barcelona

la Sagrada Familia

Hey there, Starbucks. It's been over two months since I've seen you.

La Rambla

Casa Batllo

Sangria & Paella 

Until next time... 

Spring Break was the most exciting adventure I’ve embarked on in my entire life. It was a little taste of backpacking—Marissa and I took a train to Pisa, a plane to Barcelona, a train to Madrid, a plane to Lisbon, a plane to Milan, and a train back to Florence. My only wish is that we could have spent more time in every city…I needed two (or more) weeks instead of just one. But I knew I was going to feel that way from the start, it was inevitable.

Stop #1…Barcelona!

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Friday March 15

We started the day at 3:30 am to wake up and catch our train. Not TOO shockingly, we didn’t give ourselves enough time and ended up leaving the house at 4:22 (I’m being precise because our train was leaving Santa Maria Novella at 4:30 am sharp). We literally ran to the taxi station, borderline shouted our situation at some man because we were so panicked, and, lucky for us, the guy was pretty understanding. He chucked our things in the trunk and sped to the station. Italians’ driving always scares me, but if you tell them you’re in a dire rush, things only get scarier. He honked for what had to be five consecutive seconds at a poor elderly pedestrian in the road, whipped corners, ran a red light and then threw our stuff back out at us faster than he put it in car. Marissa and I got into the station and experienced our usual trouble pressing the buttons to order our train ticket, and then sprinted towards the first train, which also conveniently happened to be the furthest away. Oh dio. We ran onto the train and within seconds the doors slammed behind us—the drunken 4:30 am crowd cheered and clapped for us after we boarded since they saw us running and flailing our suitcases getting there. It was way too early for that kind of excitement, but we made it. And whether we made it by 20 minutes or two seconds…we made it.

More travel anxiety was ahead: I had to pack everything I owned into one suitcase. The same girl that fills the ENTIRE trunk full of bags for a weekend home from college was being forced to pack a full vacation into one bag. My only carry-on sized luggage is a red suitcase with wheels, but the thing about these economic European flights is that they are so unbelievably strict with the size of the bags. At home, Delta has their little box that you ideally put your suitcase inside of to make sure it’s the proper size. But nobody checks at home, and then on top of that you can have a purse or briefcase that may as well be the same size as a small suitcase since the attendants don’t actually care. In Europe, if it doesn’t fit in the box, it gets checked. And EVERYTHING but your coat must be in the suitcase. So anyways, I got there and miraculously it perfectly fit in the box and was 8.1/10 possible kilograms. I took a puff of my inhaler, a deep breath and slept like a baby at the gate.

Once we finally made it to Barcelona, we took a bus into the city center and met our friends from FUA in Florence to check into the hostel and grab lunch. We saw la Sagrada Familia which is undoubtedly one of the most amazing pieces of architecture I’ve ever laid eyes on. That was the most remarkable part of Barcelona, actually—the architecture. We went inside the church and admired the high ceilings, stained glass, and then Stephanie and I climbed the church’s towers. Words can’t describe the panoramic view of the city and the Mediterranean. And unfortunately pictures can’t do it justice.

After gawking at the beauty of la Sagrada Familia, we did a little window shopping (okay…I bought a shirt), and got lost. I’m convinced that getting lost is the only way to really see a city. I got to use my Spanish a little and ask how to get home, even though they speak Catalan which is extremely different. The day was warm, there were palm trees surrounding me in every direction and I distinctly remember being so happy that I was actually in the country I’d studied in school for so many years. To top off the first day of vacation, I found a Mexican cantina for dinner and got guacamole…it was so delicious. Two months without guacamole is two too many.

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Saturday March 16

This was a strange day. I woke up to the news that a dear friend from my old Taco Mac job died of a heart attack in his home. I hadn’t talked to him since I left, but he was one of those friends you could go months without talking to, then once you did again, it was as if no time had passed at all. He was one of those rare inspirational people. Steve convinced me to buy my plane ticket to New York for the first time…he always told me that I should just do what I wanted to do because you never knew what tomorrow would bring. The world lost a genuinely wonderful person and his death is a loss to all who knew him. RIP friend.

We trekked to our favorite muffin shop that morning and I realized my feet hurt worse than they ever had before from the amount of walking we’d already done. I only brought my combat boots for the week (disclaimer: I highly recommend NOT doing that. If you’re planning on doing a trip similar to this, swallow your pride and bring your tennis shoes. You will ruin your Steve Maddens and they will ruin you). We walked the street La Rambla and went to the open market where I bought some fresh fruit for lunch. I took it to Playa de la Barceloneta to eat on the shore. The beach there is beautiful and lively—it would have been nice if I didn’t have to wear my winter jacket, but the water was crystal-clear and a deeper blue than I’d ever seen. No complaints. I also found that I really love dragon fruit, so I’ll be interested to see if that’s available back home. My friends and I took a ten-minute rest at the hostel, and then ventured to find Casa Batllo. Gaudi’s architecture is so breathtaking! We continued on to his other creations in Parc Guell and got there with just enough to take some photos before nightfall. I got accidentally separated from the group and panicked a little at first because I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home without their map, but once I got to the lookout point, all of my anxiety disappeared. I breathed the air and took in the panoramic view of beautiful Barcelona, admiring how big it was and how lucky I was to be there. I was sitting on a rock watching the blue sky turn to black, and thinking about how a year ago, I could have never imagined myself being in Spain. I had no idea when I was going to study abroad or where I wanted to go. But I made it there. I was sitting at the top of Parc Guell in Barcelona feeling the most free I’ve ever felt in my entire life. It was such a big milestone and accomplishment in my journey of gaining full independence.

After my few moments of perfect solitude passed, I found my friends waiting for me at the bottom of the climb. None of us had ever been that hungry in our lives, so we stopped at a convenience store for a snack before our Paella dinner. I found my beloved Cheetos at that store!! Oh, Cheetos, I’ve missed you so. My biggest cravings since I left home have been breakfast, BBQ, Mexican food and Cheetos. I inhaled ¾ of the bag on the spot and we made our way back to the hostel, and eventually, to dinner.

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Sunday March 17

I spent some more time at the beach, and then the group met up for dinner across the street from our hostel. I got a meat-filled noodle topped with cream sauce. It was delicious, but at the end I found a hair that almost made me lose my appetite. I ended up getting that plate free (you know you’re a poor college student when you’re excited to find a hair and get a free dish). I didn’t COMPLETELY lose my appetite since we all split Spain’s specialty of churros and melted chocolate for dessert. Stephanie and I went out exploring that night and found our way back to the hostel in the rain without getting lost—we finally figured out the city just as it was time to pack up and leave. It was a lot of fun to get out for the night and completely worth the 3 hours of sleep I got before our morning train ride.