It was nearing the end of February, and there was a one week break from school – so, it was time to plan a vacation to Barcelona, Spain. In order to cut cost and have fun, my roommates and I decided to take an 11-hour bus ride from Nice, France to Barcelona, Spain. I must admit that even though it was a long bus ride, we meet a lot of interesting people (that some may consider weird) from various parts of the world that we interacted with, and shared quite a few unforgettable laughs.
On arriving to Barcelona, I took a refresher course this time in Spanish (for I studied Spanish for a couple years in high school), in order to greet and treat the natives with courtesy and respect while in their culture (by this time my linguistics was becoming puzzling even for my own tongue).
My roommates and I then checked in at a youth hostel which was not at all what I expected because the luxuries that I had grown accustom to were not present. However, we decide to stay and rallied in the fact that it was all a part of the learning experience.
In Barcelona, my roommates and I visited the Catalonia Museum which provided visual representations and detailed descriptions of the settlement and evolution of the native settlers of the Catalonia region of Spain. While there we also took a tour bus in which we were able to see sites such as the ‘Home of Barcelona Football Club’, the ‘Home of the Barcelona Olympic of 1990’, the ‘Picasso Museum’, and the glorified works of the famous architect, Antonio Gaudi.
At nights we selected restaurants off of Le Ramblas (the most popular boulevard in Barcelona) that offered various cuisines to dine. After dinner it was time to unwind and dance off our meals - which was not a difficult task.
On the streets of Barcelona, trying to find our way around!
Kim and me on the Catalonia Port
Here is Kim and I very excited about the bus tour we were about to undergo.
This is the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral that was designed by Antonio Gaudi in the late 1800’s. Unfortunately Antonio died before ever seeing it complete – to date it’s still a work in progress.
Another one of Gaudi’s creations.
My roommates and I are dining on at a restaurant at Port Olympic
This is a funny story…..Here we are lounging in the VIP section of an upscale restaurant and club. During that day while perusing the streets of Barcelona, we came across this club which was located underground near the sea. We decided to take a closer look at the interior, and the price list just in case we wanted to return there for dinner that night. On entry we spoke to a welcoming gentleman who was willing to answer any question we had. We were quite pleased with the club’s ambiance along with the service that we received, and as we departed he gave us the address card of his establishment, so we can locate it again. Quite impressed, there was no question that we were retuning later on that night. After dinner, we retraced our steps to relocate our ‘chill spot’ for the night. We were successful in doing so, and as we entered we met the same gentleman again. He was pleased to see us and extended his impeccable service once more. We were ushered into the VIP section of the lounge even though it only catered to patrons that requested bottle service. Nonetheless, we were more than happy to oblige. We stayed in that area for the entire night, drinking ‘Sangria’ an inexpensive, but popular Spanish wine concoction while dancing to pulsating rhythms. Later that night we discovered that the gracious gentleman was the owner of the Lounge. (Weren’t we lucky?)
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