First Few days in Barcelona

Here's an update on my trip from day one:
The flight over here was great. Houston to London was long, and when I found my seat on the plane I was seated next to some old nagging German women. Apparently their chairs weren't comfortable enough so the demanded better seats. This was great for me because I now had a whole row of seats to myself. And to top it off I was a preselected seat to take a survey of British Airways. Along with the survey I received complimentary wines of my choice. I managed to fall asleep for part of the flight, however when I woke up finally there was a creepy Filipino man in the chair next to mine. The layover in London was gruesome and painstakingly long. I I made several friends on the flight to Barcelona though. This couple from Florida and these two girls from College Station. When I landed I took the first train to Montmelo.

So far everything in Barcelona is great. I'm staying in this mansion run by four friends. Pablo who is from Spain, Thijs and Paul who are from Holland and Greg who is from Manchester. The place is really cool. It is sort of like a hostel and mainly fellow couchsurfers are staying here at the moment. Some of the guests and I went to la playa naturalista. It's pretty much the nude beach of Barcelona where all of the tourist that spill off of the cruise lines avoid or don't know about. La playa is really a huge beach party. After that we wandered around Las Ramblas which is the main street here in Barcelona. We missed the train that night because the last train runs at 12a and the first train doesn't start until 5a. It was a long night so I stayed on the beach with my friends Niels and Tina who were catching their bus back home in Denmark at 3. They were really nice and they said I can stay with them if I go to Denmark, so I think I'll take them up on that offer.

Yesterday I walked around Las Ramblas and found some cool little alleyways to explore. I found a small tapas restaurant that is kind of off the beaten path and had a good Catalan meal and read my book. About 2 hours later I was standing near the Christopher Columbus statue and someone bumped into me. My first reaction was to check my pockets and sure enough € 20 was missing from pocket. I sprinted after him and he grabbed another man's bag on the way. I chased him down through the metro and hopped the gates after him. He dropped the man's bag on the platform and then jumped across the tracks right before the train came and he got away. I returned the man's bag to him and as it turns out he is a wealthy architect and resort owner in Mexico. He owns a 5 star hotel in Nueva Vallarta and after posing in some pictures for him he handed me a business card and said I am welcome to stay in his hotel anytime I am in Mexico. That night the neighbors invited us over for a dinner party and paella.

Today François and I explored the west side of Barcelona on foot and walked around the gardens on the outskirts on the residential areas. We saw the olympic statdium and a really cool Greek theater. After a meal at a tapas we took the metro to see Camp Nou. Camp Nou is the massive soccer stadium that is home to the pretigous FC Barcelona.

In the next couple days I am going to try and catch a train to Portugal or the south of France. Depending on which is cheaper. I apologize for updating everyone as often as I should. I will try to update more frequently in the future. I would upload some pictures for you but it's currently 2:30a and I don't feel like doing it. No worries though, I promise to show you some pictures soon.

chao

written by

pathaley on June 24, 2008 from Barcelona, Spain

from the travel blog: Eurotrip

tagged Spain, Barcelona, Paella, Catalunya and Catalan

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PATTTTT: i am oh so jealous of your european adventure- it sounds like you're having an amazing time.... i want to see pictures!

ps: july 6 to 14- running of the bulls in Pamplona... if you're still in Spain.

if i were you, i would just not come back. haha, seriously though.

written by Winifred Gladin on June 26, 2008

Well cousin, sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Have fun and becareful, going to miss you at the Ranch for the 4th but I know your going to have a better time. ;-)

written by Derrick on June 30, 2008

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