We kicked Barcelona's back side
So this weekend was crazy amazing and filled with more experiences than I can count. (Beware, this shall be long, so take snack breaks occasionally.)
We didn't have classes on Friday, but went on an excursion to La Granja instead, which is a beautiful palace about 15 minutes away from Segovia. Part of the palace holds the best collection of tapestries in all of Spain, and they were pretty mind blowing when you looked at the extreme amount of detail in them. The palace had this amazing, huge garden with a man-made lake, forest, and many fountains. There was even this little grotto thing on the lake that we explored.
When we got back to Segovia, Laura and I grabbed our back packs and some sandwiches and hopped on a bus to Madrid to start our journey to Barcelona. We bought a ticket for the night train and waited around for a few hours. While we were waiting, we met these two travelers from the states. The girl, Liz, was really cool and has traveled alot. After this month in Spain, she is returning to Ghana to work at an orphanage for a while. The night bus was amazing, because it all of a sudden hit me that I was traveling by train in Europe. To someone with a romantic streak like-me, this realization was very exciting. Our room made me think that we were traveling in the third class section of the titanic because it was only big enough for two people but had beds for 6. Thankfully, we ended up with the room all to ourselves. A word of advice, make-sure that when you get on the train that you don't accidentally go too far in the wrong direction because traveling upstream through the extremely tiny hallways is nearly impossible and kind of dangerous when people are traveling with large suitcases. At one point we explored our car and ran into the American travelers. We had a great time on the train, but I slept horribly because I was so afraid of missing our stop. (Thanks Lavaugn for making me paranoid after sharing your story about missing your stop and ending up on the wrong side of the Berlin wall. Thanks alot.)
Saturday (Snack break time)
We arrived in Barcelona at 7:30 in the morning. The sun wasn't even up yet. I have to admit that there was a moment in the bus station when I was a little freaked out as I realized that it was up to me to locate a metro station and figure out how to get to all the sites that we wanted to visit. All in all, the weekend ended up being a great learning experience for me and I now feel like a far more seasoned traveler. We took the nearest metro to the "Sagrada Familia" stop. As we made our way up the metro steps, we were greeted by the awe-inspiring image of Gaudi's famous unfinished masterpiece of a cathedral, silhouetted against the early morning sky. As the day went on, I grew to appreciate and enjoy Gaudi's work immensely. He was most assuredly at least a little insane, but he designed some amazing pieces of art. I really admire the fact that he was so concerned with functionality as well as creativity. After taking in La Sagrada Familia, we made our way to the "Manzana of Discordia" which is a city block with many famous modernist buildings. There, we took the tour of "La Casa Mila" which is an apartment complex that Gaudi designed. After exploring this part of the city, we took the metro to the Gothic quarter. We meandered around this area for a while, before locating our Hostel. Thankfully, we were able to drop off our backpacks there before moving on to explore the famed pedestrian street, "Las Ramblas." ( You never know how light your body really is until, you are able to rid yourself of the weight of a backpack that you've been carrying for many miles.) On the way to Las Ramblas, we stopped by the chocolate museum. After the tour, I stopped off and tried a cup of Spanish hot chocolate. In Spain, hot chocolate is pretty much melted chocalate that can be used to dip pastries in. It hurts my pride to admit it, but I got the small cup and I couldn't even finish it. I guess I just don't have as strong a constition as the Spaniards do.
We arrived at Las Rambles at the port-end of the street where there is a statue of Columbus pointing out to sea. While at this statue, we took pictures riding the giant lines that cirle the monument. Las Ramblas is a beautifully active street filled with craft venders and street performers. It is a place that is always overflowing with energy and life. In the middle of Las Ramblas is one of the largest indoor market places in the world, "La Boqueria." Before coming to Spain, I had watched a show with Jan about the crazy foods that Spain has to offer. La Boqueria was one of the places where the show's host visited. For a food fanatic like me, La Boqueria was fascinating. While there, we bought a few delicious fresh squeezed juices, a hunk of local Catalunian cheese and a slice of the ham that the region is famous for. (This ham is extremely delicious and expensive because it comes from pigs that are fed only acorns.)
I have always had a goal to be a busker for a day. I had heard about how Las Ramblas was one of the most famous places for street performers in the entire world. So... I said, I guess there is no better time than the present to make my dream a reality. After we had seen the whole mile long street, I made myself gather up the courage to take off my hat, place it on the ground in front of me, and I started to sing. It was one of the most nerve-racking experiences to put myself out there like that. I almost chickened out like 5 times. Every time I would finish a song, there was a moment when I couldn't for the life of me think of a new song to sing. Occasionally I sang well, but for the most part, my nerves were making me sound far less than wonderful. I just kept praying that someone would put at least a coin in my hat, because I had decided that I wouldn't stop until I had made at least one cent. (That was part of the condicions for actually succeeding at my goal) Thankfully, I kind guy passed for a while and then placed a 20 cent Euro in my hat. I was so amazingly relieved, becase I really had no intention to stay there singing for the rest of the day. A few songs later, this women passed to listen to my whole song, and when I finished, she smiled and applauded. Those two moments, and the bragging rights, made this experience one that I will cherish. (The really funny thing is that I want to be a professional actress, and that 20 cents was the firt money I ever made as a performer. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will keep it forever.)
After Las Ramblas we headed back to our Hostel to get settled and to eat the meat and cheese. Our room was this amazingly cool space with lofty bunk beds. Eventually I will post pictures of it. While we were sitting down in the common area eating our food, who should walk in but our new friend from the train. We told her that we were planning to go to this Flamenco show we'd heard about that only cost 5 euros, and she said that she'd love to join in. The show was very enjoyable and it made me want to go see one of the less touristy shows when I visit Andalucia. After the show, we stopped by a bar for a while and I sampled the local sparkling wine called "cava". After this, we looked for a discoteca, but we got bad directions and never found what we were looking for. Eventually, we returned to the Hostel to drop Laura off, before Liz (train-girl) and I hit the town in search of somewhere to dance. At one point, Liz asked these two guys in the street if they spoke English, and miraculously, one of them did. These two guys were actually from Argentina, but were living/working in Barcelona. They told us that the clubs wouldn't get going for another hour or so, so they showed us to a hookah bar to pass the time. We had a wonderful time there and afterwards we headed over to a discoteca. Our new friends happened to have free passes to this club, so we got in for free and got to bypass the line. After the club, we were talking in the street for a while, when one of there friends came by and invited us to a party at his house. It was really great to see the inside of a Barcelona apartment and I got to meet some very interesting people at the party. I met and talked in Spanish with people from Italy, Ecuador, Spain, and Argentina all in one night. I didn't head back to my hostel until 6:00 in the morning.
Sunday (Second break time)
After only three hours of sleep, we had to pack up to check out of the hostel. Throughout the day we visited, a bunch of museums because almost all the city museums were free because it was the first Sunday of the month. We also stopped by the cathedral which had this wondeful patio area where a flock of geese have resided for a few hundred years. Out front of the Cathedral we watched the weekly tradition of dancing the "sardana" which is a medieval dance where people hop and skip in a circle. We also road in an elevator to the top of the pedestal on which Columbus rests. In the afternoon, we went to "Parc Guell" which was also designed by Gaudi. It is a very peaceful place filled with whimsical fountains, pillars, and sculptures. We finished off the day by stopping at a restaurant for a dinner of tapas. By the end of our meal we were so happy that our contentment was practically bubbling out. We then headed to the train station to ride the night train home in time to attend our classes the next morning.
We didn't have classes on Friday, but went on an excursion to La Granja instead, which is a beautiful palace about 15 minutes away from Segovia. Part of the palace holds the best collection of tapestries in all of Spain, and they were pretty mind blowing when you looked at the extreme amount of detail in them. The palace had this amazing, huge garden with a man-made lake, forest, and many fountains. There was even this little grotto thing on the lake that we explored.
When we got back to Segovia, Laura and I grabbed our back packs and some sandwiches and hopped on a bus to Madrid to start our journey to Barcelona. We bought a ticket for the night train and waited around for a few hours. While we were waiting, we met these two travelers from the states. The girl, Liz, was really cool and has traveled alot. After this month in Spain, she is returning to Ghana to work at an orphanage for a while. The night bus was amazing, because it all of a sudden hit me that I was traveling by train in Europe. To someone with a romantic streak like-me, this realization was very exciting. Our room made me think that we were traveling in the third class section of the titanic because it was only big enough for two people but had beds for 6. Thankfully, we ended up with the room all to ourselves. A word of advice, make-sure that when you get on the train that you don't accidentally go too far in the wrong direction because traveling upstream through the extremely tiny hallways is nearly impossible and kind of dangerous when people are traveling with large suitcases. At one point we explored our car and ran into the American travelers. We had a great time on the train, but I slept horribly because I was so afraid of missing our stop. (Thanks Lavaugn for making me paranoid after sharing your story about missing your stop and ending up on the wrong side of the Berlin wall. Thanks alot.)
Saturday (Snack break time)
We arrived in Barcelona at 7:30 in the morning. The sun wasn't even up yet. I have to admit that there was a moment in the bus station when I was a little freaked out as I realized that it was up to me to locate a metro station and figure out how to get to all the sites that we wanted to visit. All in all, the weekend ended up being a great learning experience for me and I now feel like a far more seasoned traveler. We took the nearest metro to the "Sagrada Familia" stop. As we made our way up the metro steps, we were greeted by the awe-inspiring image of Gaudi's famous unfinished masterpiece of a cathedral, silhouetted against the early morning sky. As the day went on, I grew to appreciate and enjoy Gaudi's work immensely. He was most assuredly at least a little insane, but he designed some amazing pieces of art. I really admire the fact that he was so concerned with functionality as well as creativity. After taking in La Sagrada Familia, we made our way to the "Manzana of Discordia" which is a city block with many famous modernist buildings. There, we took the tour of "La Casa Mila" which is an apartment complex that Gaudi designed. After exploring this part of the city, we took the metro to the Gothic quarter. We meandered around this area for a while, before locating our Hostel. Thankfully, we were able to drop off our backpacks there before moving on to explore the famed pedestrian street, "Las Ramblas." ( You never know how light your body really is until, you are able to rid yourself of the weight of a backpack that you've been carrying for many miles.) On the way to Las Ramblas, we stopped by the chocolate museum. After the tour, I stopped off and tried a cup of Spanish hot chocolate. In Spain, hot chocolate is pretty much melted chocalate that can be used to dip pastries in. It hurts my pride to admit it, but I got the small cup and I couldn't even finish it. I guess I just don't have as strong a constition as the Spaniards do.
We arrived at Las Rambles at the port-end of the street where there is a statue of Columbus pointing out to sea. While at this statue, we took pictures riding the giant lines that cirle the monument. Las Ramblas is a beautifully active street filled with craft venders and street performers. It is a place that is always overflowing with energy and life. In the middle of Las Ramblas is one of the largest indoor market places in the world, "La Boqueria." Before coming to Spain, I had watched a show with Jan about the crazy foods that Spain has to offer. La Boqueria was one of the places where the show's host visited. For a food fanatic like me, La Boqueria was fascinating. While there, we bought a few delicious fresh squeezed juices, a hunk of local Catalunian cheese and a slice of the ham that the region is famous for. (This ham is extremely delicious and expensive because it comes from pigs that are fed only acorns.)
I have always had a goal to be a busker for a day. I had heard about how Las Ramblas was one of the most famous places for street performers in the entire world. So... I said, I guess there is no better time than the present to make my dream a reality. After we had seen the whole mile long street, I made myself gather up the courage to take off my hat, place it on the ground in front of me, and I started to sing. It was one of the most nerve-racking experiences to put myself out there like that. I almost chickened out like 5 times. Every time I would finish a song, there was a moment when I couldn't for the life of me think of a new song to sing. Occasionally I sang well, but for the most part, my nerves were making me sound far less than wonderful. I just kept praying that someone would put at least a coin in my hat, because I had decided that I wouldn't stop until I had made at least one cent. (That was part of the condicions for actually succeeding at my goal) Thankfully, I kind guy passed for a while and then placed a 20 cent Euro in my hat. I was so amazingly relieved, becase I really had no intention to stay there singing for the rest of the day. A few songs later, this women passed to listen to my whole song, and when I finished, she smiled and applauded. Those two moments, and the bragging rights, made this experience one that I will cherish. (The really funny thing is that I want to be a professional actress, and that 20 cents was the firt money I ever made as a performer. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will keep it forever.)
After Las Ramblas we headed back to our Hostel to get settled and to eat the meat and cheese. Our room was this amazingly cool space with lofty bunk beds. Eventually I will post pictures of it. While we were sitting down in the common area eating our food, who should walk in but our new friend from the train. We told her that we were planning to go to this Flamenco show we'd heard about that only cost 5 euros, and she said that she'd love to join in. The show was very enjoyable and it made me want to go see one of the less touristy shows when I visit Andalucia. After the show, we stopped by a bar for a while and I sampled the local sparkling wine called "cava". After this, we looked for a discoteca, but we got bad directions and never found what we were looking for. Eventually, we returned to the Hostel to drop Laura off, before Liz (train-girl) and I hit the town in search of somewhere to dance. At one point, Liz asked these two guys in the street if they spoke English, and miraculously, one of them did. These two guys were actually from Argentina, but were living/working in Barcelona. They told us that the clubs wouldn't get going for another hour or so, so they showed us to a hookah bar to pass the time. We had a wonderful time there and afterwards we headed over to a discoteca. Our new friends happened to have free passes to this club, so we got in for free and got to bypass the line. After the club, we were talking in the street for a while, when one of there friends came by and invited us to a party at his house. It was really great to see the inside of a Barcelona apartment and I got to meet some very interesting people at the party. I met and talked in Spanish with people from Italy, Ecuador, Spain, and Argentina all in one night. I didn't head back to my hostel until 6:00 in the morning.
Sunday (Second break time)
After only three hours of sleep, we had to pack up to check out of the hostel. Throughout the day we visited, a bunch of museums because almost all the city museums were free because it was the first Sunday of the month. We also stopped by the cathedral which had this wondeful patio area where a flock of geese have resided for a few hundred years. Out front of the Cathedral we watched the weekly tradition of dancing the "sardana" which is a medieval dance where people hop and skip in a circle. We also road in an elevator to the top of the pedestal on which Columbus rests. In the afternoon, we went to "Parc Guell" which was also designed by Gaudi. It is a very peaceful place filled with whimsical fountains, pillars, and sculptures. We finished off the day by stopping at a restaurant for a dinner of tapas. By the end of our meal we were so happy that our contentment was practically bubbling out. We then headed to the train station to ride the night train home in time to attend our classes the next morning.