Solo in Spain, Barcelona to Madrid

Barcelona Market

So, I checked out of Italy and took a 45-minute bus ride to the airport. A little unsure of myself as I am alone and not sure where I'm going, I decide to just go with my instincts. I listen to those around me and hear an English couple with suitcases: I am on the right bus.I make it safe to the airport and had to stand in a really long line. I was surrounded by so many different languages-no English. At this point I was a bit tired and just wanted to get on my plane and get to Spain!

I arrived in Spain a bit later than I had hoped. Leaving the airport ended up taking me a good 20minutes. Getting to my hostel was a much longer adventure. I took the train from the airport for about 30minutes. I had to switch from the train to the underground line and take that a few stops to switch lines to get to Nou de la Rambla, where my hostel was. I was so glad to finally find the building, after walking up the street the wrong direction a couple of times. It was a bit unnerving being alone at night in Barcelona. The streets were so alive and unfamiliar. I told myself to keep taking deep breaths and to walk and act like I knew exactly where I was, which is why I went the wrong direction-I didn't want to pull out my map. Which is worse? When you're in such a new city you feel as though all eyes are on you.

The relief I felt after finally finding my hostel was great! It was a really nice clean place with a friendly girl at the reception. I checked into my room and met a really nice couple from Australia. They invited me to join them out for the night with another guy from Quebec. It was a really great nice full of new people. We had a great time talking and then dancing later.

I checked out of my hostel the next morning and explored the city with my new friend from Quebec. We went to La Sagrada Familia by  Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi started building this tower in 1882 and stopped in 1926. The building is still not finished, but the city has commissioned architects to finish the building . Truly breathtaking to see in person. When you take the underground transportation there the stop itself is named after the tower. The exit spits you in the wrong direction and as soon as you can mutter, "where is the..." you've turned full circle and are astonished. Really, not picture can show how beautiful the tower is. 

I spent the rest of the day just enjoying the city. We went to the famous markets in the centre and what a treat it was to see all those candies, fruits, and vegetables. I bought a freshly made fruit smoothie. Delicious!! For lunch I had some seafood paella. Yum! Later in the day a group of us hopped on the bus and paid a quick visit to the beach. Once the sun set and the air began to cool people began to trickle into the streets. An evening swing dance class started in the middle of the square. So fun and alive. People of all ages were out dancing. The atmosphere was friendly and warm. The group of us then headed to see the Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona, Arc de Triomf. It was built to be an entrance for a festival in 1888. What is interesting is the red bricks and mixture of Spanish architecture with a Moorish style, a reflection of how diverse Spain's population was.

Unfortunately, that was all the time I got to spend in Barcelona. At midnight, I got on my bus and spent the night heading towards Madrid. Sleeping on the bus was really tough. It was only 35€ though, instead of 140€ to take the train. The bus arrived in Madrid at 7am. I arrived sleep deprived and hungry! Luckily my hostel wasn't too hard to get to and the Madrid Metro is pretty cheap. I went on a free walking tour of the city with a group of mostly students from my hostel. The tour was very insightful and educational, though the guide was from Florida and a bit desperate for a cheap laugh. 

Spain has kind of a funny history of ruler changes and territory exchanges. The king's palace is honestly not all that special. He was aware of this so forbid any of the buildings within sight of the palace to be anything but ordinary. Many of the streets in Madrid have pictures or symbols above the name. This was because much of the population was illiterate, and they needed to know how to get around the city. 

In the evening I went on a Tapas tour with mostly the same people from the hostel. Tapas are great! Especially for those of us who are backing at picking one thing to eat, you get to have small bites of several different things! We went to three restaurants and tried cider and sangria. Sangria is great when its so hot out. After the Tapas tour a smaller 4 of us went to a nice outside bar and ordered Sangria and called it a mellow night out in Madrid.