Girl Meets World: Sleepless in España

4 days, 15 hours of sleep, 13 metros, 5 buses, 2 planes, 7 taxis, 2 hostels, 6 liters of sangria, 137 pictures, 4 discotecs, and 20 tapas later... I’m back home in Paris. “Back to life, back to reality...” Barcelona is definitely going down in the books as a successful first trip of mine and setting the bar high for travels to come.

The trip started with a lovely alarm at 4:30am on Friday. Leslie and I half awake strolled down to the bus stop that would take us to Porte Mallot where we caught a shuttle bus to the airport. When transferring there, we hearing loud house music coming from across the street. We laugh as we strolled by wheeling our suitcase, see people flowing in and out of a club thinking, “they’re still partying?!” Might this have been a foreshadow on what was to come?

We flew out of Paris- Beauvais which is by no means the main airport here (Charles de Gualle) on RyanAir. After standing in not only 2 wrong lines, but the wrong terminal, we find out way to our gate and get escorted outside to board the plane. Leslie and I found ourselves using the expression “you get what you pay for” more often than not but to our surprise, minus a few inches of leg room, our flight was like your average Southwest plane. We touch down in Barcelona at 8am, gather our exactly 10kg carry on (that we nearly had to shove into the luggage check stand to be allowed on) and make our way outside.

Back track less than 12 hours prior, Sadia (my host mom) mentioned she had a Barcelona tour guide book and map and suggested we bring it with us. We hesitantly say okay, while worrying one more strand of hair will put our luggage over the weight limit.... all I can say is thank you, Sadia! As we exit the airport we realize, hey, we don’t have a clue where we are going. We see taxi’s outside but have no idea how far away we are nor how much it will cost. Just beyond the taxis I see a bus and without second thought I grab Leslie and for 2 euros, hop on the bus. Without a clue what direction were headed, I figure we’ll figure it out. Thanks to the handy dandy map, we navigate exactly where to go without one wrong turn. And who said women are bad with directions?!

We check into our first of two hostels we stayed at, The Be Mar and make our way to our 8 person room. Being both mine and Leslies’ “first” time staying at a hostel, all we could say was... “you get what you pay for!” But for the little amount of time we knew we’d actually spend in it (or sleeping for that matter), it worked out just fine. I even made friends with my gay Australian bunkmate, Mitchell. That is definitely one cool thing I liked about staying at hostels... everyone has their own story on why they’re there and no two stories are the same. It’s awesome to meet people from all over the world whose paths we just happen to cross.

While we were napping I woke up to a knock at the door as Mitchell opened it and I hear a soft “umm, is Aubree there?” I immediately jump out of bed, recognizing the voice immediate... Cat Walker is here!!! It was so good to see a familiar face and catch up with each other. Cat is playing soccer in Finland and living with a host family as well. Being in foreign countries that speak different languages, we shared many similar stories about our experiences thus far. Once realizing the time, we got ready to head out for the night. We kept it classy sipping on some fine 3 euro sangria that Mitchell generous shared with us before saying goodbye as we regretfully declined his offer to go to the gay clubs with him.

First thing on the agenda... dinner. As we head down Barcelona’s famous La Rambla, we are stopped by a persistent Brit named Bertee. He all but begged us three to come on a pub crawl with three stops, ultimately ending at a club to dance the night away. Little did we know that him and his other friend from London, Michael, we would bump into every night. Bertee suggested a place called Orio to eat dinner that was an urban tapas restaurant. SOOO good! If you’re ever in Barcelona, I would say this place is a “must” !! (And they’re Sangria is killer)

As if seeing one familiar face wasn’t enough... Bumping into each other occasionally at the bars (of course) in San Diego before I left, I learned that Luke, who played football at SDSU, would be heading abroad around the same time as me to play in Barcelona. We kept in touch and after booking the trip, I told him our plans and were able to meet up. After dinner, myself, Leslie, and Cat walked over to Luke’s apartment fully eager to experience the night life. At around 1:30am (which is considered early), we made our way over to Club Otto Zutz. The night was so fun, filled with dancing on platforms, multi-level dance floors, and lots of sweat... and all I can say is Barcelona knows how to party.

Saturday morning hit us like a ton a bricks as we struggle to wake up to our alarm set for noon. One of the things I was most blown away by and still perplexes me is how people function during the day there. Or, at least people our age. When dinner isn’t until 11pm, going out doesn’t happen until 2am, and going to bed doesn’t happen until after 6am, HOW are these people not nocturnal?! As much as I love to go out and have a good time, by the time Tuesday came around for us to leave, I was without a voice and running on empty. Barcelona- 1 Aubree-0.

As we diligently tried to pull ourselves together, Saturday we went to check out the stadium where FC Barcelona plays. As one of the tops futbol teams in the world, it was amazing to see an entire city live and breathe FCB... And I thought Boston fans were die hard. Even every souvenir shop is filled with mostly soccer jerseys. Messi is God to these people. FC Barcelona’s stadium even has a museum in it and for 22 euros, you can see it for yourself! I’ve grown a liking to the expression “balling on a budget” and with this steep price tag, we decided the outside of the stadium was just SO beautiful and we had gotten the full experience. After getting lost taking 2 loops around the same couple of blocks, we finally made our way back on the Metro and headed toward Passeig de Garcia which is like the Champs- Elysees of Barcelona. Besides the shopping, building, and Starbucks (we were in dyer need of a latte), the coolest thing on this street is called Casa Batllo. This restored Antoni Gaudi building is part of the Illa de la Discordia (“Block of Discord”) on Garcia ave and is called Casa Batllo referring to “House of Bones.” Once again, after seeing that it was 18 euros to go inside, we thought the outside was cool enough, which is truly was! (See below)

By 7 it was unanimously nap time as we drug our heels back to the hostel and slept until 10pm when it was time to get up, get ready, and do it again! “Viva la Barca”... Unfortunately we travelled a man down that night as Cat wasn’t feeling good and decided to stay in. Leslie and I fueled up with some local Gyro type sandwich and decided to head towards the beach where the most well known and popular clubs are. We ended up at Club Shoko and yup, danced the night away :) The DJ played a great set but one thing I find funny being abroad is how BIG American music is. I had no idea that even over in Paris and Barcelona, all we would hear is Rihanna, Kanye, and Afrojack. Not that I’m complaining by any means but Leslie and I kept joking that when you’re in a club here, besides hearing different languages spoken (which you can barely hear over the music anyways), you feel like you’re in the US because of the music that’s played.

Sunday morning came to a well rested, put together, cheery Cat as Leslie and I woke up, head spinning, make up smeared, in shambles. Time for more site seeing! As much as you’re probably thinking “whyyy is she doing this to herself?! Get some rest!” Yes, waking up every morning/afternoon was painful but then again, I’m in Barcelona and this is what I came to do... just experience and see as much as I can! I can always come back later in 10 years when I’m married and can afford staying in hotels and enjoy some fine dining. But as for now, I wouldn’t want to be any where else in the world than struggling to climb up my wobbly hostel bunk bed at 6am with my ears still ringing, wearing the same thing I wore the night before, laughing at the night I just had and anxiously awaiting what world famous site I’ll get to see when I wake up.

Sunday turned out to be my favorite day we had. It was Easter, the sun was out, and the 3 Advil I popped were kicking in faster than expected. The much anticipated first thing on our agenda-- Sagrada Familia! This Roman Catholic Church is the biggest building in the area and was designed by you guessed it, Gaudi. After an unsuccessful attempt to go to the Easter mass being held here (the place Pope Benedict XVI consecrated 2 years ago and what? we didn’t make the cut?!) we went inside and walked around in pure awe. I could go on for days about the history and beauty of this building but I’m already aware of the length this blog is getting to. In a nutshell, this church was started over 100 years ago and is still not finished due to the intricacies of Gaudi’s architecture. Look at the pictures below that as I mentioned previously about places in Paris, just don’t do it justice. If you’re curious to know more about this building just go on wikipedia or google it... it’s really interesting. I highly suggest you do! It was also interesting that it was 11 euros to look around Sagrada Familia which to me was the most pinnacle site in Barcelona but FC Barcelona was double that! Maybe Messi really is God?

From Sagrada Familia, the three of us were starving as we made our way towards la playa! We sat outside and had a great lunch at a place that overlooked the ocean. By the time lunch was over, we bee lined it to the water to dip our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. COLLLDDDD! But another “first” to add to the list :) The rest of the afternoon we spent strolling along the boardwalk, through a food market, people watching, chatting, and soaking up the sun. We sat down on a set of stairs and just casually enjoyed our day as we sipped on some more Sangria and some healthy, no carb, non fattening treats we got at the market. This is Barcelona. This is the life.

Realizing it was already almost 7, we went back to The Lovely Be Mar, gathered our bags, and headed back to La Rambla where our next hostel was. We walk into The Kabul House and instantly hear bumping music. We turn the corner into the lobby/ground floor to see a bunch of people playing pool, sipping beer (yes, they have a bar in the hostel), and hanging out around tables. I’m liking this place already! We check into our 10 person coed room and to our surprise, no one is there. We had the room all to ourselves. We got ready, ate “dinner” which consisted of eating a few handfuls of cereal out of the box, had a drink, and went back out. Tonight, we heard of this “most epic party in the world” happening 30 minutes away at a place called Row14. Well, if it’s the “most epic party in the world” you know I’m not missing that! Luke and his roommate/teammate who played football at Stanford, Austin, agreed to come. We met them down the street at the bus stop where Row14 was providing free shuttles to and from the venue... this is where it gets good.

We wait a little bit for the next bus which comes right on time as we make our way onto the bus and take our seats in the second row. We’re all getting excited as we hear they’re almost at capacity which was 4,000 people. The guy sitting directly in front of me was just having a good time, clapping and cheering whenever girls got on the bus, and booing when a guy got on the bus. One guy took it a little too seriously, got in his face, and SLAPS him across the face harder than I’ve ever seen before. Immediately punches start getting thrown and before you know it, a full on street brawl breaks out. The recipient of the slap found an empty wine bottle and attempts to throw it at the guy who branded his hand print on his right cheek. Missing him, the bottle flies through the air, right into the bus front window and makes a huge spider webbing crack. The bus driver seemed to take personal offense to this so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Everyone on the bus is out of their seats leaning against the window trying to get a front row seat at this circus. Our 300 pound bowling ball bus driver somehow out runs the slapped silly scared little guy as the bus driver flails his body into the air and literally flattens the dude like a pancake. Police arrive and we are now part of a crime scene. We were held on the bus for awhile before we were all moved over to a different one.

After that whole fiasco we were all ready to just get there and see what this Row14 was all about. Apparently it was not about us. The security guards were not letting anyone else in and made us wait outside while people kept walking in and out of a side entrance. What ever happened to “1 out, 1 in rule” ?! Long story short, Leslie had a “word” with them and interjectingly told a security guard that she is an American journalist here writing about Barcelona night life and will be giving Row14 nothing but negative reviews. Shockingly, that got us nowhere but definitely was a good laugh. We head back to Lukes, determined to not let this defeat us. Plus hey, it was only 12pm, the night was young!

Back at Lukes we drank some of their homemade Barcelona style jungle juice concoction and get ready for try number two. Unfortunately Cat had a 6am flight so around 2 we had to say our goodbyes as she made her way to the airport and the 4 of us made our way to the beach. I guess we loved Shoko so much that we just had to go back. Because it was Easter the clubs closed “early” at 4am so afterwards we walked outside and went on the beach. For most, this concept seems like a dream but to me, it was like deja vu of my spoiled life in San Diego. I felt like I was right back at home, as if I was leaving Shoreclub and strolling around the PB beach. I’m loving everything about being in Europe but I can’t wait for the day that I’m dipping my feet in the Pacific Ocean again.

Monday was our last day in Barcelona so Leslie and I decided to hit the one other place we were really wanting to see: Parc Guell. Another Guadi designed cite, this park was massive and was a trek even to get to. At the top, you had a breathtaking view overlooking all of Barcelona and down below in the main courtyard area there were all sorts of different Gaudi buildings, walls, statues, and artwork. It was very cool and definitely worth seeing.

After another sleepless night, our flight back Tuesday morning was another rude awakening for us at 3:30am. Since we were “getting what we paid for,” RyanAir doesn’t give you many choices on flight times so it was either 6:20am or bust. Once back in Paris, the feeling of flopping onto my bed had never felt so good. Sleeping all day and waking up still exhausted, all I could say was “Viva la Barca.”

The trip overall was so much fun. I’m so glad I got to see part of Spain and all that Barcelona has to offer. At the same time, however, it made me even more grateful for the life I’m living in Paris and reaffirmed me on my decision choosing Paris over Spain. Even though I don’t speak the language (yet), I feel like Paris is just much more “me.” I’m not even sure why that is or possibly it is Paris turning me more Parisian but either way, I love it :) As I see more and more different places, I hope to continually love coming “home."