Arrived in Barcelona this morning. Walked about maybe 2 miles with my pack in to the hostel - needed the fresh air after the night train.*
*night train: had the cabin to myself, so got into jammies, sat on upper bunk, reading for a few hours, tearing off bread and eating with peanut butter, till the whoel baguette was gone. Delicious. Peanut butter is the envy of every American I run into.
Speaking of Americans (north americans, that is) I really love meeting other girls from USA. Last night, for example, a group of 7 girls studying from Madrid but in Granada for the weekend and I just stood in the square hanging out, speaking regularly (i know, it´s relative, i know) and joking around. Just so nice to feel at ease, with people who you have so much in common with already, just being girls from the US. Even if we´re a few years different in age, or from different backgrounds.)
Back to Barcelona, city is cool so far. Lots of bike lanes, wide streets and sidewalks.
Really enjoyed arriving in a big city on a Sunday morning, quiet and
peaceful to walk through what had just been a saturday night.
Hostel Urbany, number 5 for me, seems pretty good. It´s something like 8 or 9 stories, has a pool and sauna, and my 8 bed dorm is only 12 euros a night, has two showers, and a tiny balcony with full curtained light for daytime and fresh air. The girl at the desk gave a knowing smile to this old guy who shuffled through the elevator doors and went straight to a glass, which he filled with vino tinto, and gave a cheers to the whole group. Everyone kind of smiled at him, laughed about it being 11 AM. Don´t know who he was, but I suspect he´s a regular.
Time to relax and ease into Barcelona. Think i´ll spend a few nights here, probably.
By the way, one reason I´m actually glad to be moving through Spain, is that i had the best chocolate here ever. Churros con chocolata, a donut you dip in a mug of liquid milk chocolate so thick the spoon stands on end... yummmm. I plan to try, in the name of science, another one here in Barcelona. Then, I will only have to fight my way through France with only a few chocolates to compare the Spanish ones with, and I should be done. Oh yeah, I´ve heard something of Belgian chocolate, but it´s my opinion that´s all hype.
