Salamanca is becoming more and more like "home" every day. We enjoy the musical practicings of one of our neighbors through our open window sometimes during early evening. And we've developed this relationship with the local bar owner underneath our apartment that goes a little something like, we come home from class and hear, "Chiiicas, tres y media anoche? Eh? Cansadas?" - "Girls, 3:30 last night? You tired?" Basically he worries about us and plays an ironic parental role in this situation. Hope we don't get a curfew. And my house madre even sent me on my way to Barcelona this weekend with a spirited, "Hija! No alcohol! No chicos!"
Having moved around my entire life I can only imagine how hard it's going to be to leave, and not just for the weekend this time. This past weekend was our last one here in Spain, and I'm muy feliz to have spent it in beautiful Barcelona.
Barcelona is the coolest. But what was not the coolest? A 10+ hour overnight bus ride. Combine a completely full bus with drowsy, cranky people on sleep aids, neck pillows, long legs, 4 a.m. rest stops, dysfunctional air conditioning, and a driver who may have had a previous career in roller coaster operating and you have our road trip experience. It was trippy and that pun may be intended.
Then as all classy tour groups do we rolled straight out of bus-induced comas into the Parque Güell for our first tour in Barcelona. This park is beautiful and FULL of character but I can't help but wish for a chance to go back and explore at a time when I don't resemble a disheveled zombie.
After the tour we split up and grabbed some lunch, where little did we know we would have our first Barcelona pickpocketing thievery experience right off the bat. Seven of us innocent Americans sitting outside stuffing our faces at a little pizzeria seemed like a perfect opportunity to a couple of guys who spotted an iPhone on the table. Before we even realized what was happening they were hovering over us, waving papers with words in front of our faces, trying to distract us while one of them swiped the iPhone with a pass of the paper. BUT our life saver Momma Bear of the group spotted it, instantaneously reacted, snatched the phone, and yelled at them before any of us really realized what was going on. They were genuinely so shocked that we caught them that they sped off, and we all had a death grip on our belongings from then on. It was really a blessing in disguise to realize so early on that we weren't in Salamanca anymore.
Since my real roommate did not go on this excursion and we had an odd number of girls in the group, I ended up with a random roommate at our hotel, who turned out to be a cool Australian girl. However, she wasn't in the room when I checked in, so I met said cool Australian girl by hopping out of the shower back into the room--where my clothes were. It's like, "hey, how ya doin', I'm Lindsay, here I am in my natural state..." thank God for towels? The Rife Life's real awkward, y'all.
That quick shower and introduction gave me a false sense of energy for exactly how much more I could handle of this day. In real life I hadn't gotten hardly any sleep or time to rest, but what better conditions to go view the Picasso museum, right? I mean, what IS right is that the Picasso museum is AWESOME and interesting and totally worth the fact that we legitimately almost passed out right in the middle of the Blue Period.
This is the part where we realized that we have libertad (freedom). This is the part where we decided we just could not walk through another church and cathedral and instead walked straight to a café for a revival via frozen cappuccino. Auburn people make good choices. And our tour guide Ángel totally understood. Maybe, if we spoke Spanish right.
And then came the part where we conquered the Metro all on our own, and you won't even believe it -- I was the fearless leader. Metro? No problema. Got it down. Let's go.
The rest of the night was pretty chill with traditional tapas and a little vino. And then straight to mi CAMA (bed), where I slept awkwardly in my bed pushed up against my Australian friend's, under covers and fully clothed in air conditioned bliss for the first time in this country.
Wait, what in the world is this thing??
The next día was absolutely fantastic. Why? Because we took things into our own hands and went our own way. I'm so proud of all 14 of us for making plans for the day to fully explore the city of Barcelona and make the most of our time, even if it meant ditching more planned museum touring. We got up early enough and after breakfast hopped on the Metro to get to Las Ramblas, which is one of the most famous calles (streets) in Barcelona, full of local artisan products and tiendas. Basically pedestrian shopping mania. Basically the thief of all my dinero ($$$). You people better love your souvenirs!
The plan was to keep wandering until we hit the playa (beach). We finally found sand and plopped down amongst hundreds of strangers, some considering clothing optional, for a few hours of rest on the sand! (carefully situated in a defensive circle around our stockpile of stuff, of course). A few people swam in the beautiful Mediterrean while the rest of us soaked up the sol. Hola sunburn.
I had to make sure all of these pictures were booby-free
When it was time to go we did a classy change clothes on the beach maneuver because we planned to roll straight into a tour of the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's lifetime masterpiece and quite possibly the most indescribably beautiful place I've ever set foot in.
There's a few good Sagrada selfies for you
Gaudí passed away while the cathedral was still being constructed, and it still is to this day. It's completely funded by tourist payments and will supposedly be finished in 2030. Don't worry, we've already planned our Spain reunion to see the grandioso masterpiece. After the official tour we got to walk through a little museum display tons of Gaudí's original drawings and the mechanisms used to create the unique architecture. I think I stopped breathing when I looked over his very original drawing for the cathedral, because the precision and accuracy of the draft was mind-boggling.
Ángel then walked us over to one of the other most famous streets in Barcelona, where we got to see some of the most unique Modernist architectural buildings. The walk was long, "20 minutos" Spanish time, which I've calculated is about 45 minutes any other normal human being time, and we were quite tired but, as Spaniards say, "vale la pena" (it's worth it) to see.
That night after a much needed shower and mini siesta we went beach-side once more to find only the best seafood paella, straight from the mar (ocean). After playing with our food and then eating ourselves into paella comas in a private upstairs room at a restaurant ironically called "Salamanca," it was after midnight and a bunch of us old mujeres (women) took the most expensive taxi rides ever back to our beds.
The next day was essentially just a skip class travel day. Ten hour bus ride home, eating a cheese bocadillo (sandwich) at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, desert, España, watching Brad Pitt habla español in Mr. y Mrs. Smith, pretending to study, as in nap in our seats with our notebooks on our laps, and finally arrive back in sweet Salamanca. I specifically arrived to a MUY dramático turn of events in our telenovela and then had to study for the three finals I had today, one of which I didn't even know about until right before it. Ay ay ay.
Todo en todo, Barcelona is just plain cool. I adore the artistry and vibe of the city life right by the sea. Even though they speak a technically different language (Catalan, which is like French and Spanish mixed together) and there are pickpocket pros lurking, I would not hesitate to go back someday and maybe even stay a long, long while. I love the city.
Here's to four more días, mucho más fiestas, a wine tasting coming up Thursday, and some sad goodbyes. Hasta pronto.
Lindsay
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