Friday Danielle and I walked to the train station, which happened to be conveniently close, and picked up my friend Emily, who is studying in Montpelier for the year, and her friend Victoria. I bade adios to Danielle and then Emily, Vic and I metro-ed our way to the hostel. And let me tell ya, folks, I can barely call that a hostel…
The three of us wander up to a building of the hostel address, but no other sign of the hostel’s presence. It’s an apartment building, with an intercom and a list of numbers. Fortunately a woman was going in just as we stood wondering if we should press all the buttons until we go the right one. We wandered up the floors to find the place. (A little history: Em found the hostel online a few months ago and it looked adorable. Her sister, Colleen, who was coming from Scotland to run in the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday with Em, booked the hostel. About a week ago she received an email saying the hostel moved locations—and that was where we were on Friday morning.) On the third floor (oh-so-conveniently called the first because the real first and second decided to go by different names), we found a sign drawn in markers on 8 ½ by 11 paper that read, “Catalina Hostal.” Inside…it was not a hostel. Not in my book. Now I know you’re supposed to rough it up a little when you’re in a hostel. After all, I did sleep in a 32-person room in Amsterdam and got sat on in the middle of the night by a very drunk Australian. This, however, was utter crap. It had been open since the Monday of that week: four days. We checked in and were taken to our room: a quad directly across from the kitchen and adjacent to the common room that resembled army barracks. Dirty white walls (worse than an army barracks’, actually, because those would have been scrubbed clean), two rickety bunkbeds, a narrow window with the view of a concrete wall, and mattresses. The “en-suite bathroom” that was supposed to come with the room was in fact a sink in the room. The keys to the lockers had not been made, so we had to use shoe-box sized lockers in the hall to store only the essential valuables. Why, you ask, would we need lockers in our own quad? Well, here’s the kicker- my favorite part: no locks on the door! I slept every night with my purse between me and the wall. After we all chuckled and moaned a bit about the hostel, we went to the kitchen to get some food- because the hostel had promised us “all meals free!” What could have been one amazing saving grace was another sour disappointment: “all meals free” = all-you-can-eat cornflakes (during the open-kitchen hours), but you have to buy your own milk. Seriously, I can live in crappy conditions for a little while, but can we talk about false advertising?? Alright, alright, enough griping. Just wanted to paint a picture of the shock we received when we found this place, a real lap of luxury.
We left the hostel and decided to spend our first afternoon exploring the Sagrada Familia, one of Antoni Gaudí’s many unfinished buildings, a massive church that he began planning before 1900. (Update from my guidebook: despite the past century+ of continued construction, the estimated finish date is now set for 2030.) It. Was. Phenomenal. I never expected it to be so massive but it was MASSIVE! Gaudi bases many of his designs off natural, organic structures, like trees, fruit, even DNA. Kind of how Dr. Seuss painted Who-ville, I think. It was really unlike anything I could ever have imagined. I could have stayed there hours more! But the cool thing is if I go back in ten years and see it again, it’ll be different!
Sagrada Familia took most of the afternoon, so we returned to the hostel to clean up and head out for dinner with Emily’s and my friend from home, Jack, who is studying there. We went to a Mexican place for some reason. It was decent, but it wasn’t Spain.
Saturday for us was the Big Day of Sightseeing. We started on Las Ramblas, a long street full of stores, restaurants, street performers, artisans, and lots and lots of tourists, which stretches down to the sea. (YEAH- the MEDITERRANEAN SEA!! How cool?!) Emily and Colleen had to go to the marathon expo to get their race stuff, so Vic and I took our sweet time exploring Las Ramblas. First, there was the pet zone. Large carts full of cages of birds, rabbits, turtles, fish tanks…pets. Pets for sale on the street. Well, it’s not something I’m used to, but I’ll go with it. Then were the street performers- although most didn’t really perform. It was a display of “statues,” people dressed as various characters and posing as though frozen until someone tosses them a euro when they do some funky movement and sound in gratitude. Pretty ok. Next we encountered the huggers. I enjoyed the huggers: big groups of people wandering down Las Ramblas with “Free hugs” (in English) posters. Vic got a very motherly one and I got a verrrry long one- and they really did make us feel great! (Don’t worry, ma’n’pa, I made sure it wasn’t a pickpocketing scam- how mean would that be?) We then veered off Las Ramblas and checked out another great market (I’m having good luck with these!) and toured the many produce, cheese, bread meat, etc. stands, trying to avoid the smell of the seafood as Vic ate her ice cream. Then, back to Las Ramblas where we wandered among artists doing caricatures and pretty paintings in the styles of famous Spanish artists- so addicting to watch!
The best part of Las Ramblas, however, was the end of it. Not because I didn’t love it, but because the end = the Mediterranean, complete with harbors, boats and the beach! Vic and I sat and just people watched with the sun shining on us. (Ahh el sol! Por fin!) We then met up with the Coxes once again and wandered along the boardwalk, enjoying the finally sunny outdoors. We found some cool big ships that we could wander on, though I’d have been cool with taking one for a spin. Then we stood and watched a fun band performing outside with a jolly, dancing crowd. All this merriment ended at the beach. THE BEACH! Even though the air was a bit crisp and the water, I’m sure, frigid, we stood on the sand and looked out onto the beautifully lit shoreline. A guy masquerading as a sarong salesman slightly soiled our beautiful beach moment by trying to sell us hash, but it was a great afternoon nonetheless.
We returned to the “hostel” to fix an enormous carb-heavy meal for our runners. Spaghetti with pesto sauce, mmm. Then the Cox girls turned in for a good night’s rest before the big day, and Vic and I headed to a pub to meet up with Jack and his friends and watch a sad loss by Sevilla to Real Madrid. Ahh, well, at least the FC Barce fans in the pub were anti-Madrid with me. We didn’t stay out too late, because we had to get up relatively early to cheer for Emily and Colleen.
Race day was a blast! Vic and I were able to see Emily at 12K and both Colleen and Emily at 30K. We followed some of the course for a while, cheering on every runner whose name we could pronounce. (Smart- everyone’s bib had their first name on it!) We also happened across some cool Gaudi buildings as we made our way to the Arc de Triomph (to me, as cool as Paris’), where we saw Coll and Emily. We stood there for nearly an hour, cheering on EVERYONE! It was such a blast because most of the runners really appreciated hearing personal encouragement and their faces would lose the ¾-of-a-marathon agony and be replaced with smiles and apparent energy! I completely lost my voice for two days after all that yelling. Then we found Em and Coll at the end of the race- they did amazing! Emily achieved a new personal record, dropping 10 minutes from her first marathon time, and Colleen finished her first marathon with a time of 3:49! What champions! It realllly made me want to get out and run another. And how cool to do it in a foreign city!
The rest of the day included long naps for all of us, followed by a large tapas meal. Not a bad day at all. We tried very hard to motivate ourselves to go out that night, but with the marathoners’ exhaustion and the cold rain, we didn’t make it very far.
Monday we all had to head back to our respective cities, so we hugged and departed in the dropping temperatures. I had an hour to kill so I made one last attempt to find the perfect leather boots I had been searching for the past two months in Spain. And guess what??!! I found them! It was such a victory and the perfect way to end my trip to Barcelona. I was also thrilled to get out of a city that later that evening received four inches of snow. It was just starting to fall as I boarded my plane…thanks weather Gods.
Now that completes my tales of Barcelona, but my return to Sevilla also brought some surprises.
First, as I walked from the bus stop straight to class upon my return, whom do I see but DEAN THOMAS! If anyone draws a blank here, think of the cute Gryffindor who shares a dormitory with Harry Potter. I saw him in London two years ago and he signed our pizza box at the HP5 movie premiere! Anyhoo, he was walking down a main road in Sevilla and I recognized him and just stared as he walked along, talking to a friend. I’d bet Nexy Naz it was him, no joke. I honestly think they should have just cast me in the HP movies, I see those guys so much!
Well now I’m home sweet Sevilla and VERY happy to say we are having gorgeous weather this weekend. FINALLY! I have midterms next week, but I plan on spending as many daylight hours as possible out in the sun!
Miss ya’ll! Besos!
Emily and Vic in front of the Sagrada Familia
Emily and Colleen (in their race shirts) and Vic eating lunch on the pier.
