Ciao Mondo! : Barcelona

I got to the train station for the 10:30 a.m. train....I was scheduled to arrive in Barcelona by 8:30p.m. Enough time, I figured, to get a room and have some time to walk around a bit. Unfortunately the entire ticketing system was down and on top of that a bunch of us were informed that the particular train we wanted was sold out. It would be a 2 hour wait for the next train and I wouldn't make it to Barcelona until 11pm.

I met two English guys who were on the same route as me. I asked if I could hang with them and stay at a hostel of their choice. I figured it would be a bad idea to wander the streets of Barcelona at night...I was surely right about that...but more about that later.

The trains in Spain are VERY nice...roomy and with your own electrical outlets to charge you laptop or cell phone.
Bathrooms were very roomy and clean. Our train was very late getting in and I was getting really sick of watching the guy with OCD on front of us adjust his pants for the 500th time and touch everything with a napkin. We arrived at the train station at 11:30pm. One of the English guys had a Blackberry or something and

seemed to have specific hostel in mind to go to. Two freakin' hours later we still couldn't find it. The guy insisted we were in the right neighborhood but he thought maybe it wasn't there anymore. I like to use Metro stations as landmarks and I kept asking him where it was exactly in relation to the Metro station we were standing in front of. He wasn't sure so he ran around to look some more. Finally, he found it...but when we got there...no rooms. I made some calls from my Skype and found a place nearby willing to take us in. 22 Euros...the English guy hesitated..."Do we want to pay 22 Euros?" I said, "Are you crazy? It's 1:30am..OF COURSE we'll pay 22 Euros.

So we walked a couple of blocks and were greeted by this somewhat eccentric Israeli guy. I loved him. He

gave us his spiel about Barcelona: Watch out for the scams and pick pockets, but there is no violent crime." He gave us a map of the city and showed us where the best touristic sites were. Then, some dudes asked us if we wanted to go out and party. Hell no. Bedtime.

I got up early the next morning. I knew the English guys wanted to do their own thing...as a matter of fact..I knew they would go find another hostel that day. There was no way I was moving. We were located right on La Rambla Street and I had no intentions of moving. I took the map and went on my way. I followed the route recommended by the hostel "host." Most of the walk included s

eeing the fabulous architecture of Antoni Gaudi, who was a renowned Catalan architect who lived from 1852-1926. The most famous of his works is the Sagrada Familia which is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be finished until at least 2026.

I walked for several hours, finally ending up at the beach. I heard this weird crunching noise as I stood under a palm tree. I looked up and saw 3 parakeets eating what looked like...croutons!" What the hell? Are parakeets even native to Spain? Anyway, I went to relax on the beach a bit and here were some squat, Mexican women walking around offering massages. Full massage for 10 euros. Sweet! I'll take it.

I finally made my way back to the hostel. The Israeli guy was so concerned about everyone being social and getting along. There were some American girls that came to the hostel so they could meet more people and he basically made me entertain them. simultaneously, the re were 2 Italian / Irish sisters, Anna & Liz (like me!) that I had met that were going to get some food. We had agreed to to the Plaza Espana for the spectacular fountain show later that night and dude was really concerned that I would miss them on their way back.

I did find them and the 3 of us went on our way. The show was great! Better than the Bellagio! Music was done to the tune of Titanic Theme, Star Wars and ET. The show ended - or so we thought, when Anna said, "If I was the d.j. I rock out to some Queen." we started to walk away when the show started up again...it sounded like some opera...it was Freddy Mercury! No way! Good call! I guess

Freddy did a special song with an opera singer for the Barcelona Olympics. We made our way back to the hostel. We walked into our bedroom and....oh my...3 VERY attractive men already asleep in our room. I think I really like Barcelona. We chatted up the guys but, unfortunately, I had to leave in the morning. *sigh*.

Early the next morning I went up to the fabulous Park Guell before I had to catch my plane, also designed by Gaudi. It was way up on a hill overlooking the whole city. There were some great musicians putting on a small show and I bought one of their CDs. 2 hours is definitely NOT enough time to visit the park.

I will FOR SURE have to come back to Barcelona.