First Day in Barcelona

Today was a pretty relaxed day - we spent a good deal of it on the train.

We woke up earlyish today (around 9AM) and made our way to the royal cathedral (adjacent to the Spanish royal palace).  It contained an interesting exhibit on the Bishop of Madrid and various Spanish saints (it included several beautiful pieces of clothing for each saint).  It also had some great views of the city.

After touring the cathedral, we returned to the hostel to pick up our backpacks and turn in our room key and then made our way to the train station.  On the way there was a union protesting.  I'm not sure what they were angry about, but I'm pretty sure they were standing outside of the president's building.

We grabbed a quick bite at Burger King since we didn't have too much time to spare, and I practiced being polite while ordering and saying things like "buenos dias" and "por favor".

We made our way to the correct platform and boarded the train.  All of us sat in different locations, since we were able to get adjacent seats.  I sat next to an older Spanish woman who didn't know any English.  She kept talking to me about how much she liked Barcelona.  When we finally left the station she crossed herself, which I thought was interesting.

There was also a family behind me with really annoying children.  The son and daughter kept banging the tables behind my chair and one of the babies wouldn't stop crying the entire trip.

The ride itself was very scenic.  At first it looked like we were riding down the 5, but slowly it became more verdant and hilly.  Quite beautiful actually.  I'm sure Kevin could have commented on the geology of the area.

Once we arrived, we waited in line for a while to get our tickets to Marseille, France.  That took forever, but we spent the time chatting and trying to withdraw money from an annoying ATM.

After getting our tickets, we made the walk to the hostel - it took about 25 minutes.  It's a super nice place.  We are sharing the room with a Finnish guy and 4 Turks.  One of the four of us is in a different room.

Us chilling in the common area

Our room

We spent some time surfing the internet and resting and then met up with some British friends of ours.  After some Spanish beers, we went out to find a restaurant in the area.  I had some delicious Paella, a ham sandwich and a glass of sangria.

I also managed to lose the key to my clothes locker on the way back, so I had to pay for a new one for 5 euros.  Lol fail...

Finally, we found a bar down the street from our apartment to grab a drink.  I tried drinking some pure Cointreau, which is an orange flavored liqueur.  It was absolutely nauseating to be honest.

Nasty cointreau

Then I went back to the hostel to work the blog and go to bed.