Barcelona

So the trip to Barcelona ran smoothly and was actually kinda fun. I said goodbye to my Tel Aviv roomies :( and grabbed a cab around 2am Thursday morning. I got to the train station about 30 minutes early so I sat next to the only guy there and chatted with him for a while. He was traveling from Eilat (the southernmost point of Israel) all the way to the north which was taking him over 12 hours. While I was sitting in my Gator football shirt, someone walking by yelled GO GATORS. Love it.

At the airport, I was interrogated and all of my luggage was searched numerous times... either because I don't have a Jewish last name or because I have an Egyptian visa in my passport. It took over 90 minutes to get through security but luckily the duty free store was giving out free samples of vodka for my 4am fix. I talked to my parents on the phone and of course my mom had some great traveling advice - Don't catch babies! Apparently a friend of ours was pick-pocketted when someone asked her to hold her baby. My mom misinterpreted the story, saying I'm going to have babies thrown at me and whatever I do, don't catch them. We were cracking up for 10 minutes. But I was the first person on the plane and passed out right away. At 11am, I finally landed in BCN!

Somehow I found my way to the hostel which required a 15 minute walk down Las Ramblas, a super touristy street which had me cracking up. Every few feet was a new person in costume making weird noises and posing for pictures.

At the hostel, my room had 10 bunks and 1 bathroom. I dropped my bags off in a locker and walked around the city alone. I tried to get out of the tourist zone, grabbed a salad and gelato, and shopped for a bit. The market down the street had fresh fruit and juices, chocolates galore, and wayyyy too much raw meat. Another person yelled GO GATORS. Turns out she just graduated from UCF and her bf goes to UF. She's working on a cruise ship for 7 months but only while it's at sea, so she gets to visit all over Europe!

I went back and took a nap for 2 hours then took my netbook downstairs to write the mamasita an email. I ended up talking to 2 guys in the common room, Michael and Harold. Michael is from Canada at the tail end of a 3 month trip and Harold is just beginning his. Small world... Harold lives right next to the Altamonte Mall!

Michael, Harold, and I walked around trying to find authentic tapas and ended up at a pretty fancy local restaurant. Sometimes being a vegetarian is rough... like when you can't read the menu. After dinner, we searched for a bar and ended up at a place called Obama. Every inch of the inside was decorated with an African theme from safari to slavery pictures - extremely politically incorrect. We all tried a 13% alcohol content beer but it was pretty gross. Around 1am we were on our computers in the common room again and met a nice/crazy older lady on her way to NY who poured us all a glass of wine and a french guy, Remi, who I tried to communicate with but needed Michael to translate. I'm pretty sure everything he was saying was just vulgarity.

The 10-bunk dorm is not the easiest to sleep in so I woke up at 9, grabbed breakfast, took a nap after all the roomies left, and was kicked out by the maid. The weather was awful (55 degrees and raining) so I just hung around the hostel and took a pretty bad shower with a hand towel I had to buy down the street. Oh, how I miss luxury.

I expected the first group - Lindsey, Skye, and Andy - to get in around 12-12:30 so I waited anxiously downstairs until I ran into Michael and Harold again. By 1:30, I figured I'd go walk around with the guys for a bit and come back to everyone checking in so the 3 of us headed toward Ramblas. As soon as we got to the intersection, I saw Lindsey, Skye, Andy, Joe, and Alex across the street. I almost ran through traffic to get to them.

We checked in to our own cramped 6-bunk room and headed out for lunch and site seeing. There was a delicious local pizza/empanada place where I got a spinach empanada and veggie lasagna with Skye. We stopped back at the hostel to get directions and I grabbed Michael to join us. We took the metro to La Sagrada Familia, a beautiful cathedral, and took pics and walked around for a bit. Another subway ride took us to the bottom of a huge hill that held Park Güell. The architecture was amazing! Michael, Skye, and I lost everyone else so we just took some more pics until we all met up and headed back. Another drink at Obama and a tapas dinner ended the night early.

This morning (Saturday), Lynn and I took a stroll to the opening market and got some fresh fruit then found a bakery where we sampled coffee and pastries. Checkout is 11am and the cruise sets sail at 4pm! Can't wait for the upgraded room with a window, comfortable beds, clean floors, real shower, and GOURMET FOOD! Check FB for pics :)

Random May Update

I haven't blogged in forever, but here's what is new in my life...

My manager, Beni, invited me to watch his 16 yr old daughter play volleyball and the CEO came, too. The whole company is like a big family, it's adorable. After the game, we all went to dinner then I went to his home in Haifa which is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean shaped like a peninsula but it's all a mountain... hills everywhere. So I met his family and crazy dog, we jammed in his semi-music studio and created a song, drove to an amazing view point and looked at the city from above while walking around with a beer, I slept over, and we went on a short hike in the morning.

Then yesterday I met up with a guy at Haifa University, Assaf... I know him through Dani. He showed me the observatory which is another view point 30 stories up in the student center and we hung out on campus before going on a super long hike and grabbing lunch.

I have to go to the government office on Sunday to check out my visa requirements, work Mon-Tues, pack Wed, and fly to Barcelona 6am Thursday! All my friends arrive Friday and we set sail for an 11-night Med cruise on Sat! I'm so excited to see everyone :)