Where to even begin with this city?
Let me start by saying that after everything that happened on this trip, I still came away having had a great day and a half there, thankful for wonderful friends (new and old), delicious food, and a good old-fashioned reminder that experience is the best teacher.
My roommates Anne and Rachael and I arrived in Barcelona at 9:30 or so on Thursday night. The city was beautiful, the airport smelled like coconut, everything was shiny - it seemed like a dream. However, not five minutes after we stepped out of the bus and entered the Metro, we were hit with paint from behind, followed by a toothless man who offered us tissues, coaxed into setting our stuff down to clean ourselves up and then surrounded by four men who eventually made off with my wallet - yep, some toothless Barcelonian man made off with not just my cash, but my credit/debit cards, Metro card, IDs, iPod, and headphones. (Thank goodness those guys left me my passport - they had easy access to it, but maybe they felt bad enough that they thought they'd let me partially off the hook.)
Needless to say, the first night was a little rough. And the first half of the next day. But once we got settled, we met up with my friend Lee (who goes to school with me at home) and she managed to snap us out of our funk and get our spirits up! We turned the whole trip around by having beer and burgers in an Irish pub that night, and then we headed in early for a good night's sleep before hitting up all the touristy things Barcelona had to offer on Saturday. That included walking two+ hours either way to one of the most stunning parks I've ever visited, seeing the beautiful Santa Maria del Mar cathedral, and then settling in for some of the best food I've had since coming to Europe. Dinner included paella with fresh crawfish, mussels, and crab, followed by chocolate pastries, caramel-filled cookies, and an eventual trip to a nearby gelato stand where I had Kinder flavored gelato in a chocolate covered cone. We topped all that off with some more shopping, pictures, and laughing, which made for a really great trip.
Lee and me - watching soccer in an American bar, eating burgers.
Seafood paella!
Me and Rachael with our desserts!
God bless you, Starbucks.
Food markets - dried fruit
Chocolate!!
Barcelona from above
I would like to say a quick "Thank God" for the following things:
1. My fantastic roommates, who not only kept me from bursting into tears in the middle of the subway station, but also for helping me with money and keeping me calm until things could get sorted out.
2. My mother, who didn't even yell that much when I told her what happened. And who spent twenty minutes chatting the Capital One guy online so we could get my cards cancelled ASAP.
3. Lee, who helped turn this entire weekend around.
4. The nice police officers in Barcelona who did the best they could with my zero-Spanish knowledge and their limited English.
5. Milan. Never had the city felt so warm and welcoming - even the men who continuously try to sell me umbrellas on the street when I'm clearly already holding one seemed less terrifying and more familiar. Plus, the rainy season has officially started which means it's the perfect shade of grey and drizzly - AKA sweater weather, my favorite weather.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
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