Barcelona, Spain and La Cucaracha

I am sort of glad I am so late updating my blog because now I get to sit down and relive everything that happened in Barcelona.

I'll start off with the very very beginning of the weekend. We had a 10pm flight out to Barcelona Friday night (October 21st). I was going to go to my 5-7pm class at La Sorbonne, and then head straight to the airport. I was all packed and ready, but I needed to do one thing. Stop at the ATM. I went to the bank around the corner, and put my card in the machine. A message pops up, "Sorry, I can not give your card back." Panic sets in. I run into the bank, and ask the woman (in French, of course), how to get my card back. Not even lifting her eyes, she says "C'est pas mon probleme," It's not my problem. Oh, those lovely lovely Parisians, and their exquisite customer service. Tears start to come, and I explain to her that I am off to Barcelona with only 5 euros in my pocket. She rolls her eyes, and gives an obnoxious sigh, and turns her back to me to make a phone call. She mumbles, and 2 minutes later, a man comes holding my card. I ask her if it was the machine, or my card. She says my card, and I should call my bank. So, I run to the McDonalds next door to use their free WiFi to call my bank via Skype. As I was on call-waiting, and in full panic mode, I turned to my bestest friend, Emily, who was already in Barcelona. I went to iMessage her my situation, and literally as I was typing it to her, she messaged me saying "My wallet was stolen in Barcelona." Really, the luck we have sometimes!!!! With nervous calls between Bank of America, and my mom, everything was settled. Basically, BofA decided to cancel my card because a company was compromised, and my account was in danger. Of course, they did not tell me this, they simply sent a new card to my mom's address in NEW YORK. How does that help me? So, on the phone with emergency VISA they told me that they were opening my account for an hour, and to take out the necessary money that I needed, and they were to send me a new card to Paris within the next 2 days. All worked out, I had some money, and a new card was to be waiting for me in Paris for when I returned from my weekend away.

Now, off to Barcelona!!!

We landed Friday night, and got in closer to midnight. Barcelona nightlife starts at around 2 am. Starving, we went to a place our hostel recommended, and grabbed some tapas. I guess around 12:30am, everyone was still eating dinner. We had some yummy tapas, but we knew that we needed sleep. With a long week, and a dramatic start to the weekend, my body was craving a bed. On Saturday, we planned to do a bike tour of Barcelona, and I was so excited because I was finally seeing Emily after months apart! :D It was great to see a familiar friend. We got all our bikes situated, sort of. Seeing as I am rather small, the bike was just too big for me. I could not reach the floor when I needed to stop, or use my feet to kick off the ground to get myself going. I just looked like a clumsy mess on a bike that was too big. The first leg of the trip, I obviously fell behind because I was not used to this bike, and made my grand entrance when everyone was all settled already listening to our tour guide. Typical. I learned that curbs were my friends, because it was a place to rest my feet when the bike stopped. The tour was great, and we really did see all of Barcelona. The weather was beautiful, it couldn't have been any better!

Reunited!

Saturday night. 

Emily is the bestest and she found an awesome deal that consisted of a flamenco show, a dinner consisting of endless tapas, and bottomless Sangria. And, to continue, we were offered a bar crawl, that ended at one of the Barcelona nightclubs that open out onto the beach. Didn’t have to tell us twice. So, we were off. The bar crawl was a lot of fun, and Emily is such a trooper for sticking it out despite having a flight really early the next morning. Thanks Em! Love youuu! We got into the club without having to wait on the ridiculously long line, or without having to pay the ridiculously expensive cover. :) The club was fun, and the music was great. But, we had had enough, and it was a long night. You exit out onto the beach, and it felt good to stick my toes in the sand. It was unlike anything I had ever done before, and I want to do it again!!! Ugh, take me back! I think everyone should go to Barcelona at least once... or twice.

My Other Half

Sangria

Bar Crawl Fun :)

More Bar Crawl Fun

At the Club

Gingerbread Houses

On Sunday, it rained :( and unfortunately a lot of the city was closed. We did go to Park Guell, and that was neat. It’s a famous park area in Barcelona, situated on a hill that overlooks the city. It felt like I was in a dreamland consisting of trippy, man-made caves, and gingerbread houses. It was designed by the Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi. Of course, he is also known for his masterpiece La Sagrada Familia. It’s the giant sand drip castle in Barcelona, which still is not completed. If only it wasn’t raining…

some more

On Sunday night, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice Paella dinner. I had a chicken and seafood Paella that was out of this world. But, something happened that night that I will never, ever forget. As we were eating, I notice my friend quickly glance over her shoulder. She turns to face me and says, “I think I just saw a small mouse.” That’s all I needed to hear. I was already sitting crisscross-applesauce-hands-in-my-lap on the restaurant chair. Then, we notice a French family next to us, and the little boy starts panicking, crying, and completely freaking out. Why the sudden Terror? No, no it was NOT a mouse. It was a huge, giant cockroach. It wasn’t just your average cockroach, this is the cockroach you see the Crocodile Hunter (RIP) try to tackle and get his hands on in the jungles of the Amazon. It was something straight out of a Nat Geo documentary. After seeing this pre-historic dinosaur cockroach, I am now full out STANDING on my chair. This restaurant was teeny, tiny, so everyone knew what was going on, but no one knew where the beast went. Suddenly, it scatters across the room right under the feet of this giant man. This thing was so big, the giant man was too scared to step on it, and everyone was yelling at him to do it- but he just didn’t have it in him. I didn’t blame him…but, it disappears again! Under my table (OF COURSE). By now, I am physically ON the table. Even the waiters didn’t know what to do. I’m in tears alongside the little french boy. It’s gone for a few more minutes, but it makes its final debut. This poor french kid, really, the cockroach decided to run up the wall literally 2 inches from his face. He turns his head, and the scream that came out of this poor child was terrifying. His dad jumped across the table with a restaurant napkin, and in one ninja-like swoosh killed that cockroach with his napkin and hands. I was all set. Paid the check, and was outta there.

This concludes Barcelona.

-M