some self portrait drawings! lol |
Next up is by far my favorite trip I have taken, and I imagine it will always be my most favorite no matter how many places I go. Feeling adventurous, I booked my flight and hostel for 5 days in Barcelona, Spain by myself about a month ago. As it got closer to actually going to Spain by myself, I started to get a little nervous, especially because I am not fluent in Spanish. Also, because it had snuck up on me so fast, I didn't really have anything planned for while I was there! But a day or two before I left, as I was walking to my room, I found a pile of brochures and flyers from Barcelona as well as a travel book that my host dad had left for me. The best part was that included with all of that was a big map, which made me feel much better about my upcoming adventure. Before I left they shared tips with me such as always keep your eyes peeled for pick pocketers.
My favorite views are ones from a plane window. |
The confidence booster of being brave was probably a good thing to have before I got off the plane and arrived at the Barcelona airport at 11pm where all information centers were closed. The hostel I had booked with had given me directions on how to get there, but first I had to find a bus stop with a bus to get me there. The feeling of being overwhelmed soon decreased when I heard a few other girls speaking english walking behind me. It turned out that they were also headed where I was and together we were able to find the bus we needed, and get past the non english speaking bus driver. On the bus there were a couple locals who were nice enough to help us out and told us what bus stop to get off at. Once I was off the bus it was wonderful to step out into the warm air and see palm trees! And at that point, it was midnight on a Thursday and the streets were still full of people! I found my hostel and it was at a great location! Right off of the Ramblas which is the main street in Barcelona.
As I walked into the hostel I was shocked. Everything was so nice! The walls were all very decorated and the quote 'Live Your Life' was written everywhere. There was a pub connected to the ground floor and it was full of people, as well as nice sitting areas and lots of big screen T.V's. As I checked in they mentioned that there was a problem with my booking, and I couldn't get into the room I booked for, the catch being that I was being put into a better room, where I was only sharing with 8 people rather than 12. Which I was fine with. As the very friendly receptionist explained everything about the hostel I continued to be impressed. It was 6 stories high, with the whole first floor being a lounge area and including free breakfast. I was so happy with it! I found my room on the 4th floor and found myself to be the first person in the room. But shortly after another person walked in. We introduced ourselves and I found out that he was also traveling by himself, which made me feel much better about me doing so. He was from Brazil but was studying in Italy and he was very interesting to talk to. A few minutes after that a group of girls from Chicago came in! We all talked for a bit, and then went on a walk through Barcelona and on the beach at night. It was beautiful with the ports and streets all lit up. And at that point it was getting very late, but again, the streets were still full of people! We later came to find out that people there do not eat dinner sometimes until 10pm and everything is open very late! Which means that when people go out for the night, they don't go until around 1 or 2am! It was a weird change coming from London where everything closes relatively early.
one of the many beautiful narrow streets of Barcelona |
The next day many of the people I had met in the Hostel left, so I ventured out on my own to Gaudi's museum. For those of you who do not know, Gaudi is one of the most famous architects in the world and his work is found in many places in Barcelona. Most of his work is based on forms of nature and a a lot of his work contains beautiful colored tiles in mosaic patterns. I toured his museum which was the building with the famous chimneys.
As I was taking some photo's of the chimneys, out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of Asian kids slowly approaching me. As I turned and said hello, one of them held out their camera, so I gladly took it thinking they wanted me to take a picture of them. But immediately one of them (I am pretty sure the only who spoke english) said 'no no we all want picture with you, Taylor Swift right?' I laughed and said no I wasn't and he acted as though I was not telling the truth. He then continued to ask if I was related. Again I disappointed them by saying no, and he replied with 'its ok, you american so you still cool...' So, they still all wanted a picture with me... individually. It was an interesting situation to say the least. After I had taken hundreds of pictures of the rooftop and the city view (literally hundreds of pictures) I wandered back through Barcelona. It was still rainy that day, so I spent a lot of time dodging the weather by stopping in little cafes and shops.
The next day was gorgeous and I decided to take a day trip to Montserrat which was about an hour train ride away. Montserrat is a beautiful mountain with a little town on top. It is also where the Virgin of Montserrat is hosted, and the beautiful church is one of the most well known in the world. I took a cable car to get to the top of the mountain and the view looking down was gorgeous. Everything there was beautiful.
I was able to walk around the mountain (well around part of it, the hike for the whole thing was 13.6 miles...) and sit in the church for a moment of silence. It was absolutely breathtaking.
The next day, I spent a lot of time wandering down the Ramblas where there were many little souvenir, flower, and other little stands to shop at. There are also many fresh food and flower markets located around the Ramblas which I stopped in as well. One of my most favorite things about Barcelona is that almost all restaurants have their seating outside near the beautiful narrow streets, or the many little plaza squares, and that means that there is always people outside singing, or a band playing, or both! Live music of some sort always filled the streets.
One of the many spectacular views from Gaudi's park. You can see Sagrada Familia! |
Next I went and visited Gaudi's park which was insanely beautiful! It looked as is it were a scene from a movie the entire time. It was perfect! And of course the architecture and design of the entire park was incredible and very well done. While I was on top of the highest point of the park, I met a man from Tennessee, who then introduced me to the cop on duty who had family in Michigan who were on there way to visit! Funny how you can be half way around the world from home, alone on top of a mountain looking down as far as you can see, but a moment like that can make the world seem so small.
The next day, I put my map away and just walked. I explored every street, and came across little cafes and bakeries. I walked so far that I ended up stumbling on Olympic Grounds from the games held in Barcelona in 1992! The area was beautiful! I was able to go into the stadium, and explore the park around it. I spent a lot of time there imagining the people there 11 years ago from all around the world competing for gold medals.
That day I also found La Sagrada Familia. It is a famous church that has been being built for the past 100 years. It is based on a Gaudi design and is absolutely huge. Although it is incomplete it is a world heritage site and in 2010 was proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
That night one of the weirdest things ever happened to me. I was sitting in a large plaza square, watching the sunset. And I noticed a Jamaican man approaching me. He came over and starting confessing his love for me, saying that he had been working up the courage to come over and talk to me. As he is telling me this, I am thinking that he is distracting me and someone is going to try to pickpocket me (I saw people do a lot of weird things to distract people for pick pocketers), but as I looked around there was no one besides a few families and other kids around. He continued confessing his love and kept saying 'when you know, you know, ya know?' At this point I was getting a little freaked out, especially because this guy seemed so serious, I figured at any minute someone was going to grab for my purse or something. So I stood up to walk away. But at the very moment I stood up, he got down on one knee in front of me and started proposing. This of course, attracted other nearby tourists who started gathering around and 'ooohing' and 'awwwing'. To say the least I was panicked. These people thought it was legit but little did they know I had no idea who he was. Then I got the idea that this was a distraction, and now people were going to pickpocket the people watching this proposal (again, it would have not surprised me by the pickpockets I saw). As I looked around trying to see behind the people watching, I again saw no one. People were just watching as this man was on one knee in front of me and finally ended his speech by asking me to move to Jamaica with him... Everyone stared at me waiting for an answer, and the only thing I could think of to say was 'I'm sorry I can't, no thank you'. And that reply got a 'boo' from the crowd watching. I actually got boo'ed for not marrying a man I did not know... As I quickly walked away I was waiting for someone to jump out at me and say 'YOU'VE BEEN PUNKED' or a sign anywhere that said 'Just Kidding!' but there was nothing. It was honestly the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
On my last day in Barcelona, I headed to the beach and became a Barcelona beach bum for the day. It was a perfect way to end a wonderful trip. I had so much fun exploring things on my own, and although I was traveling by myself it was so easy to meet people. Although there was a language barrier, the little Spanish I had learned came back to me. And although it was a challenge ordering, and talking to people, it was always interesting and was definitely a learning experience. Being able to travel and go to a foreign country completely on my own was such a great accomplishment for me, and I truly learned so much about myself along the way.
When I got home, and started uploading my pictures, I realized I had taken almost 2,000 of them... So please feel free to look at my album on Facebook where I have uploaded about a quarter of them.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200865894346574.1073741829.1140914263&type=3
The past couple days I have been catching up on homework since our 3 week break is coming to an end. School starts again on Monday, and this week I have 3 papers, and 2 presentations due. So it may be a little busy. Tonight I am meeting other study abroad students at a local pub to celebrate our last night of Spring Break (or Easter Holiday as they call it here).
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