Wanderlust: March 2012

I absolutely fell in love with Spain! Such a beautiful country(especially the weather.) Locales son muy amables y la comida es delicioso!(Very nice locals and great food!) I had finally just gotten over my nasty chest infection before our trip to Barcelona...so I was ready to have some fun! My travel companions consisted of my best friends in our exchange student group. We planned this trip rather spontaneously, we saw an ad for very inexpensive flights, and decided to just go for it! We stayed in a Hilton as usual, compliments of Aly's discount.
The start of our voyage was not exactly according to our plan...we did not really think our "cheap flights" through and we realized that in order to catch our 6am flight, we had to arrive to the airport at 4am, meaning we had to leave campus at 3am. The trains don't run that early/late(however you would like to view it) so we had to order a taxi van. The taxi driver could not find his way around campus so he was 30 minutes late to pick us up. We were late getting to the airport and slightly stressing out. Then, everyone in my group passed through security perfectly fine, but of course I was stopped. Normally, when someone sets off the alarm in security, TSA agents just use the little wand and wave it over them to make sure they don't have any weapons. However, at Gatwick airport, you get frisked. A female agent had to pat me down(for a good 5 minutes) including checking the inner lining of my pants(so awkward) while the rest of the people waiting in line were staring and my friends were laughing at me. To this day I will never know what set off the alarm, but I was just happy to make it on the flight alright! Our group decided it would be easier to just not sleep the night before our flight, rather than trying to wake up in the middle of the night. Once our flight landed in Barcelona, it was 8am and no one had slept a wink. I had the honor of a wonderful duo behind me, a crying newborn and an unruly 5 year old who thought it was a great idea to kick my seat for the entirety of the flight. But none of that mattered, we were in BARCE! The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel felt just like I was in California. The topography and the weather were very similar, so beautiful. After our pleasant ride down the coastline, we finally arrived at the hotel.

I have to preface this next paragraph by emphasizing that we are all college students, and therefore, very poor. We thought it would be an intelligent idea to cram 4 people into a room. That way, we would only need to pay for 2 rooms for 8 people rather than 4 rooms. Sounds great on paper, but not so much in practice. We all know now that none of us would make it as a spy or an agent in the secret service, we are about as inconspicuous as fireworks in a church. But what do you expect from a group of Americans and Aussies in the middle of Spain? The front desk not only told us that we would have to purchase more rooms, but then proceeded to lecture us about how we did not know the value of the euro(of course not, we know the value of the dollar) and how we should be more respectful towards hospitality companies(um, what is my course of study?) Needless to say, we were not well-liked at the front desk, but we did stay and ended up buying extra rooms. We managed to win over the staff by the end of our stay, though! The hotel was a stunning property, very modern with a breathtaking view of the shoreline from our room. There was also a luxe pool on the roof, unfortunately it was still slightly too chilly to enjoy some swimming.

I was thrilled that I was able to practice my spanish with the locals. I was amazed by how much I actually remembered, I haven't taken a language class since high school. It made me motivated to try to become fluent....Rosetta Stone soon? There is this idea: "everyone speaks English in Europe." This is definitely NOT the case in Spain. Only one other girl in my group and myself had any spanish speaking training, and thank goodness that we did. We had to translate for the rest of the group when getting directions, on taxi cab rides, and ordering food. It was so strange to see a McDonald's menu in Spanish! Some places had employees that spoke English, but I actually preferred being fully immersed in the culture and being forced to speak the language to get by. The time our linguistic skills was the most helpful was when we got lost. We went into the country side(the middle of nowhere) to go to the Highlands Park for a stunning view of the city. Halfway through our journey, we found out that to get to this high point, we would have to hike up the side of a mountain. Apparently there are no outdoor elevators in the countryside of Spain, go figure? You did read that correctly, I did go hiking, outside, amongst the nature. I think my body didn't know what to do with all the fresh air that I breathed in that day! I obviously wore my designer boots whilst shuffling through mud and rocks on this epic hike. The trip was well worth the view, it was amazing! Once I stopped wheezing and regained my normal breathing patterns, I took in the sites. Mis amigas and myself had a picnic lunch, how is it that food always tastes better at the top of a mountain? The hike back down was much easier, but the sun had begun to set, and we had no clue how to get back to the tourist area and to our hotel. In the countryside, NO ONE speaks any English. There was not one bus, taxi, or even a horse to ride back to our hotel. Luckily we came across a very sweet elderly gentleman that was very helpful. My friend and I explained our situation(in spanish) and he called a taxi for us on his cellphone and waited with us until the taxi arrived. He told us that we reminded him of his granddaughters and that he hoped someone would do the same for them if they were lost in a foreign country. We called him our abuelo de vaccaciones, our "vacation grandpa," such a saint that man was!

We ate tapas and drank sangria every day, it was quite the good life. In the spanish culture, people do not eat dinner until around 10pm, and do not go out to the clubs, know as discos, until 1am. Our first night out we were sightseeing all day long and then were out at a disco until 5am the next morning! Somehow sleep is irrelevant when on vacation in a foreign country. I danced with some of the locals and I felt like I was in the movie "Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights." Wrong country, but right story line.

We could not visit Spain without seeing some Gaudi artwork. We were amazed by the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, incredible architecture! We also visited the Picasso museum, and the Museo de la Xocolata(Museum of Chocolate, my personal favorite.) We had to take advantage of the scenery and spent one of our days at the beach and visited a few local parks. It was a very successful trip! As corny as it is, when I left, I knew I left a bit of my heart in Spain, mi corazon es en Espana...I know this won't be the last time I see this gorgeous country!