Barcelona

No Hablo Espagnol (Heather actually had to correct me on how to say that…)

Yes, Im actually writing a blog entry… surprised? I am.

The phrase above probably sums up my time here quite effectively. I was definitely a lot more comfortable in Paris than I am here, but aside from the language barrier, Im finding Barcelona a fascinating city that is really different from anywhere I’ve ever been before, but we’ll get to that later.

When we last left you, we were sitting in an Internet Cafe before getting our bags from the hostel and heading to our train. We arrived at the train station in plenty of time and we tried to change our tickets from couchette to just plain seats but found that the train was full so we were out of luck. Oh well, its an expensive lesson to book sooner. We shared our couchette with two girls from California who regaled us with their adventures in the Catacombs of Paris and filled us in on tips for backpacking. Shortly after, the train attendant came by and made our seats into beds (magically, i think). Let me tell you, they did not build that train for anyone over 5’6″. It was a terrible, expensive night’s sleep. We arrived in Barcelona at about 8:30 the next morning and set out exploring the second city on our trip.

So far, some of the highlights for me are seeing the Sagrada Familia (which I am unable to pronounce properly) and visiting the huge outdoor market in the Gothic Quarter which reminds me of Granville Island, but with at least 10x the pork. We also spent our first day on the beach here in Barcelona. It was about 24C and after the fog cleared we actually found ourselves sweating a bit under the heat and went for a swim. Thats right, its October and we’re swimming in the ocean. Jealous? You should be.

The hostel here is infinitely better than the one we stayed at in Paris. It is a bit more out of the way but the train station is still close and we’ve met a lot of people. We met a couple of Aussies and just tonight, met a girl from Quebec. The first night here, we met a guy from London, but he’s actually originally from Victoria and we know a few of the same people (He graduated from Mt Doug High in 2001). The more I travel, the more im impressed that this world can be both big and small, depending on the situation.

We’re here in Barcelona until Sunday night when we’re taking a bus (saves us 20 euros each) to Madrid. We’re planning on some more time at the beach, heading back to Parc Guell (designed by Gaudi… its crazy!), hitting up the market for some fresh meat, and on Saturday, we’re going to try to go see FC Barcelona play!!

Ok, well, its time for us to go find some dinner and grab some wine, which is extremely cheap here (1.50 Euros/Bottle).

Hope everyone is doing well back home,

Zevi