The Road to Barcelona

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Another early morning wake up this morning as we headed towards Barcelona. By mid-morning we had arrived in Pamplona to have a quick look around. We walked the narrow streets where every July they hold the famous running of the bulls. The streets are barricaded and lined with thousands of people who watch brave, if not crazy people, risk their lives being chased by bulls. We walked down some of the streets where the bulls run. They were mostly lined with tourist shops that sold every imaginable kind of bull related trinket. There was nothing too exciting here, just more shops like they have in every other city. Just knowing that this is where that famous annual event takes place was the real significance. We continued our walk to the stadium where the bull running finishes up. The stadium was disappointing as it was closed up and plastered with a lot of posters and ads. After the bullring, we were free to wander the streets before we had to get back on the coach. Most people went into a few of the many souvenir shops. After we bought our typical souvenirs, me and Shea started to retrace our steps. However, we had made so many turns that we couldn’t remember exactly where to turn and every store was looking like every other store. When we hit a particular fork in the road, we were stuck as we both had different ideas as to which way to go. Shea said that I was usually right and we were just about to go the direction I had suggested, when we hear Colin calling out to us from behind. Apparently he had been looking for us as everyone was already gathered at the designated meeting spot. He led us in the direction that Shea had suggested. Thank god he found us when he did. Otherwise we would have gone in completely the wrong direction and who knows where we would have ended up. We were soon back on the bus for a few hours on the way to Zaragoza.

After maybe two hours, we arrived in Zaragoza. This city was mainly just a lunch stop. At least we were dropped off in the main part of town so we can see the city’s main attraction. We were dropped off in the plaza where the huge Basilica de la Nuestra Senora Del Pilar was located. This basilica was large and stunning. I’m still trying to learn the differences between a church, basilica, and cathedral. We wandered the length of the plaza where at the eastern end was a very modern landmark which included a waterfall. After taking a few photos, most in the group looked for a place to have lunch. A group of around 10 of us decided on a place where we were able to eat outside. Most of us had pizzas, myself included. When the bill came and everyone pitched in their money, we were a few euros short. Why does this always happen when you have a large group? I ended up paying around 5 more euros than I should have. After lunch, it was pretty much time to reboard the bus. However, we had a couple more minutes to kill. I decided to enter the Basilica and to have a look. Apparently, inside there was a place where if you kissed it, all your sins would be washed away. The inside of the basilica was beautiful, very traditional, and of course filled with catholic imagery. I think there was communion going on based on the many children dressed in suits and white dresses with their families videotaping. I was about to leave when Hazel and Shane came in looking for the place to wash their sins away. We walked towards it and Shane decided to have a picture with it as he kissed it. He handed me the camera and as I was focusing, I accidentally pressed the release button. I think I might have yelled “shit” when that happened. I’m not sure if I did say that but how blasphemous would that have been.

On our way to Barcelona, I started to feel my stomach acting up. I was hoping and praying that I was not about to have a diarreah attack. All these thoughts kept going through my mind like would I have to ask Pedro to stop the bus. How embarrassing would that have been. Since we did not have a bathroom on board, a possible disaster was looming. I took an Immodium hoping that this would do the trick. I sat there very still hoping not to stir something up and praying that we would arrive soon. As I sat there, I realized that it must have been the ice in the soda that I purchased at the rest stop. I was just not thinking when I picked up those tongs and grabbed 2 ice cubes. I was now paying the price for my lapse in good judgement. We finally arrived in Barcelona, but it would still be a while before we arrived at the hotel as we had our orientation tour. We climbed the winding road to the top of Montjuic where we had absolutely stunning views of the Barcelona skyline. I wished we could have stopped to take a few pictures. We saw the diving venue for the 1992 Olympics, complete with the famous backdrop view that became famous during the games. I remember Colin, telling us that this was the place where Greg Louganis hit his head during a dive. I thought to myself, “No it’s not. That happened at the Seoul Olympics.” Then we stopped in front of the Olympic Stadium. We had a few minutes to go inside and take a few photos. Looking inside, it was not as large as I had envisioned. If I was never told that this was the Olympic Stadium, I probably would have never known. We also saw the Olympic Cauldron that became famous for the way it was lit during the games. Back on the bus, we descended Montjuic and stopped for a brief moment in front of the Royal Palace which was also stunning. Apparently at night, they have fountains that are all lit up which draw thousands of visitors. We drove around Barcelona and saw the Sagrada Familia, the Ramblas and the Christopher Columbus monument. We arrived at the hotel which we were told is brand new. It was very modern looking on the outside and the inside looked just as new and modern. Our room on the second floor was again small yet quite nice. However, the view from our window sucked as it was just a back alley. Dinner was downstairs in the dining room which was in the lobby. This made for quite a weird feeling. Everyone was making a huge ruckus over the way Rochelle did her hair before dinner in preparation for tonight. She had he hair all up and going in every which direction. It was really kind of cool. Me and Shea sat with Karl, Pam, Nikki and the Chinese couple. While the other two tables were quite loud and animated, our table was rather subdued and quiet. There were quite a few moments of uncomfortable silence. After dinner, we again all gathered in the lobby where Colin would take us down to the Maremagnum area for some good night life. The walk was around 20 minutes and when we got there, I realized what a fabulous setting for a clubbing/bar district. The Maremagnum area was completely above the water and to get there you had to cross a bridge. There were quite a few bars and clubs to choose from. Most everyone decided to start off upstairs at an Irish bar. However a few of us decided to get some money from the ATM. This turned out to be a disaster as only Pam was able to retrieve money out of the ATM. For the rest of us, we were not able to even insert our cards. Those of us who used the ATM; Carl, Pam, Nikki, Rochelle, Nicole and myself, decided to forego drinking and head straight to the dance floor. We entered a club called Tequila. There weren’t that many people here as the dance floor was only sparsely filled. At least they were playing some current hits that I knew. We were immediately led to the bar where we were given some complimentary shots. Nicole grabbed my hand and I had no idea what she was doing. She put some salt right below my thumb and I realized that she was prepping me for a tequila shot. Since I had never done this before, I had to watch how she did it. I saw her lick the salt, take her shot, and bite into a lemon slice. So then, I followed and was expecting it to be rather nasty but it wasn’t too bad. Perhaps it was poor quality tequila. For maybe about an hour we danced mostly amongst our group. However, a few of the locals would try to get in with us but we still kept on dancing and having a good time. The rest of the group starting filtering in and we continued dancing and drinking the rest of the night. While dancing, an Indian girl from the UK approached me to dance. She was with the group of women who apparently were here for a bachelorette party and were dressed in Hawaiian themed attire. The dance was unspectacular as I had no interest in her. Maybe she sensed that as once the song ended, she decided to leave. Carl thought that I was maybe going to be the stag for their bachelorette group. Thank god that never happened. The place was filling up to near capacity with mostly young Spanish guys. Quite a few of them were really good dancers and one in particular would not leave Nicole alone as he kept hounding her for most of the night. After a while, I was getting a bit bored and decided to leave with Carl, Amanda, Rochelle, Pam, and Nikki. It was around 2am but most everyone else seemed to have a couple more good hours left in them, including Shea.

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