Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera) ... Antoni Gaudí designed this edifice in the early 1900s ... I don't think there is a straight line anywhere in the design of this Barcelona landmark.
We made it to Barcelona, Spain, and it feels so good to be back on the Iberian Peninsula! I fell in love with the Spanish language when I traveled to this city for the first time in 1997 when my Spanish teacher Angie Bailey brought a group of us here for almost two weeks. Little did I know at the time that it would set the stage for my career and much more. And I owe it all to Angie Bailey!
Chris and I made it here around 5 p.m. after another adventurous travel day -- a day that reminded us both of an episode of "The Amazing Race" following a power walk from one end of a city to the other with our heavy packs, small backpacks and a map in order to catch a train. I was half expecting to see Phil Keoghan at the end waiting for us ... but more on that in a minute.
The first part of the journey was rather uneventful. We left Marseille, France, a little after 8 a.m., and took a train to Montpellier, France. Once there, we had to transfer trains so that we could travel from Montpellier to Figueres, Spain (the birthplace of Dali)! Figueres is located in northeast Spain near the French border. Our train to Figueres, however, was 50 minutes late, which turned out to be a problem.
By the time we arrived in Figueres, it was too late to make a reservation for the train that was about to leave for Barcelona. So, we walked down to the ticket counter to make reservations for the next train, as well as reservations for our upcoming trips from Barcelona to Madrid and from Madrid to Lisbon, Portugal. We got in line at the perfect time, as there were only two people in front of us. Within five minutes, however, the line had grown to more than 20 people, and there were only two employees working at the ticket counter.
We discovered that the next train to Barcelona wasn't leaving for almost three hours, and it is a two-hour trip from Figueres to Barcelona. There is another train station on the other side of Figueres, and a train to Barcelona was leaving from there in 50 minutes. There was a bus from our train station to the other, but it had just left and the next one wouldn't be there for another two hours.
"How long would it take us to walk," I asked. "Quince minutos," or 15 minutes, the employee said. She then told us where to get a map and we decided to walk.
Perfect ... or so we thought ...
Before leaving, however, we booked tickets from Barcelona to Madrid on Wednesday and then from Madrid to Lisbon for Thursday night in a sleeper car, as it is a night train. There is only one train each night from Madrid to Lisbon, and we were worried about not being able to get on board. There were only three beds left on the train, and we booked two of them. We both let out a sigh of relief as we left the ticket counter and made our way to the little tourist booth to find a map so we could walk the 15 minutes from station A to station B.
Chris watched our bags while I went to speak to the employee to get directions. She pulled out the map and showed us where we were and where we needed to go -- literally from one side of the town to the other. "About 15 minutes walking, right?" I asked in Spanish.
"No no ... 40 minutos."
Oh, yeah, and she gave us one last piece of advice: "Be careful in this part of town not to go on the other side of the street. It is not the best part of Figueres."
It was 2:10 p.m. and the train to Barcelona was leaving at 2:59 p.m. If we missed that one, we would have to wait another hour.
We both strapped on our packs, determined to make this train. Map in hand, we took off on foot to cross the city. It felt like we were on an "Amazing Race" episode. These crazy moments of backpacking make traveling so adventurous.
We kept a close eye on our watches and realized that we were making really good time. It was hot and we were sweating from the fast pace, but we made it to the station with about 12 minutes to spare -- enough time to buy a Fanta and cool down before boarding the last train of the day. And the so called bad part of town we crossed was not dangerous at all. In fact, besides a cat, we didn't see anyone.
Two hours later, we were walking through the streets of Barcelona searching for our hostel. It took a few minutes to get our sense of direction, but we soon arrived at the hostel to check in. We had to wait about 45 minutes, however, as the employees were busy.
Besides a couple of snacks this morning, we had not eaten all day and were ready for dinner. We had planned to explore Barcelona on foot for about an hour or two and then have dinner, but we decided to have dinner first and explore a little afterward.
We went to La Fianna, a restaurant Srta. Bills and I visited two summers ago when we were in Barcelona. Friend and colleague Gregory Fryzel recommended the restaurant to us two summers ago, and it was so good that we ate there two nights in a row in 2011. Chris and I ordered six tapas tonight: a quesadilla, nachos, patatas bravas, croquetas, pita bread and hummus and a chicken curry. We ate almost all of it ... and decided that we are returning to La Fianna tomorrow night. Here are a few pictures from dinner.
Chris is ready to eat!
On the way back to the hostel, we stopped at Häagen-Dazs for tres boles ... three scoops of ice cream. It is the same Häagen-Dazs that my friends and I visited every night when we traveled to Spain in 1997 with Sra. Bailey. In fact, Chris and I are staying in the same neighborhood where my classmates and I stayed in 1997. It is very nostalgic for me.
Tomorrow, we are off to Sitges to spend a few hours at the beach. Afterward, we will return to Barcelona to explore the Ramblas.
Did I mention how nice it is to be back in Barcelona?
¡Hasta mañana!
Justin
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