Our journey started out in the airport in Valladolid. Everything ran smoothly getting to the a
irport and getting on the plane. The plane ride was only an hour long and before we knew it, our adventure had begun! I was traveling with six other friends named Andrea, Steve, Lisa, Alie, Emily, and my roommate Kelly. We got to the Barcelona airport around 11:30 pm on Friday night. We then took a bus to Plaza Catalunya and found our hostel, named Hip Karma hostel. It was such an incredibly nice hostel! The seven of us were in a room for twelve. The hostel was modernly furnished with a kitchen, really nice private showers, computers with free internet, and comfortable beds with curtains around them. This was my first hostel, so it could be dangerous that it was so nice because now my expectations will be set high for the future. It was very cheap though – only 11€ per night. On Friday night we were so exhausted from traveling so we just went right to sleep.
irport and getting on the plane. The plane ride was only an hour long and before we knew it, our adventure had begun! I was traveling with six other friends named Andrea, Steve, Lisa, Alie, Emily, and my roommate Kelly. We got to the Barcelona airport around 11:30 pm on Friday night. We then took a bus to Plaza Catalunya and found our hostel, named Hip Karma hostel. It was such an incredibly nice hostel! The seven of us were in a room for twelve. The hostel was modernly furnished with a kitchen, really nice private showers, computers with free internet, and comfortable beds with curtains around them. This was my first hostel, so it could be dangerous that it was so nice because now my expectations will be set high for the future. It was very cheap though – only 11€ per night. On Friday night we were so exhausted from traveling so we just went right to sleep.
Saturday morning, Steve got up early to make us breakfast. He offered us a deal this weekend that he would cook meals if we paid for ingredients – he loves cooking, so it worked out perfect for us! He made delicious French toast with nutella along with fruits and juice on Saturday. On Saturday and Sunday, we decided to be stereotypical tourists and get a two-day tourist bus pass. My dad would p
robably be disappointed. But it turned out to be a very cheap form of transportation for us and stopped at all the places we wanted to see. We also loved sitting on top of the bus. Saturday we took the bus to meet up with Andrea’s friend Sarah who lives in Barcelona and saw Mont Juic, the 1992 Olympic stadium. It was huge! It was a pretty cool sight to see. Then we got lunch and wandered Ba
rcelona. Lisa and Emily split up with us to go and see a Barcelona soccer game and Sarah took the rest of us to the harbor. So pretty. Eventually we headed back to Plaza Catalunya and checked out Barcelona’s enormous Corte Inglés. Then we went back to the hostel and Steve made us some rice for dinner. We decided to have a chill night that night after a long and busy day.
robably be disappointed. But it turned out to be a very cheap form of transportation for us and stopped at all the places we wanted to see. We also loved sitting on top of the bus. Saturday we took the bus to meet up with Andrea’s friend Sarah who lives in Barcelona and saw Mont Juic, the 1992 Olympic stadium. It was huge! It was a pretty cool sight to see. Then we got lunch and wandered Ba
rcelona. Lisa and Emily split up with us to go and see a Barcelona soccer game and Sarah took the rest of us to the harbor. So pretty. Eventually we headed back to Plaza Catalunya and checked out Barcelona’s enormous Corte Inglés. Then we went back to the hostel and Steve made us some rice for dinner. We decided to have a chill night that night after a long and busy day.
Sunday morning, Steve made us scrambled eggs with fruit and toast. Again, his food was amazing. We really saved so much money from him cooking 
for us instead of going out to eat. What a nice guy. We then headed to Plaza Catalunya to catch the bus, but first fed the pigeons. That was really cool. I only fed them a little bit because I didn’t buy birdseed but being surrounded by them was really neat. Then, we took the bus to see La Sagrada Familia, a colossal church that has been being built since the 1800’s. It is still under construction but almost done. The expected date of completion is 2020, I believe. Sagrada Familia was so cool. The size and detail of it was mind-blowing a
nd it was so pretty inside and out. After we saw Sagrada Familia, we met up with Sarah again and went to Parque Güell, a huge park full of art by Gaudi, a famous Spanish artist. The park was super pretty and had some incredible views. It was very cool. After we were done exploring Parque Güell, we headed back to the hostel and Steve made his best meal yet – pasta. He is seriously such a good cook. After dinner we hung out for a bit and got ready for the superbowl! We got to see the superbowl in a huge bar with hundreds of other people our age from all over the world – mostly from England and America. It was such a fun time. The game didn’t start until 12:30 am in Barcelona so we were out pretty late. It really was a blast, though.
Monday morning, everyone was exhausted, of course, but we had to check out at 11 am so we got all our stuff together and then headed to go and see La Rambla, a massive street of shopping, with street vendors and street performers and the like. La Rambla is where the weekend turned for the worse. We had been hanging out, walking around and checking out the street. We then started heading toward the beach when I realized my wallet was not in my purse. I frantically searched everywhere but it was nowhere to be found. So, we went back along La Rambla, back to everywhere we had stopped, but it was nowhere. La Rambla is very well-known for having many pick-pocketers so I think my wallet was stolen. We were directed to the police station to file a report, where we spent probably at least an hour filling out paperwork. I think it’s highly unlikely that I will get it back, but I figured it was still worth it. At first, I was seriously panicking, but my friends helped me calm down and I talked myself down. My passport and debit card were not stolen, so I was still able to get home and I’m still able to access my money. My dad cancelled my credit card and ATM card. I did have about 100€ in my wallet, which sucks that I lost it, but it is just money. So many worse things could’ve happened. I didn’t get hurt and I still have the really important things. So all I really lost was the 100€, my driver’s license and some other IDs, insurance cards, my house keys, and my keychain my friend got me last year. I know it’s a bad situation, but I’m staying positive, because what’s done is done – nothing is going to change, and I can either sit around and complain about it or accept it and move on. I choose the latter. Anyway, after we finally got out of the police station, I left to find that my friends had bought me some ice cream. That definitely helped to make me feel better. After all the craziness, we made our journey back home.
Some random things about Barcelona:
It is so warm!! It was sunny and in the 70’s all weekend – so beautiful! Also, everyone thought we were from England. That was a nice change – people not hating us for once for being Americans. Apparently it’s hard for them to distinguish the English accent from American ones. We barely spoke Spanish at all, unfortunately. Everyone there spoke English, and also, Barcelona’s actual language is Catalan, which is a mix of Spanish and French, so we wouldn’t have understood the language at all anyway. I would say that most of the people we saw in Barcelona, though, were tourists – hence everyone speaking English. There were American chains everywhere, like Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, etc. Barcelona is beautiful. It is much more modern than Valladolid, and also way bigger, but there were so many things that were just incredibly pretty. I just loved everything about Barcelona, except the pick-pocketers, of course. I honestly really want to go back. I’m missing it already. This was such a fun trip, and a great start to the many trips I’ll be making this semester!
It is so warm!! It was sunny and in the 70’s all weekend – so beautiful! Also, everyone thought we were from England. That was a nice change – people not hating us for once for being Americans. Apparently it’s hard for them to distinguish the English accent from American ones. We barely spoke Spanish at all, unfortunately. Everyone there spoke English, and also, Barcelona’s actual language is Catalan, which is a mix of Spanish and French, so we wouldn’t have understood the language at all anyway. I would say that most of the people we saw in Barcelona, though, were tourists – hence everyone speaking English. There were American chains everywhere, like Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, etc. Barcelona is beautiful. It is much more modern than Valladolid, and also way bigger, but there were so many things that were just incredibly pretty. I just loved everything about Barcelona, except the pick-pocketers, of course. I honestly really want to go back. I’m missing it already. This was such a fun trip, and a great start to the many trips I’ll be making this semester!
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