I flew in to Reus, Spain from Frankfurt Hahn, Germany. My sister and I are staying in Germany to visit our dad, who is stationed in the Army, but we took a side trip to Barcelona and flew in ahead. We reached the city around noon after a two-hour bus ride and were immediately confused. The metro and bus maps didn’t show our street so we followed some directions from the hotel website and took the subway to Espanya. But, we were still lost and we wandered around the ring looking for our street while ogling the towers and statues that were there. They felt natural, although they were ancient, almost like the city said “Duh, OF COURSE they’re there. Why wouldn’t they be?” We asked people along the way for directions and after some more wrong turns, we found where the place was supposed to be! But, we couldn’t get in and the building didn’t have a sign. We went to a convenience store next to the place and asked if they knew of the “guest house.” They also had never heard of it, but a lady offered to take us to her place so we could look up directions. We followed her and although she only spoke Spanish, we learned that she had two foreign exchange students at her place, and they could speak English! We went up to her little apartment where she offered us cake and water as we searched. We met a nice girl and a cute British guy named Luke, who did most of the translating. We found the place’s number and the woman called and talked to the owners. Apparently we had booked a hostel, not a hotel, and they hadn’t known when to expect us. So we set out again, with the women, and we finally met the owners. We got the keys and thanked the woman for being an absolute saint by helping us. Afterwards, we set up our room but there had been a mix-up in the booking and we had to hand over 200 euro that we’d brought, meaning a cheep week for us. We had lots of bocadillos at the local shops, which are a bargain and tasty but by the weekend I was sick of sandwiches.
We explored the local area, especially a renovated palace that had a great view of the city. Our dad joined us Friday, and after setting his place up, we went to La Rambla, a very famous street that is surrounded by restaurants and bars. We tried to go to a club that night but we weren’t dressed properly for it, and instead enjoyed the view on the beach.
The next day, we saw the Gaudi Cathedral, with all its construction and confusion. Its motely structures made me think they were trying to put every style of cathedral ever made into one. After taking many memorable pictures, we explored more of this new area of the city. Sunday night we visited La Rambla again in hopes of partaking in its colorful nightlife, but instead I only had the chance to buy a neon Barcelona shirt.
Monday was our last day there, so we explored an old hospital by our place, where Gaudi himself had died. It was being renovated after closing five years ago and we joined a very informative tour. The man leading the tour wasn’t so good with his English but was still very instructive and funny. We left Tuesday, pleasantly spent from the constant traveling, but a part of me is still living the life in Barcelona.
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