Jewels called and said she was going to get in around 10ish and would meet me in terminal 1, where their train gets in. So I’m venturing, find the little tube that takes you from terminal to terminal, and I had almost 2 hours to kill. I must have rode that stupid thing maybe 15 times. I knew it inside and out, and exactly which hotel was located off each terminal. A pro really of the Charles de Gaulle airport now. Impressed? Not really. But what else was I going to do? I didn’t want to sit and be hassled by guys working there or people walking by, so I kept moving. I met up with Jewels in terminal 2 which is where the buses took us to our hotels: perfect. I spotted the blonde ponytail from a distance: my jewels. How fabulous to see one of the girls. It has been WAY too long, and absolutely overdue. We were going to rock the hell out of Barcelona and Rome; I couldn’t wait.
And of course, I was able to meet the famous Jess and Heather: 2 fellow Canadians. Fantastic. We jumped on a bus to take us to the hotel, and it broke. Didn’t even leave the parking lot actually; the door wouldn’t close. Great start. Too much weight maybe since 100 people attacked the bus to get out of there. They only come so often you know. Well we abandoned ship and attacked the next bus directly behind it. Everyone followed suit. Fabulous. We were on our way. We had booked a night at the Holiday Inn Express since we would need to leave the airport at 5am to make our 640am flight. Something in the heart of Paris would have been too far, a really expensive fair not to mention the metro doesn’t start working until 530. Hotel it was. We get off at our stop, enter, and the hotel was under construction. Wonderful. Who cares, we just wanted our room. Yeah…turns out that wasn’t our hotel. We had booked the Holiday Inn, plain and simple, which was up the street. After laughing a bit, we pulled our crap up the street and into the Holiday Inn. Checked in without any problems and went up to the room. 2 queen beds, soft and luxurious. Heaven. You see, in Lille I have a single bed. I feel like I’m in first year university, except not that good of a bed. Whatever right, 7 months on a crap bed, and I can sleep on anything, however, my bed at home…I miss. And my pillows. Love the pillows. So this hotel, was fantastic.
The girls attacked the room in seconds, opening suitcases, unpacking, re-packing, and throwing out crap. It was brilliant to watch really. I just sat there and caught up with Jewels and exchanged stories with Jess and Heather. The whirlwind finally settled down after the three of them took showers, but I was to take one in the morning. So freaking way my ass was getting up at 4 and going to be awake. That shower was my golden ticket to looking like an awake being. We all get into bed and within seconds someone is snoring. No way. Who is that? I’m picturing an enormous man on the other side of the room wall snoring. Absolutely not. It was Heather asleep in seconds. I’m not kidding. Maybe 10 seconds. It was really impressive.
The alarm went off at 4 and surprisingly I jumped out of bed. I was awake and so damn excited for Spain. Got ready faster than ever before and we were out the door. Downstairs perfectly on time at 5 and waited for the shuttle to pick us up. In the meantime we spoke with a dad and his teenage son who had just done a few weeks around Europe….out of a backpack. Now I mean a highschool itty bitty backpack. It was insane. Boys. I’m jealous. Some boxers, tees and shorts. You’re golden. Bastards.
Once at the airport, it was time to get in line. Surprisingly, the line was enormous considering it wasn’t even 530am. Luckily we had printed our tickets ahead of time; except Heather. The line to get tickets was huge, and since the three of us already had our tickets, and not a single person was in line to check bags, we decided to take a chance and go for it. Worst case scenario she would have to pay on the spot. So I go up to the counter to check in and we start talking. Turns out, Heather didn’t have to pay. A smile goes a long way you know, and some French. The flight was delayed about an hour, so we got some breakfast. Now travelling with my insulin pump I get the funniest remarks. It’s always a cell phone, or a pager that I have to take off. Or the time I was asked to get undressed to prove it was a pump in Dublin. Yeah….it unclips. No need for that. Well this trip was no different and the girl asked if I could take it off. I said no, and she said, “ma’am, are you sure you can’t take it off, I just need you to take it off”. Funny story about a life support device is you DON’T take it off. So no. A good couple minutes went by, and I finally won. She did a wipe to make sure there were no explosives and I was off. The flight was fast, and unlike any other voyage I was out cold. Heather says she turned around at one point and my head was facing the aisle and my mouth was open. Stunning I’m sure right. We finally arrive and I couldn’t wait. I love everything about Spain and I was finally about to show Jewels why.
It was a breeze to get to our hostel: we took the airbus something rather to the big square and just had to walk down las ramblas, find the KFC and our hostel was on the right. Turns out la placa reial is one of the most gorgeous tiny squares I have seen. A gorgeous fountain and our hostel was right in the corner (See picture). Kabul was fantastic, a total travelers heaven really. We got to the front desk and couldn’t check in for another couple of hours so we stored our bags, and got changed. Now I had my pump supplies with me and I didn’t want to leave them in the storage room in case anything happened, I can handle if my clothes were stolen: pump supplies = flight back to France aka hells no. So I kindly asked the man behind the desk if he could hold my backpack. Turns out this guy is hilarious. One of those men who don’t smile but are super sarcastic, we joked for a bit about no bombs being in my bag, something about marriage and that was that.
We were off to venture before checking in. Shopping filled that void quite well. Finally it was time to check in. I was in a 10 person room, and the three girls were next door. Fabulous and easy. I walk in and all ten beds are occupied with crap. No seriously, like sheets, bags, the whole nine yards. Well super, so I match my bed with the locker and put my stuff in the locker. Beauty. I had my fingers crossed that when I came back, maybe the cleaning lady will come by, and all the girls crap would be off the bed. No biggie. We decided to go down to the water. Of course, a glorious hot day, sunshine which neither Scotland nor the north of France gets. We were all over that. We first ventured to St Josephs market. Holy crap, it was a beautiful sight. The market was filled with meat, cheese, peppers, candy, seafood, fruit and veggies. A chef’s ultimate high. I mean this place was enormous. Everything and anything you could ever want was there AND cheap. And the best part: bunuelos. I had had them five years ago, and they were amazing. Little hollow balls of pastry with sugar sprinkled on the outside. Sensational. So naturally, we bought a bunch of those to split. And pizza, as you can see from the picture below. We really...couldn't help ourselves.
We picked up cut up watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, each for one euro. Like I said; a joke. We took our fruit and headed to the dock.We must have been there for a couple hours because none of us could get enough sun. The water was gorgeous, sail boats everywhere, and us in our sun dresses. Postcard worthy really as you can see in the picture. We decided to take it easy for the day and put together our game plan for the next few days. We hit up Starbucks, shopped, and one cultural thing: the Picasso museum. The exhibit was really cool actually, going through all of the art periods and it was packed of course. We decided to celebrate our first night with tapas, paella and sangria. Granted we needed to go to two separate restaurants, but damn was the tapas ever good. We had seen a million places along las ramblas for paella and sangria combos, so we hit one of those up. How fabulous was it? Pretty damn fabulous.
We are all ready to wrap up the night when we get back to the hostel when I discover that there is still crap all over my bed and no one in my room to be found. I heard that they were a group of 9 girls. Super. So I go back down to the front desk and asked what to do. There was stuff all over my bed, where was I supposed to put it? She handed me new sheets and a garbage bag for her stuff. Excellent. Back upstairs I go. Still no signs of any other roommate. So I put all her stuff in a bag, re-made the bed and went to sleep. Not even kidding, around 4am I wake up to some chick hitting my feet. You have got to be kidding me. There is no way. What can I help you with at 4-freaking-am? “You’re in my friends bed”. Absolutely not. My bed, my locker. Turns out, it wasn’t my bed, and I was the one right across from it. Super. She then says “are you drunk? Your eyes are shut”…”Ummm that’s because you just woke me up at 4am and turned on all the lights”. Idiot. Let me get my stuff.
So I climb out of bed and start re-making my new bed: which for the record had crap on it too. Of COURSE this would happen to me. Did I also mention it was my first hostel experience? Oh yeah. So the girls are talking to me asking how I ended up mixing up the beds, because at this point the entire gang has come back from the bar, and I’m trying to explain when all of a sudden I’m aware of the fact that all the girls are naked. Okay sure, naked, nothing shocking. However, the one who is asking me the questions is sitting on the bed, changing her feminine products. I’m sorry but ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Right. No personal boundaries, I get that. But a) we just met b) you seem oblivious to the people around you…aka 9 of us and c) that is so not hygienic. I laugh when I’m nervous, really strange, and super unfortunate at times, this being one of them. I start giggling a) I have no idea how to react to that and b) its 430am. This cannot actually be happening is all I could think. I made an effort to half the conversation and got back into bed. I don’t think I even made the bed I just didn’t care anymore. This was the strangest experience ever.
The plan for the next day was to do a bike tour! It was fabulous weather and why not? The bike tour was four hours we heard and like 16 Euros. No biggie and a bonus was it took us through sites we wouldn’t have found on our own. So we get ready and as were leaving the hostel I’m attempting to tell the girls about my night, because let’s face it. It was the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard and then the feminine product on top of that was just the cherry. This would only happen to me. We made a pit stop where I bought sunscreen and ear plugs. Ps – the sunscreen was 16 Euros. RIGHT? Thanks, I nearly had a heart attack too. However, I had no choice and both were fantastic investments. The bike tour was fabulous. We did all the side streets, back alleys and there was a pretty large group. I would say 25+ bikes. Now, I cannot recall the last time I rode a bike, but holy frig these bikes were made for giants. I’m taking thick steel black beasts were the bikes. Getting the hang of a bike is one thing but being surrounded by a ton of other bikes, narrow little alleys, and hills was a hell of a time. I’m pretty sure I was laughing out loud the entire bike ride. We made a stop half way through the bike ride at the beach. Gorgeous. We had a complimentary drink and we sat on the beach. It was perfect.
We went back to the hostel for a bit then decided to venture to Guell park and have a picnic. Bought some chorizo, jamon, cheese, baguettes, beer and coolers and were off. Took the metro which was simple enough, except this time a group of guys ran past us up the stairs. Weird. We didn’t even really react. Then all of a sudden you see a cop with a dog running too. We had reached the top of the stairs at this point and the cop stopped me. Her dog is barking so damn loud, and I’m a little confused. She is pointing at my purse, and her dog is smelling me slash barking. I’m looking at her and my first thought is a drug dog: “Do I have drugs? Absolutely not”. She does not speak English, I do not speak Spanish. Fabulous: nothing like a good language barrier with a cop and a huge barking dog. She is pointing at me, my purse, and I thought she needed to look through it, so I showed her. Finally we got it: pick pocketing. Ohhhhhhhh. She was asking if the guys running past us stole anything. How nice. I really do need to learn Spanish; that whole situation would have been a ton easier.
When we finally arrived at the park, after the longest trek up a hill after (and another purchase of beer), we found a nice stretch of grass to sit and eat. Heaven. The view was gorgeous as we were on a hill and could see all the roof tops. We made our sandwiches, laughed, chatted and took probably some of the funniest pictures to date. It started getting a little chilly outside and we realized he hadn’t taken a single picture of the park surroundings. Crap. Marathon picture run here we come. You should have seen us. Basically running through the park, snap, snap, running, snap snap, found a cool wall with holes in it, so we jumped in, took some pics, ran out and up to the highest level, took some pictures, enjoyed the view for 30 seconds, froze, ran back down and took some more funny shots behind pillars, and finally an epic jumping picture. What a fantastic way to finish an incredible day. To top it off, Heather had requested churros. Beauty, okay. I couldn’t remember if I had had any, but turns out the chocolate aspect does not interest me. The churros came out along with a steaming pot of chocolate. I nearly yacked all over the table. Horrendous. However, the churros were delicious and I tried the chocolate. I really don’t know why I keep trying it, as if suddenly I’ll be a fan, but I did. That night we slept brilliantly well. My ear plugs were genius and we were even able to sleep in a little bit.
Good thing we had done the bike tour the day before, because today it was raining. Our attempt to find the gondola the first day failed and we were going to try again. Nope, not with the rain. Boo. So we shopped a bit, walked around and just awed at the store Desigual. Fabulous stuff there. To die for really. We ended up going to Mcds for lunch and we bought happy meals. I am not going to lie to you, the last time I got a happy meal, I cant even remember. This time it came with a big red dragon. Oh boy did Jess and I love those. The women at the table beside us must have assumed we were 6 year olds in 20 something year old bodies, because we were laughing, making sounds for the dragon, it has light flashers: all super entertaining stuff. Now, here comes the biggest quest: the search for Pandora. Jewels had had her eyes on a brand called Pandora. Gorgeous bracelets with charms you buy and we had seen a little branch in the mall, but she had heard of an actual Pandora store. Well since it was raining, no time like the present to go on a hunt. Except that hunt lasted over 2 hours, a million wrong turns, and in the rain. We were thrilled. Slash we never thought we were going to find it. We finally found the store…and it was closed. IT WAS CLOSED! Oh gosh, if you could have seen us laughing. The thought that we had searched hours for this and it was closed. Also, upon taking a closer look…I don’t think it was even the real Pandora store. There were clothes inside. Not even. Jewels was devastated and it was raining. Oh man. We decided to go and venture to the Sagrada Familia again since on our bike tour we had only been able to see the outside. I really enjoyed walking through that actually, gorgeous, and I can’t believe it is nowhere near being finished. The construction started in 1882 and will be completed in 2040; just in time to bring our kids. Jewels and I agreed on a reunion in 2040. Can’t wait!
Once back at the hostel we were deciding what to do for our last dinner in Barcelona. We wanted to get dressed up and we wanted tapas. All you can eat tapas. Shouldn’t be too hard with the millions of restaurants around. We took advantage of the happy hour at our hostel and enjoyed the 2 beers for 2 Euros. Life was fabulous? Yes yes yes. Well while planning, an American Sam approached us and she heard us speaking English. She asked if she could chill with us for a bit and of course we said yes. Turns out we invited Sam to dinner. Jess was meeting up with some old friends of hers for dinner and we were headed to Tapas. Fabulous. Honestly, with sangria, you cannot go wrong. How? It’s impossible I think. Tapas is heaven and you have to be a fool to mess that up. We decided on the walk home to indulge in crepes and I had some with dulce de leche, or milk caramel, and oh baby. Life could not have been any better.
Since my roommates made a habit of never being around, I took advantage and packed. Fabulous. I took everything out and repacked. Funny how everything fits so much more easily when you don’t just cram all your stuff in. Heather has charging her phone and ended up hanging out in my room until 1am; funny since I was getting up at 315am so we could catch the bus to the airport so we could catch our 6am flight to Rome. Ohhhh travelling. How I love you, and hate waking up when people are just coming home from the bar.
But alas, Barcelona was FABULOUS. Duh right? Like you expected to hear anything but how gorgeous, warm, and how beautiful people are everywhere. But hey, it was all of the above and so much more. I really should have been born in Spain. I guess all I have to work on now is the tan. Ha. Funny right? Yeah, not a chance. Adios amigo!
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