Spain, mi amor
Belfast Week 9
Hola from Barca!
Here's some high school Spanish for you: este pais es muy bonito!
Kerry and I arrive at the Dublin airport to start our next travel excursion together. We don't have our fearless leader, Caroline, to walk us through security and get us to the proper transit but we are up for the challenge! Caroline and Nora have already begun their Spanish adventure together and are making Kerry and I extra jealous...we can't wait to get there! In the airport Kerry decides she needs a muffin to get through the long journey ahead. She often gets mistaken for being a few years younger so always gets carded at the bar or liquor store when Caroline and I don't, but this time it was a little unnecessary. Kerry heads up to the counter to buy a muffin and gives the lad her credit card. He looks at the card looks at Kerry and asks for another form of ID. He looks at her license and decides, alright he'll let this one slide. Have you ever heard of needing a form of ID to buy a stinkin muffin!? LOL Kerry you're going to be stoked when you're 40 and people think you're 30!!
Kerry and I make our way to the bus and happily arrive at our hostel. We have a lovely porch with massive windows that open up to a courtyard where children are playing. We already love you, Spain! A quick change and planning session for these girls, then we're off to explore the beautiful city of Barcelona.
We stumble upon a quaint restaurant behind a church and order dinner and sangria. We're definitely the loudest ones in the restaurant but we have attracted more people into the little restaurant so you're welcome little restaurant owners.
Night One. OH MAN. Night One.
Unfortunately, Kerry isn't feeling too well so decides to stay in, but Nora, Caroline and I are ready to conquer the night life of Spain. We head to a fun college bar called the Lime House. Us girls enjoy a nice conversation over a bottle of cava and plan our next move. We decide to head over to a club on the beach called Opium. It was a bit of a long and somewhat sketchy walk but we make it!
We get to go to pass the line because we're on the VIP list, thank you Nora. This is the bougee-iest bar I've ever been in. We dance around a little and meet some fun people. Our new favorites are these two boys from Italy who don't know any English. All they know is how to yell: "America!" The only words we can understand that they are screaming are "BELLA! BELLA!"
We bump into a bachelor party who is looking for some fun dancing partners, which uhm, if you haven't guessed WE ARE! Nora, exhausted from her day adventure decides that she needs to sit down to take a break from the dance floor so climbs over the VIP section ropes and gives the bouncer and thumbs up. The bouncer nods and she manages to snag a seat among the high class people LOL, you go girl.
I think study abroad Hannah looks like she needs a dancing partner because one of the guys from the bachelor party grabs my hand and teaches me how to salsa in the middle of the circle. This is a bit reminiscent of my time in Dublin when the bachelor party showed me how to square dance and, also of my time in Belfast when the woman taught me how to Greek dance. Study Abroad Han loves learning new moves and gets in the groove pretty easy!! Caroline stands on the side cheering me on and laughing at my expense, but I would like to make it known that I had to learn how to salsa in my Spanish class Junior year of high school so I'm no rookie. HAHA okay kidding but it was so fun!
We head to the dance floor and absolutely tear it up! Strobe lights, loads and loads of dancing, great music and literally the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. I look down at my phone and realize it is 4am! These Spanish people really know how to have a good time. We head out and make our way back to the hostel. How is night one already over? Have you ever been having so much fun you just want the moment to last forever? Multiply that feeling by 100 and that's how I feel in Spain.
Day 2 Kerry is off to Monserrat, little pro traveler taking a solo trip in a foreign country! Caroline, Nora and I hit the beach and have a nice relaxing morning by the water. I guess I am so used to Seabrook, NH that I didn't realize people would come up and try to sell you stuff while you're sunbathing on the beach. One guy had to have come over to us 15 times, so on the 15th time Nora pops us from her nap looks at him and says "NO THANK YOU!" he replied "Oh my gawd" and walks away. HAHA thank you Nora.
After the beach day we meet Kerry and, together, we stroll to Park Güell. We find this walk extremely taxing and seems to be never-ending! We're straving and exhausted. Finally, we stop at a little bodega for lunch and plop ourselves on a bench to eat. We haven't eaten all day so this food literally tastes like it's from Heaven! Park Güell provides numerous picture opportunities and wonderful views.
Sadly, our second day is coming to an end so we finish it off on a rooftop bar facing La Segrada Familia. The view is impeccable and the people I'm with make it even more wonderful! We bump into a group of Holy Cross girls who convince us that we should do Opium part 2...we don't need much convincing because, ya know, WE ARE ABROAD!!
Nora, the smart one of the group, decides to stay in since we have an early flight in the morning. Kerry, Caroline and I grab our stuff and start the journey to Opium! We bring Kerry to the dance floor and, once again, WE TEAR IT UP!! I've never seen three girls move and groove so flawlessly HAHA. While on the dance floor we hear "BELLA! BELLA!". Oh my goodness, it's our Italian boys!! They come over and give us hugs and begin to show us their moves...I guess dancing is a language everyone understands lol.
The Italian boys move on and we continue dancing. A couple hours later, one of the kids we are dancing with tells us to check our bags to make sure we still have our phones because his friend was just pick pocketed. Since we've been super careful, watching each other's bags, keeping them in front of us and not constantly opening them we think we're okay. I look down and see my cross body is open. You have got to be kidding me.
Yep. Little Glashy. Pick Pocketed. Phone Stolen. Spain, how could you?!
After talking with several bouncers and other people, we learn that about 15 phones were stolen. Another girl from our group had hers taken too. This put a big damper on our evening so we call it quits and head back to the hostel.
Still phoneless I head to the airport. We hop on the plane which is about 90 degrees and smells a bit of BO but we make it out of Spain. Hey, one lost phone is not too bad.
Everything is replaceable, I guess...except I lost all the pictures I had taken from my trips. Getting pickpocketed in Spain is definitely something to add to the memory list. Definitely could've been worse, I'm lucky my credit cards or passport weren't stolen!
A bit of a sad way to end our trip but Spain, I won't hold this one against you.
You showed us a good time and I learned how to properly salsa so I guess I'll take that as a win!!
Adiós, mi amor,
Next stop, Scotland!!
Unitl then,
PQTH,
HAN