Long live Spain!!
Sorry for the long pause in blog updates. Turns out theres alot more to do when you have a whole country to explore and only 3 days to do it! Everynight it was the choice between updating my blog/ checking my email or getting an extra 20 minutes of sleep. (Which when you're getting about 3 hours OR LESS a day, every minute counts!!)
Monday - Day 1 in Barcelona: Our boat docked at about 9:30 / 10 but I didn't get off right away because I had a field excursion (they're called FDPs here) at 11. I went to Montserrat - a monastery up on a BEAUTIFUL mountain that is also a shrine. The view was unbelievable and the moutain looks like a bunch of fingers. It also kinda looked like the "drippy" sand castles you make at the beach! The monastery was really impressive but there was so many people waiting in line to see the black virgin statue that was discovered there that we didnt get to see it. :( It was a really neat place tho and lots of people still go there on religious pilgimages! I got home around 4. We were suppose to go see a boys choir but that part of the trip got cancelled cause the boys werent coming til a few days later... Hahaha poor planning I guess!! And then me and my friends laid out and read (PS shoutout to Becca cause I'm reading the Hunger Games and shoutout to Catherine for the Kate Voegele cd - some of the songs are appropriately nautical too! haha) until Amanda got back form her FDP. Then we got dinner on the boat to save money and then went out on the town to see what Barcelona night life was all about! My friend Melpat has been studying in Barcelona for a month, so she took us out to the spots where all the locals go. We went to a pub called the Black Sheep where you can get towers of Sangria and Beer for about 20euro. We don't have anything like it (that I've ever heard at least) in America, but they're very similar to El Salvadorian "torres." Ok, befor I continue there is something you should all know about Spain. They are about 4 hours later than us on everything. You dont eat lunch until 2 or 3. You don't eat dinner until 11. You don't go out to bars until 12. And the clubs dont even open until 1:30 or 2. So after The Black Sheep, we went to a club on Las Ramblas (the main street of Barcelona). It was so fun! When we got home, the sun was coming up. This is partially because it probably took us an hour to walk home! Our ship is about a 25 minute brisk walk to the Christopher Columbus statue which is at the foot of Las Ramblas and then the club is further up on the street and we had some straglers in heels. But the walk was very safe - really well lit and we were in a 7 person group too.
Tuesday - Day 2 in Barcelona: We slept in til about 10, got lunch on the boat to save money and then explored the city / took a bus
to the beach! (which by the by people here are very open and there were lots of exposed private parts - including a naked man which was the scariest thing I saw in Barcelona) We met Melpat there and we went to a place for Tapas (which are basically appetizers) I got these potato things with sauce on them (I cant remember the exact name). And they were good! Then we went back to the boat to hydrate with water (water in expensive in the city and we all ran out of the water we brought). We got ready early and went out to dinner to a really nice restaraunt. This euro exchange rate is killing me. We got a nice dinner - Vegetable Paella, and Cava - basically Spanish champagne for 25 euro..which is almost 40 dollars! Ah.Then we walked around the marina until we got to the beach club area. A club promoter on the beach got us on VIP for a few of the clubs so we went to them because we A) didnt have to pay B) alot of other S.A.S.ers were going. Had another amazing time. Spaniards know how to dance and enjoy themselves (responsibly!) This time we got a taxi home because we were probably 4 or 5 miles from the boat.
Wednesday - Day 3 in Barcelona: After getting 1.5 hours of sleep.... me and Amanda got up and went to our Medieval Templar and Castle FDP. Ok. I'm unsure if this trip was worth whatever amount of money we paid. We drove 2.5 hours (ended up being 3 cause the bus driver got lost...nice) to a castle that our guide that we weren't even allowed into. Later on we went in anyway. It was really confusing and I feel like he just told us alot of random stuff and didnt seem to know much about the castle or its significance. That being said it was really secluded and the courtyard was really pretty. Then we drove another 1/2 hour and went to a castle that had brand new wooden floors so I'm almost positive it was not historically significant and also it was bascially just one big brick rectangle. From there they made us put on costumes and participate in a medieval roleplay. This consisted of everyone helping this kid put on a Knight's outfit and taking pictures of him. My "outfit" was a money pouch...But then we had a really nice 3 course meal for lunch so THAT was nice! I think that the trip was really strange because they changed the itinerary 3 times since I got on the MV Explorer. I understand that conflicts arrive and they do the best they can but everything I went to was not even close to what the original description was! This was the trip that was suppose to have castles involving the Da Vinci code. Wah. And then we got back from our trip about 1.5 hours late. So I tried to nap until it was Spanish time for dinner. We got dinner on the move - a baqette cheese sandwich, I promise it was worth 3 euro. Then we met up with Melpat again and headed back over the beach club area that we were at the night before. We went to a concert of DJ Kaskade at a venue called Opium. I was very tired so after about 3 hours of dancing, I was ready to relax. A few of the girls and I hung out on the beach (which is sorta still part of the club, its hard to explain) until everyone was ready to go. We all bought these bright flashing rings and set up a meeting place and time so that we found each other when the concert ended. It worked really well - best euro I've ever spent! Again, took a cab home.
Thursday - Day 4 in Barcelona: Woke up at 10 and went to the Boqueria (a huge market - even better than York's central market!) and got fruit for breakfast. SO GOOD - no wonder people in Spain are so healthy! (also because I'm pretty sure everyone walks 50 miles a day in Barcelona haha) Then we figured out the metro and took it to Sagrada Familia - the church that is still being built b/c the famous architect Gaudi was hit by a bus when it started construction. The church was incredible from the outside but in the interest of saving money and what little time we had left, we did not go in. We explored that area of Barcelona for a little - they have the most incredible buildings there! Then we met our friend at McDonalds - not to eat but because theres pretty much only 1 on Las Ramblas. I felt like such an American asking "Donde esta McDonalds?" hahaha. From there, we went to get in all of our last minute shopping. We also got churros con chocolate at a Tapas bar. Yummm. Then after one last falafel from "Pita Hut" we made our way back to the ship. After we got on, I took a nap until dinner and then met my extended family for dinner again as a reall ynice way to end the time in Spain.
Spain set the bar pretty high! We completed 15/26 things on our bucketlist and started making one from Italy (where we'll be in TWO DAYS). I didn't get pickpocketed - Yay! But its still definitly a dangerous place. I heard one of the prof's little boys talking to another little boy about how they got robbed so theres no more ipod, iphone, etc. And one of my friends got mugged last night after she took a wrong turn home from the concert. She's ok tho and not too much was stolen. So thats good but definitly lesson learned - never go anywhere alone or take a cab.
Tomorrow we only have our 2 hour global studies class about Italy and then the "Sea Olympics"
Cya Spain!
