Cheese, Coconut, and Jesus

Bryan enjoyed his day off from the blog yesterday so much that he thought he would take another restbit this evening while I (Kevin) take over.

We started out the morning later than expected after spending the night pacing around outside some of Barcelona's most popular night clubs. For those of you who aren't familiar, getting into one of these night clubs is a trial of wills including, but not limited to, long lines, exorbitant cover charges, and flocks of middle-aged male spaniards looking for love. We were a bit discouraged and nearly ready to start heading back to the hostel when One Of The Nine Of Us (4 Americans, 4 Brits, and 1 German we met at the hostel) led us past a distracted bouncer right onto the dance floor. The club was fun for a bit of dancing, but we quickly discovered most of the excitement was in the anticipation and caught a cab back to the hostel for the night.

This morning, us four americans went to the grocery story to grab a quick first-meal-of-the-day (notice my attempt to persevere the sanctity of the word "breakfast"). Bryan grabbed a fresh baguette, salami, and a sizable wedge of brie cheese in his attempt to fit in with the European lifestyle. We took our first-meal-of-the-day back to the hostel where we met up with Brits, ready to hit the local shops and explore a bit of the old part of the city. Bryan didn't realize that his European meal was better suited for sitting down and didn't quite work on-the-go. He tried juggling the bread, salami, cheese, and a knife while making our way into the old town, but this ill-fated attempt to eat and walk failed. He reverted back to his American ways and began to eat the wedge of bree like it was a snickers bar.

Omnomnomnomnom

A twenty minute walk took us to one of the main streets of Barcelona. We found a bazaar-esque market off the main road with just about every type local food and produce. I was immediately attracted to a colorfully decorated fruit stand that boasted its 100% organic fruit juice. They had everything from dragon fruit juice to kiwi juice. I went for coconut juice. I've always been a fan of coconut so I thought I could handle it. The first sip was close to one of the best things I've ever tasted. The second and third sip we also quite spectacular. It didn't take me long to realize that 16 ounces of pure blended coconut was a bit more than I could handle. I've been full for the last 6 hours and don't plan on eating any sizable meals in the near future.

Food market!

We found a table at a restaurant outside the market and ordered a few drinks so that we could have a place to sit down and enjoy out findings from the market. Half way through our stay at the restaurant, the server walked by and saw Bryan, once again, elbow-deep in a wedge of brie. The server looked angry and said what sounded like a stern reprimand in Spanish. We all took this as a cue to put away the food we didn't order at the restaurant. We are pretty sure that the angry waiter charged us an extra 2.50 euros for our drinks, but none of us had the vocabulary or the will to try and argue with him.

After this adventure, we hopped on the metro and went to the Sagrada Familia. This is a cathedral to end all cathedrals. Just to give you an idea, this groundbreaking for this cathedral was 1882 (thanks wikipedia), and has been under construction for over 100 years. This massive cathedral is still partially surrounded by construction scaffolding with two cranes nearby. We decided it was worth the 11 euros to check out the inside. The inside was just as magnificent as the inside with enormous stained glass windows, stone pillars, and high ceilings. We walked around for a bit and then the 8 of us collapsed on a few of the pews. We were all pretty tired, and when I heard Bryan, "Did you think Jesus knew that he would be this popular?"I knew we were all pretty beat and it was time to call it a day.

Here we are, back at the hostel. All that's left for the night is a quick dinner out (if I can somehow stand to eat anything after all that coconut earlier today) and to pack for our early train ride tomorrow to Marseille, France. We will cover all of tonights exciting events in tomorrows post. Spain has been fun and exciting, but I think we are all ready to keep moving and see what Southern France has to offer.

Till next time,
Kevin