Hola Barcelona!

In the morning I take the first train out of Seville heading towards Barcelona. Tino is heading towards Madrid so we go our separate ways. I was able to get a descent breakfast on the food cart. As the sun rises, it brightens up the entire food cart and makes it look ultra modern. From everyone I’ve talked to, Barcelona has portrayed a reputation of dangerous. From Tino’s trek around town armed with his swiss army knife’s blade at the ready and the Dutch guy’s story about getting their bag almost stolen, I am on an all time high level of alertness.



I take the metro to get to my new hostel which is near a shady part of town. The first thing I notice about the metro is that like Madrid all the carts are air conditioned. However unlike Madrid the station itself is probably one of the muggiest and most uncomfortable I’ve experienced thus far. The wait time between trains is noticeably longer than in Madrid or Paris with highs in the 5-15min range. Barcelona is beach city and it is evident in the metro as most people are wearing board shorts.

After arriving at the hostel my first todo bullet is to get ahold of Nang who is also in the city. Via skype and pidgin we are able to figure out a meeting point. Gaudi apartment is near the diagonal metro stop and easily spotted as it is so different looking than all the buildings around it. I meet up with Nang and his friends outside of the entrance. Nang is staying with his friend Mark. Mark, his roommates Nick and Mike are all living together doing a month long Spanish course of the University of Barcelona. They arrive with their friends Melissa, Danielle and Jenna.





The Casa Batllóis notorious for the statues on top of the roof. Mark informs me that the George Lucas visited this structure and got the idea of the storm trooper’s helmet from the figures on the roof. Theses helmet like chimneys are quite strange and it is curious of Gaudi would have come up with these designs. The entire building is artsy and has a wavy motif.





Later that night we I meet up with all the students that are in the Spanish program, most of which are from California for dinners at a tapas bar. Unlike what I’ve been so happily accustomed to in Granada the tapas in Barcelona do not come free with a drink and cost extra. The quality of the food was much better and I was happy to pay a little more for it. After dinner Nang and I head back to my hostel so I can get changed for the clubs. We then meet up at his friend’s place and head out from there.





The nightlife in Barcelona is good and reminds of the party scene in Miami, meaning things don’t get started until well past midnight and don’t end until the sun comes up. The first venue we went to had no cover as we got promotion cards on the streets. The music was mostly house and as Americans we quickly became sick of it and left. The second club or I guess I should say area of clubs as there were several in a row played more hiphop and rap. The entrances of these clubs face the boardwalk of the beach. We stayed out until the metro started running again in the morning. Nick got sick and probably killed some bushes that night.