EuroTrip Day 21

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(warning: This blog is going to be pretty long since I’m in an airport bored right now hehe).

Seeing as this was my last day in Barcelona and thinking my train left at 9am, I woke up at 6am packed and ready to head to Venice. The whole time I was quite baffled that an over night train would leave so early, but then again, I figured Venice might be farther than I anticipated. After checking out, and heading to the metro, I checked my schedule again and noticed that the train that left on this particular day departed at 8:15 pm errr 20:15 for those outside the U.S. haha. I was kind of pissed that I didn’t notice that the night before because I could’ve been sleeping and getting a full nights rest instead. Since it was still really early, I headed back to the hostel for the free breakfast (the first one I was able to get up early enough for hehe) and read a book for about an hour or so.

Eventually, after reading a lot of stuff opened at 8, I figured I might as well make this day productive and head to the train station around 5pm or so to give myself plenty of time to purchase my ticket and get on the train. Last time it took an hour, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

My first order of business was to check out the Cathedral of Barcelona. Unfortunately, they’re working on the outside, so you can’t really see it because it has a board over it covering the front façade. At least they kind of have a drawing on there to give you an idea of what it looks like. When I went inside, I noticed I was the only person there. It was kind of cool having such a popular cathedral all to yourself. I guess other tourists don’t like waking up at ungodly hours on vacation……. Can’t blame them. As you can see, I snapped quite a few pics with my new camera. I think since I went a few days without taking pics, I was taking more than usual haha. However, since no photos were allowed, a lot of them came out blurry or dark since I had to take the flash off.

After the Cathedral, I decided to check out Gaudi’s Parc Guell. Apparently, this was supposed to be a residential area for rich people, but the commercial aspect of the project failed miserably. The parc was later sold to Barcelona and now it’s a parc.

I took the Metro to the nearest stop and noticed that the park stood atop a freaking mountain. I traversed some pretty damn steep streets that Lombard (sp?) street in San Francisco has NOTHING on. A few minutes, I arrived at the park with calves aching and my breath escaping me. Well, it wasn’t THAT bad, but not comfortable by any means.

The funny thing is, when I first got I met my first asshole of the trip. I walked up to an older lady and exchanged greetings (everything was good at first). I then asked her “by any chance would you happen to know if Parc Guell is this way or that way?”. She responded “you’re not from around here? Where are you from?”. With her tone, I imagined she’s not too fond of Americans, so I told her I was Colombian. She, basically, gave this “Oh god, not another damn tourist” look. She sucked, but I figured 1. she’s old and bitter, 2. she’s probably dealt with a lot of crappy tourists, 3. I’m on an awesome vacation and I’m not gonna let this stupid lady ruin it. So I just acted like nothing happened and thanked her.

Then, about 30 seconds later, I finally reached one of the entrances to the park on the south west end of it. A few seconds after that, I saw a sign on a house that just made me burst into laughter. As I looked at the view, I noticed a house that had a sign that said
“Tourist go home. Park need air”. I just thought to myself, wow, this area of Barcelona is really filled with assholes. Then, I just burst into laughter due to the lack of correct grammar. I’m not saying I’m putting forth the best effort to be grammatically correct in this blog, but hey, I’m on vacation…….. sue me!

I kept walking around the park and saw some things I had seen in hundreds of travel blogs while doing research. The rolling benches that overlook the city, the main entrance to the park with the lizard mosaic, the rolling wave walkway, etc. After a while though, I decided to make things a little more interesting and went hiking off the beaten path. Armed with plenty of energy and a liter of water, I went pretty far into the woods and then returned. Good times.

After having my little moment in nature, I headed back and walked the rest of the park. Once I had nearly made a full circle, there was a monument of the 3 crosses. Basically, it was the highest point in the park and offered the best view. I took a couple pics so you can see what I’m talking about. While sitting there and taking in the view, I met 3 girls from Belgium. They were really nice and gave me some great tips on what to do when I’m in Brussels in August.

Seeing the rest of the park, and being absolutely famished at this point, I decided to head back to the metro and eat somewhere near the hostel.

Ah, 5 o’clock finally came. So I gathered my stuff and headed to the train station. Waited about 30 minutes in line, only to find out there would be no train to Milan tonight. Subsequently I wouldn’t be able to catch the train to Venice. Damnit. What the hell do I do? I made it a priority to ask the first day whether there would be a train today and was told yes by more than one person. Now I’m screwed! I have no hostel booked, no train, what the hell am I to do?

I headed back to the hostel I was staying at and put my bag in storage. I then went to an internet café since the hostels internet seemed to always be messed up. I was there 6 days and it didn’t work ONCE. I was really tired of the place and decided I would go on hostelworld.com and book a higher rated hostel since this one was kind of crappy. So far, it was the only one I didn’t like …… surprise, surprise, it’s the only one I didn’t book on hostelworld.com so far.

So I went to the internet café and found a higher rated hostel about a 10 minute metro ride away next to one of the main metro stations (Sants Estacio). Upon arriving to the hostel, I was simply AMAZED how much better this one was than the last. Not only was it wayyyyyyyyyy cleaner, but they had couches, a big screen tv, FREE INTERNET and wifi, but just a way better vibe overall. If any of you ever stay in Barcelona, I highly recommend the Alberguinn Sants Youth Hostel. Not only the facility, but the staff was wayyyyyyyyyyyy better, and the girls were cuter 😉 haha. I added some pics so you can see what the place looked like.

After checking in, my first order of business was to look for a flight to Venice. Since the train leaves at 8pm and doesn’t get to Venice until 9 or 10amI didn’t want to lose a night in Venice for a few Euros. The overnight train costs 70 Euros to book a couchette, while a flight was 92 Euros. Executive decision executed.

So after that, I kind of hung around, handled business on the internet and met some really cool people. Met a three girls from Mexico, a guy from Oakland, a guy from Scotland, and two guys from Wisconsin. All really cool people. We ended up grabbing some wine and watching the Spain vs. Turkey soccer game.

During half time, I was starving so I went with a couple of my new friends to a sushi place down the street. Sushi is definitely one of the things I miss on this trip. Some of you may not know, but I’m somewhat of a sushi addict. The sushi itself was okay, but these noodles that came along with it were absolutely AMAZING. They were SOOOOOOO good.

I finished that up and went back to the hostel to watch the rest of the game. Germany ended up winning, but Turkey gave them a run for their money. Congrats Mike, you’re people won.

After the game, a lot of us just hung out at the hostel chatting while having some drinks. I don’t really remember what time it was, but at one point I got really tired since I woke up so early. I exchanged emails with some people and went to bed.

Okay, I know that was pretty long. If you read all of this, and you’re at work….. get back to work! That’s right, I’m talking to you Julz!!!! Haha. Talk to you guys later.

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Comments

[Nick]

not welcome here
F'n tourist. Why don't you go back to where you belong. Breathin' all their air..jeez. What a bunch of jerks.

[The Julzster]

BURN!!!
Ha! Ha! You're a funny guy.... NOT!! I read this at home.... PUNK!! LOL!!