Barcelona, Spain

I know I'm about a month late, but I wanted to write this blog about my Easter weekend experience in Barcelona! We didn't plan the trip until about a weekend before Easter break- which probably wasn't very smart because we ended up paying $300 for plane tickets to get there and back. On top of that, we paid $150 to stay in a hostel for the 3 nights. As we were looking for places to go for the weekend, we noticed that everything was way more expensive than usual because Easter is a holiday where people travel to see their families. Barcelona was our best bet because it was probably the warmest place we were going to be able to go and it also had a beach so there was really no question.

The travel to Barcelona was smooth sailing, until it came time to find Abby and Bailee at the airport (they arrived a couple hours before we did). It took us about 30 minutes and 10 phone calls back and forth until we found them sitting in front of the bus stop with all of their bags. We purchased a bus ticket that would drop us off closest to our hostel which took about another 30 minutes. As soon as we got off the bus, we found a McDonald's to eat at because I remember we were STARVING. From there, we took an uber to our hostel.

With our tour guide, Macu

In the morning, we met at the front of the hostel where we would go on a free walking tour. There was a diverse group of people in our group from all over the place. A lot of them spoke English and most of them were around our age. I started talking to a girl named Natalie who was from Canada. She was studying business in France just right outside of Paris. We shortly became friends and made plans with her to get dinner that night at a place with paella right along the beach. Before we reached the rest of the tour group, we were taught how to use the metro and how to buy tickets. We got one ticket with 10 uses so we could use it as a group. The rest of the group consisted of many people who spoke many different languages. We split off into the English speaking group and started the tour. Our tour guides's name was Macu and he was very knowledgeable. We were all about the same age as him so he told us that he would make the tour as interesting and fun as possible and he delivered. We toured the old city of Catalonia and saw many different artworks and sculptures along the way.

After the tour, we caved in and went shopping. We found our favorite store, Pull & Bear and many other stores that we don't have here in Olomouc. I didn't buy much because I wanted to save my money, but we were there for what seemed like 5 hours. Makayla and I ended up getting split up from everyone else and had to search the square for Jess. We finally found her when we got to Zara and stopped at a coffee shop for some wifi so we could call an uber to get back to the hostel. We took a short nap before we went out to meet Natalie for dinner.

The restaurant we went to was right next to the beach with a beautiful view of the water. We got a few glasses of sangria and seafood paella. I'd never had paella before, but I heard it's a must-have in Spain. The paella we got came out in a huge skillet which was meant to be shared between 4 people. Makayla, Jess, Natalie and I ended up splitting it. It had muscles, squid and shrimp (with the shell and head and everything still on it). It was a great experience to eat at this restaurant with a new friend, but my bill ended up being about $35 so I definitely felt uneasy leaving the restaurant. After dinner, Makayla, Jess and I met up with two guys we met during our tour who were from Houston, Texas. We met them at a salsa bar to get some margaritas and piña coladas and then asked around for fun places to go. We didn't find any other bars that were worth staying at, so we called it a night and headed back to the hostel. 

When we arrived back at the hostel, the bar on the main floor was just closing but Jess managed to talk the hostel manager into letting us in for some shots. After a few, he let us go up to the roof top with him to show us the city at night. His name was Jose and he ended up telling us about his life and how he ended up where he did. He talked about Gaudi who was a Spanish architect. He told us about his story and then pointed out the cathedral that he built which was very visible from where we were standing. In the end, Jose told us something that will stick with me forever. He said, "It's not about what you have, how much money you have in your pockets. All that matters is how you treat people and what you do with your life to benefit the world we live in and the people in it." This was very special to me because just minutes before he took us up to the roof, I was devastated about how much money I had just spent on dinner, and the flight to Barcelona but then I realized that it doesn't matter. From there on, I wanted to work on myself and how I treat others. I realized that I don't need money to be a genuinely nice person. I went to sleep that night, knowing everything was going to turn out alright.

On Easter morning, I wanted to sleep in and just kind of be alone because up until then, I hadn't had much alone time. I let everyone go to Easter service and Jess and I ended up sleeping in and going to the beach to walk on the board walk. We got dressed up and took the metro to the beach. It was even more beautiful in the daytime. We found many street artists and people selling souvenirs on the board walk. We got a bowl of fruit and spent the day enjoying the live music and beautiful views. Towards the end of the day, we got supper and then I face timed my family while they were all together for Easter back home. We got back to the hostel and packed up all our things because we were leaving first thing in the morning to go back to Olomouc.

Although I couldn't be with my family this Easter, I'm glad I could spend it in beautiful Barcelona with good friends and good company. Despite all the money I spent on the trip, it was well worth it. I hope I can go back to Spain the next time I visit Europe, which I hope is very soon.