Last night in Barcelona and the train to France

Its currently 3 o'clock in the afternoon on June 24th. Somehow we ended up in Marseille, Paris, but we will get to that in the coming post.

Last you heard we had about passed out after a lengthy day of exploring Barcelona. After a few hours of relaxing back at the hostel with a decent bottle of Spanish wine (the most expensive bottle of wine we could find was about 6 euros, so we went for it). One Of The Nine Of Us found a local restaurant by the name of Blai Tonight online, so we walked into old part of the city to give it a try.

After a 20 minute walk we arrived to see a restaurant with a crowd nearly out the door. We squeezed our way up to the counter where we found trays full of mini-entrees on skewers. We were supposed to fill our plate up, save the skewers, and keep the skewers until the end at which point we were charged for the number of skewers. The ones I picked up included bread covered with goat cheese and fruit jam, cured ham and brie, fish and rice stuffed mushrooms, avocado with tomato, and a pastry crust filled with fruit. Each one only cost 1 euro, so at 5 euros, we all got our fill at considerably less than many of the meals prior.

This is tapas place. Yum!!!

The 9 of us all headed back with (mostly) full stomachs, but the group waited for a few that wanted to stop at a nearby gelato place. When we were almost back at the hostel, we stopped for one last drink (Estrella, local beer) with the Brits before packing up in anticipation for the next days early train ride. After a few discussions (and/or disagreements) the ranged from the difference between a cookie, a biscuit, and a scone to the meaning of life, we made our way back to the hostel, packed our things, and headed to bed.

7:15 came quite early the next morning. One of the four of us was so concerned about waking up early that when we woke him up the next morning, we found him lying in his bed fully dressed (including shoes). The Brits were nice enough to wake up early with us and say a few more goodbyes before we grabbed a taxi to the train station. Meeting up with Joel and company really made Barcelona an adventure. We had the added excitement of trying to decipher two different cultures at the same time, and they were great sports about putting up with our obnoxious American ways. Thanks again, guys!

After walking the length of the train station a few times, we found the security entrance and hopped on our train. This day of riding the trains proved to be a bit more complicated than our ride from Madrid to Barcelona. We could only book our tickets for France once we arrived at a train station in Montpellier. We had a short layover in Figueres, Spain, followed by a 2 hour wait in Montpellier, France. Here we grabbed a ticket and waited in line to book the next train to Marseille.

Renfe line

The TGV line from Figueres to Montpellier

By this point, Tim, One Of The Four Of Us, and I no longer had the comfort of collectively being able to interpret the train ticket agent. We were simultaneously terrified that our fate now rested in the hands of the only French speaker in the group: Bryan. After a short wait Bryan skillfully navigated his way through booking our tickets to Marseille and the following trip to Paris. It was during this conversation that I felt what Bryan must have after getting of the plane in Spain. It was nice to have someone in the group who knew what they were doing, but at the same time, it was frightning that I somehow might not know how to order a cup on my own.

Once the administrative business was taken care of we left the train station and ate at the first place we could find. This was a small Moroccan restaurant that (in my opinion) was a contender with the previous nights dinner for the best meal on the trip (we had a kefta sandwich). After lunch, my fears of not being able to order coffee were assuaged when Bryan taught me how to order a double espresso (at McDonalds, believe it or not). We took a short walk around the neighborhood, but after coming by a man who was clearly intoxicated (and who had obviously just been at the wrong end of a canister of pepper spray), we decided that our time might be better spent waiting in the train station.

Us at the Morrocan restaurant

There was a lot of trash in Montpellier

It had some nice streets though

Our unfortunate drunk friend

Two hours on the train and we were in Marseille. One of the neatest things I've discovered about this area of France so far is that not uncommon to come by several centuries-old castles when traveling through the countryside. We detrained and made our way from the metro to our hotel (yes, a hotel this time was for some reason cheaper). Thankfully along the way a kind passerby pointed out that Tim's pack was open and that France was prime pick-pocket territory.

We sat next to some adorable children!!!

A castle?

Kevin in the Marseille metro looking lost perhaps

We made it down to the water, and after an long and exciting round of "where should we eat?" we found a place right on the water. We were introduced to French culture by a waitress that took about two hours from start to finish, and who had noticeably had a bit to drink by the end of the meal (haha, but the food was great). It was getting late by the end of our meal, so we took a short walk around the port and then headed back to our room for the night.