The best spontaneous decision i've made so far was the 3 day trip to Barcelona with my workmate Dan. We both had the same days off and the world cup was about to start so we thought we'd make the most of it and cross over into Spain. And where better to go for a laugh and a half but to Barca! Took the train, even though it took twice the time than a car but it was good crack on the train, well, on the way there anyway but the return trip will come later... So had an hour stop over at Port Bou which was a beautiful wee spanish village on the hills of the mediterranean coast and leads down to a little beach. Shack-like bars are all along the edge of the beach so we stopped for a beer and a few olives and took in the view. I was absolutely estatic as I hadn't seen the sea since i'd arrived in Europe, so to breath in the salty air and have the wind in my face was awesome. Dan , being a Londoner, thought i was such a mental-case running round the beach and bouncing about but that didn't stop me.
Our next train was a regional spanish train, which acted a bit like a bus as people could hop off whenever they wanted, even in the middle of the spanish countryside, with no villages in sight. While this was fun for us to witness, it did mean our final leg to barca was a long and impatient one.
But when we got there and ascended from the metro station we were right opposite the hostel on passeig de Gracia. Which meant we were right in the middle of Barca, with a 5 minutes walk to Place Catalunya and then onto Las Ramblas. First impressions were of a beautiful city with amazing architecture, all the big names in terms of shopping, and very classy spanish people. Everyone looks like they've just stepped out of a vogue magazine so both of us felt very ratty in backpacker clothes but so what. Set ourselves up in our very clean hostel and headed down las ramblas taking in the sights. Loved the street performers and trying to see them blink (or trying to make them laugh), and went into a few bars (including a place called the fairy bar which was just like being in neverland- a must for anyone going to barca) before heading to the port for some stunningly fresh seafood tapas and paella and a few more cervezas.
Next day included visiting the Picasso museum, a few gaudi buildings and Parc Grell to get a stunning view of the whole city. That night made a good decision to go out with a tour the hostel organised. Went for tapas at some typical spanish place and then headed to a club to watch flamenco. It was amazing, i dunno how that girl keeped it up for so long. The passion they put into the dance, singing and playing is just incredible- by the end of it the guitarist had broken 3 strings and the dancers hair was in pieces. Very impressive stuff. So that done we were taken to a number of different bars, an irish one included but it had none of the charm of De Danu haha. Each time we were given shots on arrival, or two shots for some of us who had to help out those who weren't drinking. Ended up in a place with two bars - so had house music blasting downstairs and 70s music jamming upstairs. It was good crack and even tried to put my 2 years of uni spanish to use, and they understood me! I was quite chuffed.
So our last day in Barca was very hungover but we had to get to the Sagrada Familia and it was definately worth the effort. This stunning piece of Gaudi architecture is still in the working, and not expected to be finished for another 40 years or something. I have to say though, you can definately tell the areas where Gaudi finished and the next architects have carried on. The gothic theme has been replaced by a modern, angular architecture so it looks a bit muddled but hopefully it'll all come together in the end. We didn't take the lift up to the top as we didn't think our heads (and stomachs) would last the distance. So did a bit of a tour inside and then the crowds got too much for our hangovers so we headed back to town for some crazy tapas- think hamburgers and croissants after being zapped by willy wonkas shrinking machine.
At the hostel we met up with some Toulousain girls we'd met the night before and found they also had a train back that afternoon, with the same stop over. Given this coincidence, we made the mistake of assuming we all were on the same train. Unfortunately not. Dan and I had to shell out several extra euros to get on their train and then luckily we could get on our original connection train to Toulouse. Our luck was not with us this night. There also had been a muck up with the ticketing so there were double-ups on the seats. We nearly had to stand for 3 hours but made the french people in our seats move cos they had no reservations to begin with. Then we heard there had been a fire on the track between Marseille and Bordeaux so our 2nd train was going to be held up getting to Narbonne. Thought it'd be ok cos we were running late anyway, but when we got to Narbonne we found out it was going to be atleast an hour and a half before the train got moving again. After all our dramas and at 11.30pm we were definately wishing we'd driven. The French train system really is something special.
But we got back, and De Danu was still open and only 10 minutes walk. We were tired but we got there and were greeted by workmates and regulars as if we'd been away for a month. A wonderful and boozy end to a wonderful and boozy trip!
