Barcelona

I left Friday morning on an early(ish) flight.  I was meeting some of my Notre Dame friends there...Emily Wurz and Annie Gurney, who are in the London program, and Elizabeth Walsh, who is studying in Toledo, Spain for the semester. I was actually slightly nervous about traveling alone and making my way to the hostel alone, but my friends Paul (an American at school at UCD) and Ben (an Australian at UCD) were on both of my flights! So I had some ready-made travel buddies. Lucky I did, since I thought I was arriving in the Girona airport, taking an hour long bus to Barcelona, then taking the metro to my hostel. In reality, I was arriving at the Barcelona airport, taking a twenty minute train directly to a metro stop that was about 2 minutes from my hostel. I would have been wandering around the airport looking for a non-existent bus, except that Paul's friend Larry, who is studying in Barcelona, met us at the airport. After laughing at me for a good few minutes, he kindly directed me to the train I needed. I was at the hostel and reunited with my friends in under a half hour. It was wonderful to see them! We enjoyed a delicious dinner/lunch of paella at a place called Les Quinze Nits Plaza Real, the same square our hostel is in. I LOVED it. I was so smitten with my paella that I ordered it the next day for lunch but was sorely disappointed...apparently Quinze's paella is famous in Barcelona.  SO, if you're ever in Barcelona, make a stop at Plaza Real for lunch and enjoy.

Anne, Eliz, Emily. Reunited! Don't they look beautiful?!

That night we just talked and walked around the water, enjoying the beautiful night. I was just so happy we had good weather! Around 8, Emily, Annie, and I all figured it was around that time when we should get dressed to go out, drink some wine, get going, etc. Elizabeth looked shocked. She said the EARLIEST getting ready to go out began was around 9. And the earliest you could start pregaming is 10. And the earliest people actually go out is 11. I felt exhausted just hearing about it. But she was completely right. People don't go to "clubs" until around 2am in Spain, whereas clubs in Dublin close around 3am, and pubs close around midnight. I'm not in kansas anymore. We told Elizabeth we'd do our best. There were a ton of other Notre Dame kids there, so we began the night by getting some drinks with them. We had some tapas (delicious potatoes in spicy sauce), and visited a tiny (and packed) little outdoor wine bar. After that, we were finally ready to venture to a club. Or, i suppose they're called discotecas in Spain? We did ok that night... I have to admit I was in bed by 2:45am, instead of the Spanish bedtime of 4:30 or 5am.

The next morning was a slow one. Our exhaustion and headaches were matched by a drizzly day outside. We began the day around 11, and wandered into Mercat de Sant Josep. So many wonderful smells, sounds, and colors. After grabbing a few oranges and admiring all the flowers, we were approached by a blonde woman, a man carrying a huge camera, and a man with a huge microphone. She asked us if we could do a little interview for her. For tv, that is. Naturally we all agreed. She showed us a list of artists and asked us if we recognized any of them. The only one we knew was Shakira. So, she told us to tell the camera our names, tell where we're from, and say "The record of the year is Sale el Sol by Shakira!!" And we did. When I say "we," I mean my friend Annie did. I barely looked at the camera, but instead kept smiling at Annie as she spoke. Call it stage fright? Basically, if Shakira wins record of the year, our clip will be playing at some music awards on Spanish TV. Pretty nifty, huh?

We spent the day wandering, slowly making our way to Sagrada Familia. We jumped for joy when the sun came out, making our shots of the church more spectacular. Since it was nearly 2pm and the line was obnoxiously long, we ducked into a little restaurant on a side street to have a bite to eat. I don't have the name of the restaurant, but if I did, I wouldn't recommend it. The food was, well, inedible. I guess that's an exaggeration. But the paella was incredibly dry, and the meat we ordered was so veiny and fatty that we all only ate about three bites. That being said, it was the most fun lunch I've ever had. The waiters all became our best friends (one of them tried to come out with us that night, but it didn't really work out), and we spent the lunch in hysterical laughter as we tried to make a dent in the food we'd been provided. Staff=A. Experience=A. Atmosphere=C. Food=D.

Our new best friends 

Finally we made it to Sagrada Familia around 3:30. It was better than I imagined it. Apparently a lot of Gaudi's inspiration was from nature, forests especially. I could definitely see that. All the tree-like pillars with little windows of light shining through. It felt so heavenly.  I can't believe it's been a work in progress for nearly 130 years, and it still won't be complete for another 15.

Sagrada Familia ceiling

Outside Sagrada Familia 

After an evening of tapas, we went out for a couple of drinks and went to bed relatively early, since we were waking up at 8:30 the next morning. We began the day by visiting Mt. Tibidabo. Annie heard it was part of the old city of Barcelona, and it was supposed to have incredible views. It was QUITE a journey up to the mountain. Basically, we took the metro from our hostel the base of the mountain, then cable car halfway up, then a chairlift type thing all the way to the top. The journey took a good 40 minutes. Tibidabo had a beautiful church on top, and (surprise!) an amusement park! We must have mixed up our mountains. Unfortunately we missed out on seeing the old city, but we got to experience some extraordinary views nonetheless.

We were sort of pressed for time, since we intended on taking part in a go-car tour of Barcelona around 4, but we managed to find our way to Park Guell. It was spectacular! I only got to enjoy it for about 1 minute, since the other 14 minutes of my time at the park was spent waiting in an extraordinarily long line to use the bathroom. Oh well. I'd love to go back there one day--you could spend hours and hours at that park. Gaudi is really a genius.

Park Guell

We ended the day with GO-CARS. Seems a bit bizarre, I know. But it was so. much. fun. I didn't stop yelling and laughing the entire time. Basically, the little two-person go-cars are complete with a gps that tells you where to go, what sites you're passing, etc. It's a really efficient, beautiful, and FUN way to see the city. And it's hilarious. The go-cars are a tourist attraction on their own. People waved, pointed, and took pictures of us like crazy. I loved zooming around the city as the sun set. The only problem, however, was the gps lady took us on the 2-hour tour, not the 1-hour tour. So, after about an hour and 15 minutes of driving, Emily and I started to panic. She had to be back at the go-car place at 5:45, since they had a flight to catch at around 8:30. I had a couple panicked conversations with the operator at the go-cart place that went a little something like this:
"how do we tell the gps lady to TAKE US HOME?"
"um, well. you can't. you need to get close to home, and then maybe she'll tell you how to get back. do you need me to rescue you?"

Through a bit of trial and error and a few more embarrassing phone calls, we finally heard the lovely automated words "Turn right, Let's head home!" Emily and I cheered with joy. Luckily we made in back in time. Whew! It was SO MUCH FUN, and the helmet hair was totally worth it.

The trip was wonderful. I haven't laughed that hard in MONTHS. Seeing those girls brought back so many good memories. I'm so glad I got to see them while we were all abroad. After they all left for the airport I spent my last night with Paul, Ben, and Larry--Larry took us to an incredibly cheap and incredibly fancy and delicious place for tapas. I wish I remembered the name!! Definitely the best food I've had in a very long time. Plus, it came with a delicious bottle of wine that was 7 euro. Spain is amazing!

I have much more to discuss (Thanksgiving, London, the fact that it's snowing a TON tonight in Dublin) but I must go to bed. I'll update again tomorrow!

Love,
Clare Mairead