I'm a liar. A big fat liar. I said I would be done writing about my trip a few weeks ago, and well... oops. I still haven't. Here's my Barcelona recap, folks!
Once I got off the train at the Barcelona station, was starving and needed to find my way into the city and to where I was staying. This is when things get way crazy. I ate at McDonald's and let me tell you, it was some of the best fast food I'd ever had. Europe, and many other countries, have much stricter and better food laws so the food that foreign McDonald's serve is about 10,000 times better than the American ones. Oh, and in Italy, McDonald's serves traditional Italian coffee because there is no way in hell that the Italians, or Spanish for that matter, would serve the crap we do. From there I went to the info center, got the free Barcelona map (sponsored by McDonald's - it told me where all their BCN locations were) and the bus map. Figured out which buses I needed to get the apartment where I was staying and started on my way.
This is where everything hits the fan and my little grudge against Barcelona started. I texted the girl I was staying with - my phone had been just fine my whole trip - and got on the bus. When I transferred to the second bus, about 10 minutes in, I realized that I was heading west, not east... so I had to get off, cross the street with two suitcases and a bag and wait 10 minutes for the next bus heading the right direction. So not happy, plus, I was exhausted and my internet hadn't been working well in Alicante so there were constant calls home to have things researched (train info, bus times, etc). I hadn't heard back from the girl that I was staying with by the time I found the building, so I sent another text and after about a half hour of waiting, called home to have an email sent because apparently I wasn't getting texts from home anymore and data was too expensive without wi-fi. After an hour of waiting, Marina's (who I was staying with) boyfriend Xavier found me in the lobby of the building and apologized and we then realized my phone wasn't working because Marina had gotten the email finally and gave him a call to come give me the keys. He was super nice, helped me with my luggage and went up to the flat. He showed me around, told me where the local markets were and made sure I was okay, and we chatted and apologized in Spanglish for a bit before he had to get back to work. I was so annoyed with the whole day that I just sat in my room for a bit before venturing around the area I was staying in. I found a little bakery that made cupcakes, some of the best I've had, and the markets where I picked up snacks, juice and some food when I didn't feel like going out. I crashed early that night, and got caught up with emails and stuff from home. I woke up the next morning, not quite ready to explore, but knowing that I needed to at least figure out that area that I was staying and get my barrings.
The little taste I got on the first day and a half that I was there was great. I slept a good portion of these days, realizing too that the jet lag caught up with me HUGE, facetimed with my family and just took it easy because I knew that I was going to have to start early and see a big part of the city in a day, so I needed as much energy as I could muster.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Alicante!
Sunday involved some sight seeing around Alicante and meeting up with a couple of the girls for coffee in the afternoon. Earlier I had gone to El Corte Ingles to get an additional suitcase as I was starting to overflow and still had a few days in Barcelona to get through. ECI is like Target, Nordstrom, Sears, and Whole Foods put together. The one is Alicante was 9 floors of everything you could possibly need. Gourmet Foods, products, luggage, hardware, clothes, souvenirs, electronics, restaurants, everything, really.
Monday I checked out of the hotel, waved goodbye to my beautiful view and headed to the train station and to Barcelona by train.
Monday I checked out of the hotel, waved goodbye to my beautiful view and headed to the train station and to Barcelona by train.
Wedding Day!
Saturday, was a day of crazy rushing around and getting ready, I did my best impression of Coolio while getting my hair to dry, ordered room service - a tortilla espanola sandwich and pizza while getting ready and danced around while playing music like any normal twenty something girl.
I got my stuff together, wore flats to walk to the other hotel where people were staying and rushed over with heels in hand. I met up with a couple of the girls from the bachelorette night and Elissa's family that was staying there. We boarded a charter bus that took us to the beautiful, stunning estate that Elissa and Si were getting married at. Most everyone was overwhelmed at the beauty of this house and the grounds.
The wedding was in English and Spanish, and we joked with the couple that they've already been married twice because of that. The weather could not have cooperated more. The day was beautiful and went off without a hitch!
After the ceremony, we headed to the cocktail hour while the bridal party took pictures. There were drinks and tapas served and mingling, pictures taken and laughs shared by everyone, friends and family alike. When the couple arrived to the cocktail area, there were toasts and more pictures, and we eventually migrated toward the dining area. The toasts from David, Pete (Simon's brother), Simon, and Sarah (Elissa's maid of honor) were all great and incredibly touching. Simon had the majority of us tearing up when he recognized Tavi, Elissa's father who passed away a few years ago and it was easy to see how much Si loves her, the family and how excited they both are to be officially married.
I was seated at a table with three of Simon's cousins, Becki and her boyfriend Tom who I had met the night before included, a couple of the girls from the bachelorette night and two of Elissa's cousins who I'd met maybe once or twice when we were all a lot younger. After introductions, we all started different conversations, the wine flowed and before the night was over we were all laughing, joking and having a great time. More than once our table was given the 'eye' from another table because we were rather loud and boisterous while laughing and joking around. The menu for dinner was extravagant in all the right ways. Course after course was served and it was all fantastic. I ate goat! It was absolutely delicious and wish it was easier to find here. The quality of food in both Italy and Spain was spectacular and I miss it. Everything tastes as though it was grown just down the street and in some cases, it probably was.
After dinner involved more drinks, dancing and socializing, all of which was a grand time. I took a taxi back to the hotel around 2am.. maybe 3? all I know was that it was late and my feet hurt. I got back to the hotel and rightly passed out as soon as I got in my room.
I got my stuff together, wore flats to walk to the other hotel where people were staying and rushed over with heels in hand. I met up with a couple of the girls from the bachelorette night and Elissa's family that was staying there. We boarded a charter bus that took us to the beautiful, stunning estate that Elissa and Si were getting married at. Most everyone was overwhelmed at the beauty of this house and the grounds.
The wedding was in English and Spanish, and we joked with the couple that they've already been married twice because of that. The weather could not have cooperated more. The day was beautiful and went off without a hitch!
After the ceremony, we headed to the cocktail hour while the bridal party took pictures. There were drinks and tapas served and mingling, pictures taken and laughs shared by everyone, friends and family alike. When the couple arrived to the cocktail area, there were toasts and more pictures, and we eventually migrated toward the dining area. The toasts from David, Pete (Simon's brother), Simon, and Sarah (Elissa's maid of honor) were all great and incredibly touching. Simon had the majority of us tearing up when he recognized Tavi, Elissa's father who passed away a few years ago and it was easy to see how much Si loves her, the family and how excited they both are to be officially married.
I was seated at a table with three of Simon's cousins, Becki and her boyfriend Tom who I had met the night before included, a couple of the girls from the bachelorette night and two of Elissa's cousins who I'd met maybe once or twice when we were all a lot younger. After introductions, we all started different conversations, the wine flowed and before the night was over we were all laughing, joking and having a great time. More than once our table was given the 'eye' from another table because we were rather loud and boisterous while laughing and joking around. The menu for dinner was extravagant in all the right ways. Course after course was served and it was all fantastic. I ate goat! It was absolutely delicious and wish it was easier to find here. The quality of food in both Italy and Spain was spectacular and I miss it. Everything tastes as though it was grown just down the street and in some cases, it probably was.
After dinner involved more drinks, dancing and socializing, all of which was a grand time. I took a taxi back to the hotel around 2am.. maybe 3? all I know was that it was late and my feet hurt. I got back to the hotel and rightly passed out as soon as I got in my room.
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