Halloween in Barcelona

Hola people!

So, I spent the weekend in Barcelona and it was fun, interesting, scary, and exciting. We left very early Friday morning and had a long journey consisting of a train from Florence to Pisa, a plane from Pisa to the Barcelona airport, a bus from Barcelona airport to Girona, a train from Girona to the center, and our feet from the center to our hostel. We arrived at the hostel around 4 pm and got settled in. We were happy to see that the hostel was very secure and right in the middle of all the fun.

Once all of our friends from the other study abroad programs arrived, we met up and went out for some tapas. They weren't very good, but we still had fun catching up. In Barcelona, no one goes out at night until 2 am, so we had some sangria and hung around and chatted for a while. When it was time to go out, Kevin, Kathryn, myself and Andrea met up with the other Holy Cross kids and started following them to a club. They led us down an alley and got a little ahead of us. Next thing we knew, a little trouble was starting.

Three Spanish boys (not much older than us) starting following us down the alley and started hitting and pushing Kevin on his chest and back. We were all really confused and thought that they were trying to either start a fight, or sell us something. So, we sort of ignored them and Kathryn cursed at them in Spanish, telling them to go away. Within a few seconds, they had managed to distract and confuse us all so much that they succeeded in ripping Kevin's necklace right off his neck from under his shirt! You couldn't even see it under there! We concluded that they had done all that patting to actually find out if something was under his shirt. After that, we were so sad and freaked out. I felt horrible for Kevin because it was a very expensive white gold necklace that had been given to him by his aunt (who has survived cancer three times). The rest of the night had a bit of a damper on it, and I was REALLY nervous to be out on the streets. We also found out that Carla's parents' digital camera had been stolen from right under their noses :(

After that incident, we soon were able to meet up with one of Kat's old friends, who is Spanish, and he was able to protect us a little better. He took us to a cool club and we danced there until about 4 am. That was really fun! I guess we got into the hostel around 5 am and I slept until 9 am Saturday morning. We were all completely exhausted, but still managed to get some sightseeing in. We saw Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia church and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. It won't be completed for another 30 years, or something crazy like that. It was soooo intricate! I had never seen anything like it before. Sadly, we were unable to go in because the line was really long. However, we did enjoy admiring it from the outside. After seeing La Sagrada Familia, we searched for and saw a few more Gaudi-designed houses. Then, we stopped for lunch on Las Ramblas (the main strip in Barcelona). I tried a "tortilla" for lunch, which is scrambled eggs and potatoes. However, I didn't think the food at this place was that great. After lunch, we went back to the hostel and napped, and then got ready for Halloween festivities!

We (Kathryn, Kevin, Andrea and I) started Halloween at a little restaurant, where we ate some falafels. After that, we went to an outdoor terrace and had Sangria. After that, we met up with some more of our Holy Cross friends (Carla, Annie and Hadley) at an Irish Pub nearby. When we arrived, they had already met some Irish guys, so we hung around and chatted with them for a while. After a few hours of hanging, everyone was ready to go dancing (except for me because the Sangria made me feel gross). So, Carla, Annie and the Irish men jumped into a cab and then the rest of us searched for another. We finally made it to Club Opium (right on the water) but could not contact anyone that had left in front of us. So, we stood around while Kat tried calling people. After about 1.5 hours, Kat had not come back and we were confused. I called her and came to find out that she had found everyone, and was in the club. Since she had already gone, Kevin, Andrea, Hadley and I just decided to go home because the mood had been killed. So much for a crazy Halloween. We didn't care that much though. We were soooo exhausted.

On Sunday morning, we started off our sightseeing at Gaudi's Park Guell. It was sooooo amazing! Again, his unique style was completely captivating and the whole place was swarming with tourists. I got some great pictures, though! The mosaics were so intricate and everything was clean, flowery, and beautiful. I bought a really cute decorative mosaic plate as a little personal souvenir. After the park, we took the metro and headed to the Picasso Museum. It was packed because museums are free on Sundays, but I still enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I had to go through it fast because everyone was hungry and no one wanted to really see the museum, so they were all waiting for me on the other end. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I certainly enjoyed it.

After the museum, we stopped at a restaurant for some tapas for lunch. They were pretty good, but still not that great. After lunch, everyone was tired and wanted to head back. I chose to take a walk down to the harbor with Andrea, Jenny and Aiden. They were still going strong and I wanted to see what was down there. It was very pretty, but it started to get cloudy. So, we took some pictures and then went back to the hostel. I took a 2 hour nap and then woke up with a terrible stomach ache. Pretty soon after, I got really sick from lunch. Ugh. I felt better after re-hydrating and resting for a little while.

For dinner, we decided on Japanese and had heard of this really cool place. It certainly was one of the best Japanese restaurants I had been to. Dinner was all you could eat for 14 euro. All of the tables were set up along a conveyor belt and mini plates of sushi, seaweed, tempura, salads, dumplings, etc came around all evening. AND YOU COULD TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANTED! There was also a hibachi station that was all-you-could-eat. There were 13 of us and we went nuts. We probably went through about 20-40 mini plates each. The boys were in heaven. It was a great thing to do on our last night.

After dinner, we hung around with everyone in Placa Cataluyna and chatted for a while. Then, everyone went back to their hostels because creepy Spaniards started closing in. Kevin, Andrea and I decided to sleep for a few hours. At 4 am, we got up, and started our journey home to Florence. We had to take a cab from the hostel to the bus station, a bus to the airport (1.5 hrs), a plane to Pisa (1.5 hrs), a train from Pisa to Florence (1.5 hrs), and finally, a bus from the Florence station to our houses. We arrived around 11 and were exhausted. I chose to go to class today; Andrea did not.

So overall, Barcelona was a ton of fun but I liked it a lot better in the day time. The night life was too crazy and unsafe for me. Florence has a great party scene, but it's much more controlled and manageable than the nightlife of Barcelona. The party animals in Barcelona all seemed to be tripping on some crazy (and dangerous) drugs. So, we all had to be on high alert for thieves and pick pockets every second. They were everywhere! Also, the food was really sub-par. Obviously, I set my standards high living in Italy, but I didn't like that it made me sick. I definitely loved the city though! It was so interesting and modern. I'd like to go back one day. Everyone should definitely go and check it out!

I'm exhausted but soooooo excited because Paul is coming tomorrow and we have so much planned! We will be in Florence from Tuesday-Friday morning and then heading off to Rome early Friday morning. We will be there until Sunday. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next, but I'll do my best.

Ciao a tutti!