Brandon O'Brien

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 @ 8:26 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 125

The weather was a bit crappy today so I wasn't really in too much of a rush, plus all the traveling yesterday wore me out. I got up, ate and then hung out at the hostel through lunch. The rain stopped for a while so after I ate I went out to explore a little bit of Barcelona.

There's a big main pedestrian area called La Rambla that's lined with shops, markets, cafes and restaurants. Some other travelers at the hostel told me about a giant market called La Boqueria that's full of meat, fruit, veggies, tapas, cheese and just about any other food you can think of. It was one of the best markets I've ever been to.

I walked around for a bit and got some clementines, some iberico ham and bread for dinner tonight. I also got a cup of fruit to eat while at the market. The prices of everything there was amazing and the fruit and veggies looked so much better than what you can get at the grocery. I'm planning on going back throughout the week to eat lunch there since there were so many different food stands there with delicious looking snacks and meals.

After strolling through the market I went down to the Placa Reial and ate a clementine before heading back to the hostel. It started raining a bit so I've spent the rest of the day at the hostel. It took me 4 months but I finally found a copy of Game of Thrones at the hostel book exchange and have started reading that.

For dinner I made some pasta with fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic and some of the ham I bought. It tasted amazing and it's something I'll probably make more throughout the week. The garlic, ham and tomatoes lightly fried in sunflower oil made a great topping for the pasta.

After dinner I booked my travel to Morocco as well as a few more nights here at the hostel since I'll be flying to and from Morocco from Barcelona. The flights were pretty cheap and they're direct which is nice. Callie and I will meet in Tangier then we'll catch a night train down to Marrakech where we'll spend a few nights before heading back up to Tangier for a night.

Tomorrow I'm going to check out the free walking tour that the hostel puts on. It's a two and a half hour tour that goes through the history and culture behind Barcelona. It's supposed to be a little on the cooler side but at least it's not supposed to be raining.

Teaser photos:

Meat stand at the Boqueria market in Barcelona

La Rambla

Plaza Real

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Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain

Monday, October 28, 2013 @ 9:34 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 124

Holly's flight was scheduled for 11:15am so we wanted to be able to check out and get on the train to the airport sooner rather than later so she'd have time to get through security and everything. Amina (the owner of the apartment we were staying in) was a few minutes late but it wasn't that big of a deal. We hurried to the Gare du Nord station and got on the first RER B train to the airport. We were sweating like crazy due to the high humidity and being crammed into the train with a ton of other people. All of the trains were also delayed which wasn't a good thing to see.

The train we were on ended up stopping about 5 stops away from the airport and notices were posted that there were signaling problems and no one knew how long we might be delayed. With time counting down we didn't really have too many options so we headed out of the station and looked for other options.

None of the buses ran to the airport and there were no taxis in sight. There was also a big line of people waiting for the non-existent taxis. By now it was about 9:45am and her flight was scheduled to start boarding in a half hour. We were trying to figure out what to do when I saw a taxi van pull up across the street so we bolted over there and were the last ones to get on.

Everyone in the taxi was going to the airport which was great. We dropped one person off in Terminal 1 then swung over to Terminal 2 where some other people got off and finally we were taken to Terminal 2A where we needed to be. By the time we got to the security checkpoint it was around 10:20am. Once Holly went through security I waited around the area for about an hour just in case she missed her flight. It looked like everything went smoothly though and she was on her way back to the States.

I had a few hours to kill before my flight to Barcelona so I ate a sandwich I had packed and looked for a post office. Unfortunately the post office didn't appear to have boxes to ship things back so I figured I'll find a post office here in Barcelona. I checked my bag then hung out and waited for my plane.

Everything was on time with my flight and I got to Barcelona a little after 4pm. There's a bus service that runs from the airport to the center of Barcelona very frequently so I got on that then followed the directions the hostel gave me. It took me about 10 minutes to get to the hostel but I got checked in and unloaded my gear in the room.

They were clearing the water pipes so I couldn't make dinner or fill up my water bottle right away but eventually it was all fixed and I went to the grocery store and got some food. I made some pasta with red pepper and the spices I've been carrying around since Italy.

It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I'll probably just stay in or venture around the hostel area. There's a free walking tour every day from the hostel so I want to do that some time this week. Barcelona seems like a really laid back and cool city. It'll be fun to spend a week here and really get to know it.

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Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain