Days 54-57: They Pronounce it "Grathius"

Wednesday:

So, I'm not exactly sure where Wednesday began.... I definitely didn't get to bed early on Tuesday as planned, so when my alarm decided to go off at 2:30 am I can't say that I was ready to profess my undying love for it. Rather, it was more of a muffled string of  explicit terminology as I fumbled to shut it off (and quite possibly throw it across the room). And then, of course, panic momentarily as I realized I was probably going to wake my roommate up... except. Oh wait, it was so early that she wasn't even back from her night out yet. Yeah, talk about an early morning. So as I proceeded to quickly get ready, Kalie came back, we had a rather amusing conversation as she got ready for bed (I was quite jealous of that factor, because all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed at that point), and I finally dashed downstairs to meet the others. We made it to our cab in the cold, windy London morning, got to our bus stop with plenty of time, made our bus, and reached the airport in time to breeze through security and grab a quick breakfast. I'm pretty sure all of us were running low on adrenaline at this point, considering our way-too-early morning, but we made it to the plane, where we all proceeded to crash out for the hour and a half flight to Barcelona.

Upon arriving, we got our train with a little difficulty, and made it to the city without issue. Walking up from the station into the bright, warm sun... amazing. Seriously, we were greeted by palm trees and warmth. It was like being right back in Southern California, and quite a lovely taste of home at that. So, we wandered around for a bit until we found our hotel, set our stuff down in our quite nice room, and then proceeded to break off into two groups- those who needed a siesta after our travel, and those of us who wanted to get in some of the city. I was a part of the latter group along with Craig, Cameron, and Sinjin, and so we headed out and found a little restaurant where we grabbed some tapas (basically appetizer plates) . I got some delicious "fried little squids", which would basically set up about half of my meals, because the calamari there was... amazing. Seriously. After lunch, we continued our wandering until we came upon the Sagrada Familia cathedral, a huge creation of Gaudi. This thing was ridiculously awesome and so different than anything I'd seen before. I mean, there were fruits on some of the spires, all these curves and funky architectural additions, and the thing wasn't even finished, although it was being consecrated on the upcoming Sunday when the Pope was scheduled to visit, which was kind of cool.

We meandered around that area for a bit until we met up with one of my friends, who introduced us to the metro system and then took us into the Gothic district, where we had churros and chocolate (so delicious), and wandered to a famous marketplace on Las Ramblas. Crowded, touristy, but absolutely fun to visit. After this, we got to see my friend's apartment, then returned to our own hotel for a minor siesta. This was followed by a quick dash to the convenience store (amazing how quickly we find those), purchases of champagne, and a little pre-dinner Barcelona celebration. Dinner was later (because everything in barcelona starts way later), and we met up with a bunch of the Lausanne kids around 10, found a place for dinner where I had many tapas, including ham, potatoes with a spicy sauce, paella and then a calamari sandwich (most amazing thing ever). Dinner was proceeded by a spontaneous decision to go clubbing with the Lausanne kids in one of the slightly touristy areas by the water. I'm pretty sure that the club was all Pepperdine in the beginning and still about 50% Pepperdine kids at the end. People from every European program were at this same club on the same night- it was insane, but also insanely awesome. I loved having a reunion with all these Pepperdine friends I hadn't seen in months.

We continued the night for quite a while, but finally decided to leave (and still far before the typical Barcelona going-home time of 6am), figured that wandering through the streets of an unknown city wasn't the brightest thing, and split a cab. We got back to our hotel without any problems, squished into the bed and floor (because we definitely got more than 2 people into our hotel room), and crashed out after a long, albeit wonderful, first day in Barcelona! Woohoo!

Thursday:

One of the many great things about Spain is that they stay out really, really late, which means that sleeping in is completely acceptable. It's such a beautiful concept. So, the boys and I slept in for quite a decent amount of time, then slowly got ready for the day while munching on bread from the night before. After we all were showered and dressed and public-appropriate, we made it outside only to be met with yet another absolutely gorgeous day! Seriously- tank top and shorts. Could I be any happier? Probably not. It was such a lovely, lovely day. We ended up wandering the city for a bit in search of a girl who was staying in another hotel, while simultaneously corresponding with the Lausanne group. Once we found the other girl, we began searching for a metro station to get up towards the beach (why not go to the beach with such great weather?). 

We stopped for lunch on our search, and were introduced to the brilliant idea of baguettes with ham on them. Seriously- so simple, but so deliciously perfect for walking around when hungry. So, after satisfying our hunger, we got on the metro and made our way towards the beach. I can't explain how beautiful the harbor was... therefore there is a picture for you to look at. I know, super helpful, right? Anyhow, we walked up and down that area for a bit, all the way to the beach, before we doubled back and hit up the aquarium, where some of the Lausanne kids were. Why not go to an aquarium while in Barcelona? Sharks, fish, jellyfish and penguins, oh my! And lobsters.. and lots of other things. It was quite a fun experience. And I really think college is a time for us to regress in maturity, as seen by our fascination with the sea life and the kid-zone at the end of the aquarium tour. Gotta love it.

We left the area as the sun was beginning to set and ended up parting with the Lausanne group in order to have another siesta before the night's festivities began. Once our naptime was done (again, total regression back into preschool school) we bought some more champagne and bread, celebrated our time in Barcelona once again (vacation- why not?), and then got ready to go out and meet the Lausanne kids again. I had some fantastic tapas for dinner that involved lots of ham bits on top of baguette pieces... honestly, the food in Barcelona? So much better than in London. But seriously, it was really, really good food. After dinner, we hung out around the street where we found our food, before my friend and I decided to get a bottle of champagne and split in on our way to another bar. 

Wall of shots behind us

My friend Kimmy had joined us art this point, and she introduced us to this fantastic bar that served over 200 shots. They literally had a wall covered with all of these shot names- such as "Harry Potter" which sparkled and flamed, "Bob Marley" which had 3 rings of color, "Satan" which was, predictably, red, "Bin Laden" which tasted as bad as it sounds, among so many countless others. It was a fun experience, although the Lausanne group finally began dispersing until it was just Kimmy, Craig, Sinjin, and myself. So, we began the walk back to our hotel after a very fun night, got directions to our hotel after stopping by Kimmy's place (because the metro was closed), got somewhat lost towards the end of the journey and had to flag down a cab for the last few winding blocks, but eventually made it back. Again, an absolutely fantastic night. 

Friday:

Friday was met with, once again, a lovely bit of sleeping in. We began our slow morning ritual, with me munching bread while the boys took far longer than myself to shower and get ready. Eventually we were able to meet up with Kimmy, who decided to take us to Guell Park, another place filled with Gaudi's designs. I swear, it was like walking into ToonTown at Disneyland. He was such a fascinating architect. We grabbed more of those lovely sandwiches for the walk, the day was once again absolutely gorgeous, and the park itself was fantastic. 

Guell Park was followed by Labyrinth Park, this was a little less touristy and far more green, with, of course, a labyrinth in part of it. It was a beautiful, peaceful area- I can totally understand why people come to these parks and just find a bench and take a little siesta during the middle of the day, especially with the way that they party at night. After we wandered around the park for a bit, we decided to head back to the Gothic district by Kimmy's apartment. We headed back to the marketplace so that we could get some fresh juice and some roasted chestnuts, which were absolutely delicious. They were like a mix of nuts and potatoes in flavor... and apparently very Spanish. So, why not? That's what we were there for- to try new things and have new experiences! And I totally approve of eating lots of new food as an experience. After we had our filly of the market, we headed back to the hotel for - wait for it- a siesta! Well, the boys did. I only siesta'd the first day. But I enjoyed a little quiet time to myself.

After the siesta we got some more champagne and bread in celebration of more Barcelona time, and of course, Craig's birthday! Woohoo! Love birthdays. So, after this pregaming celebration, we headed out to dinner at the same place we'd gone to the first night and had fun there for a bit. That began one of the craziest nights I've actually had in my whole time being abroad. After dinner we headed back to the shot bar, where we met up with an extraordinary amount of people. The group hung out there for a bit before we all split into smaller groups. Craig, Steve, Cameron and myself ended up going on a little walk towards the beach, where we were stopped in our progression as we found a man passed out on the sidewalk with a ton of blood around him. He obviously got into a fight, and we couldn't leave him there, we we did our good deed for the day/night, made sure an ambulance came, before we finally headed down to the beach area to hit up an Ice Bar (and avoid the creepers selling drugs openly), which was followed by a trip towards Las Ramblas in order to pick up some of the girls at one of the clubs. Of course, they gave us the wrong club name, so we ended up taxiing back to the hotel, where everyone reconvened around 4 am and finally got ready for bed.

Saturday:

Saturday came way too early. Checkout was at 11am, so Mama Annie had to get her boys up by 9:30 so they could shower and pack and get ready for the day. We managed to get all of this done on time, stored our luggage in the hotel, and began a very long trek in search of a good place for lunch. I swear, no one could decide on anything, so it was a relief when we finally picked a place, sat down, and got food. Again... calamari for me. Of course, I picked off everyone else's plates, as per usual, so that made for an eclectic lunch. After this, we spent the rest of our day just exploring other bits of the city, before we met up with other people in our group on another part of Las Ramblas. We wandered down this a bit, gaped at the people selling random turtles and birds between the other stalls selling scarves and jewelry (you could basically buy almost anything here), and met up with Kimmy at a giant statue of Columbus (who is actually pointing in the wrong direction...). We did a final walk down the harbor and towards the beach before we said our goodbyes and made it back to the hotel grabbed our luggage, and found the train station. 

After almost getting on the wrong train (thank goodness for nice people catching our mistakes), we found our train and travelled to the airport. Again, thanks to good planning, we made it through security without any problems and in a perfect amount of time and boarded our plane. We got home without any problems, and slightly awful naps on the plane, only to realize that gone were the days of warm, golden Spanish sun.... They had been replaced by bitter, windy, cold London. Oh well, I still love the city. So, we grabbed our bus, traveled to the bus station, got onto the metro, picked up some quick food, and then made it back to Home Sweet Home. And can I say that, regardless of the icicles that took over my fingers, it was so great being back at home. I unpacked, exchanged stories, hung out for a bit, before finally passing out in my own, beautiful bed after having a lovely roomie chat. Mmm, home.

Sunday:

Sunday was defined but absolute laziness for the first half of the day. I caught up on a few tv shows, only got out of bed to wash my face and shower, and finally pulled my body out of bed to pull on some clothes and scrounge of minimal food when my friend texted me to tell me she was finally in town and wanted a tour guide. So, I hopped on the Tube and made it to Camden Town (I seriously love that place), and we all played around there for a couple of hours. I bought myself a nice purple dress and we girls had a fun time exploring the shops and just being silly. After grabbing some Chinese food we hit up the Black Cap for a quick drink before they headed back to their place and I to mine. Sunday night was just as quiet as the morning had been, with a little socializing before I crawled back into bed (slightly feverish, unfortunately) and proceeded to have an iffy night's sleep. Oh well, I'll get to sleep in soon enough.