Barcelona!

Yay first big trip this weekend!  We just got back from Barcelona and had an amazing time.  I left immediately after school on Thursday with my roommate Maria and our friend Margaux.  We literally had to run to catch the bus, so unfortunately we had to throw some elbows at the old French ladies taking leisurely strolls but hey it's all in the name of traveling!  We made it as the bus was literally about to pull away.  As we climb on flustered and sweaty I attempt to make my way down the crowded aisle with my big bag.  However, I miscalculated the width of the aisle and literally nailed about the first 5 rows of passengers with my bag...awkward.  The plane out of Nice was super quick and easy and we landed in time for a late lunch in Barcelona.  Our hostel, Kabul Backpackers Inn, is located In Plaza Real which is a super fun square right off of La Ramblas and our room had a balcony looking over the square.  We rested before heading to get some tapas and hit up a flamenco show that was next door to our hostel.  The show was very reasonably priced and so much fun to watch.  It consisted of a live band, flamenco dancers, singers and beer!             

 

After the show we tried some local Paella and Sangria then headed to a couple of local bars (at Emma's recommendation!).  We were just headed home when who do I spot??? None other than Stephanie Hall a girl that graduated with me at Sion! Talk about a smallllll world!  We decided to head to one more bar with some of her friends then called it a night.

I woke around 8:00 then next morning only to discover that one of our roommates (we were in a 10 person hostel room) had decided to bring a girl home and........they were completely naked!  Alright so if it wasn't gross enough, they woke around 10:00 and started going at it again! Ewwwww we were all still clearly in the room and awake making plenty of noise but that didn't stop the hornballs!  Since we were thoroughly grossed out we decided to check out some sights. 

     

We explored all around La Ramblas and saw some awesome sights, the local market and got to interact with tons of locals.  Barcelona has a much busier vibe than Cannes and I loved the energy!  We rested for the afternoon then went to see the Magic Fountain show.  This was sooo much fun and I would recommend it to anyone.  It's a fountain show set to music and I must admit it beats out all of Kansas City's fountains!                                              

Saturday was full of touristy fun and we saw Gaudi's park (our favorite spot), La Sagrada Familia and other local spots.  I absolutely loved Gaudi's architecture and it was a perfect day! We indulged in some more delicious Tapas (our favorite was the spicy potatoes!) and left to go out for the night around 12:30.  This was a hugeee transition for us since people in Cannes go out around 10:00. We were pleased to learn that Carnivale was in full swing and basically consisted of everyone dressing up like Halloween and getting really drunk in the streets!  We went to a local bar then bought some beers and treats and found a spot in the middle of our Plaza to observe and meet people.  We saw one boy throwing up in the fountain and about a foot away two other boys were washing their feet in the same water eww number 2!  We called in a night around 4:00 or 5:00 since we had an early wake up call.  

The next day we checked out grabbed breakfast then headed to the airport.  We were expecting a pleasant ride how; however, it appears we had been booked on Lucifer Air for the return flight!  As we were waiting to board we noticed the room was getting incredibly hot; however, no one else in the room seemed to notice!  They sat perfectly calm in their stupid bubble coats and scarves, while we were sweating like pigs taking off as much clothing as decently possible! We were convinced that a lady sitting across from us (I'll refer to her as Madame Waxy Face) was putting some sort of devil curse on us by making the air around us awkwardly hot.  At one point I was sure we would have to belly crawl to the aircraft!  Once on board we were sure the temperature would drop but nooooo it was a balmy 98% in there and the air vents over our seats was apparently coming from a furnace!  We had quite a few giggles and I'm sure were very funny to observe!

We finally made it home and bought a ticket for the bus back from Nice to Cannes.  We had waited about an hour when we decided to go check and make sure the bus was indeed coming.  The kindly french man working informed us that nope, buses were busy with Nice Carnivale and wouldn't be coming.  Now, you may ask why would they sell tickets for a bus that didn't exist?? Oh those frenchies!

All in all Barcelona was a great weekend destination and I would recommend it to any of my fellow travelers!