¡Hola a todos! I´m in Barcelona, Spain, currently. It is 18:08 o´clock and I´m finding it incredibly difficult to type on this Spanish keyboard. We took an overnight train ride at around 11:30 last night for 8 hours. It was INCREDIBLY small! We saw some cots while walking to our traincar and got super excited, but those apparently were for people who had paid more - we got stuck with 8 people in a 5x6 comparement. That´s 30 sq. ft for 8 people. There were 2 rows of 4 seats facing each other, and we had 7 Dukies + 1 random Spanish dude who left at 1am. Sleeping was incredibly difficult and none of us really got much sleep. I slept for maybe 3 hours which is probably the most out of everyone! It was also incredibly hot and the a/c wouldn´t come on. :( I´m seriously considering flying back even though I already have my return ticket. I don´t know if I can do that again.
But, at around 7:30 am, we finally made it to Barcelona! We had to purchase a metro pass to our Hostel which was about 15 mins away. We couldn´t check in yet so we put our stuff in lockers, changed, and went to the beach, which was a few metro stops away + a small walk.
Upon reaching the beach, we were delighted to see rows of beach chairs with umbrellas scattered throughout. Beach heaven, especially since I forgot to bring a beach towel. About 30 minutes later, the reverie was broken when we spotted a man going from beach chair to beach chair requesting money. Apparently the beach chairs were 2 for 17€... that´s more than $20. Just to sit in the chairs, not to buy them or anything. RIPOFF! So we moved down to the sand before he could see us and spent a few hours there. The water was freezing! Also, the sand is a darker brown than normal.
Then we showered (the hot water ran out for me... worst shower I´ve ever taken in my life, probably) and went to eat lunch, then wandered around town a little. So far, I´m a little underwhelmed by the sightseeing, but we´re going other places tonight. Also, the language here (and thus, all the signs) is NOT Spanish.. it´s Catalán, which is a strange mixture of French and Spanish. That´s why the keyboards have these: ççççç as one of the keys. Crazy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No pictures in this Barcelona post!
ReplyDeleteIn my travels, I have noticed a trend of number of photos directly proportional to the oomph factor and novelty of the place. Does that say anything of Barcelona?
Enjoy the train ride back. When you are back in the US you may actually feel that the train was a better experience than the plane.
Yes, what about those pictures? Sounds like a very tiring trip to Barcelona! I know they have high speed trains out of Madrid. However, I guess you weren't on one of them, huh? Also, I know they speak Catalan in northeast Spain. However, with Spanish being the national language (of the entire country), I was surprised to learn the road signs were not also in Spanish. Very surprising to learn that from your post! Anyhow, hopefully the rest of your trip to Barcelona will go better after you get more rest. In any case, it should be an experience seeing Barcelona with it being the second largest city in Spain. Keep your blogs going and have fun.
ReplyDelete