoo even though I heard foot tattoos hurt, but maybe it was because I knew how it would feel. It was done in about 15 minutes and it was funny because the guy gave me aftercare instructions in Spanish. Luckily he told me all of it in English before giving it to me, but I also could read about 90% of what it said. He wrapped up my foot and it was time to head back to the hostel to gather my stuff up before going to the airport. While walking back, it started raining. I guess Barcelona was sad that I was leaving. I was sad too. I said my goodbyes to Becky, the hostel workers, and whoever else I could find. I walked across the street to the bus station then ended up at the airport to board my flight to Madrid.

It was a very short flight and I got into Madrid literally right after sunset. I got in a taxi and a nice woman drove me to my hostel. The radio was on in the car and the woman started singing to the song playing: “As long as you love me” by the Backstreet Boys. I couldn’t help but smile and joined in with her. I will always remember that moment and think of that moment every time I hear that song. We arrived at U Hostels in Madrid and I checked in. I heard people in the next room in the common area but I was hungry and getting tired. The guy who checked me in was sarcastic (like most hostel workers) but nice and gave me directions to where to get food. I put my stuff in my room and walked a few blocks away where I found this small café. I sat down and my waitress came over but she only spoke Spanish. We managed to communicate a little though and I put my Spanish to good use. At the end of my meal, she said “quieres un chupito?” which means “do you want a chupito?” I had no idea what a “chupito” was so I asked her and she went in the back room and came out with a shot glass filled with something like Bailey’s Irish Crème. I of course said “si” and “gracias”, paid for my meal, and went back to the hostel. My favorite moments of human interaction when traveling is when we don’t speak the same language fluently!

Back at the hostel, there was a karaoke night going on in the basement area which happened to be a bar/club-like place. I checked it out for a bit but felt overwhelmed by the vast amount of people that I did not know and was just tired. I went upstairs after about 20 minutes and there were 3 guys that had arrived in my hostel room. They were all Americans and we got talking. Turns out, they were good friends with a guy that I went on Semester at Sea with! Such a small world. We talked for a while but we were all tired. They had just gotten off the plane a few hours before and it was their first destination of a long vacation. It was kind of ironic since it was my very last destination, and we all seemed equally tired. I said goodnight and couldn’t believe that it was my last night abroad.

DAY 6

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 was the day I went home. I woke up really early for a flight out of Madrid and the sun was just rising. It was absolutely beautiful and I wished I got to spend time in that city, but I was satisfied with my extended time in Barcelona. I arrived at the airport and we flew to London for a layover. The layover was for about 6 hours and I sat around, connected to the wifi, and then grabbed some food. The airport is absolutely huge with stores, restaurants, and just everything. I found a pub and went in to order the last full English breakfast I would have in a while (I still haven’t had one since that day!) and some hard cider. I soaked in the environment mostly full of drunk, loud, middle-aged men and was grateful that I had a layover in London. I absolutely loved England so I was happy to be “back” even if it was just in an airport.

It was finally time to leave, so I got on my plane and headed home. I had such mixed emotions…excited to see my friends and family for the first time in 4.5 months, sad to not be traveling anymore, relieved that I could finally sleep in my own bed, and just grateful to have had the experience of a lifetime. I watched movies, dozed off, and finally made it home. It was so great seeing my family and telling them stories and showing them pictures, but no one will ever be able to understand what I went through while traveling and how those experiences made me feel. I will forever cherish the memories I made and traveling has turned me into a better version of myself: a more outgoing, knowledgeable, cultured and open-minded person. I can’t wait to travel again this summer to my next destination: ISRAEL!