#ispyapi

I was so back and forth about traveling alone to Barcelona. But, I bought the tickets online two days before leaving. I left Friday morning at 7:00; I woke up, got dressed, and briskly walked about 20 minutes to the bus station. The ride to the airport was about 2 and a half hours. The Thursday before I had gone out with some friends for some “food from home”. We went to a diner called Peggy Sue’s  - it was good, but definitely not home grown potatoes if you know what I mean. You could taste the Spanish lemon Coca Cola. Needless to say, it was a great change from bean soup.

 That night, it was raining and chilly. I felt myself get a sniffle and a sore throat. I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was. Friday morning, I took some disgusting Emergen-C that has some medicine that’s banned in the United States (thanks, Mom, for doing your research). It wasn’t making me better. I was sneezing, coughing, and exhausted. When we made it to the airport, I got extremely confused at the signs. I got to check in, and went downstairs to find a shuttle that said BCN-MAD. Too sketched to take it, I opted to go through security the normal way When I got through, I looked at the flight board. BCN / IBERIA 11:20 / GATE:               / So I sat down. Waited..for about 30 minutes. When my flight wasn’t on the board, and I couldn’t find anyone to help I got nervous. Finally, I had the brains to google it, and within 10 minutes of the set boarding time, I found the gate that wasn’t on the screen. Shortly after I sat at the gate, about 30 other people showed up. I was sitting next to an older couple who asked me (in English) where I was from. She told me I was so brave for traveling alone. Her and her husband take trips all the time. They were from Wisconsin, and actually lived in Michigan (Howell) for a few years – small world.

 When I arrived in Barcelona, I had no idea what to do, and I felt like I couldn’t walk anywhere. I found a nice taxi driver who took me to my hotel which was about $40 from  -- I mean 40 minutes from the airport. I got there at about 1:00pm. The hotel was okay. I had a gorgeous view from my room. 

I knew I didn’t have much time to spend in this gigantic cosmo capital, so I put down my things, blew my nose, and went on my way. I figured I’d find lunch and went to this place near the hotel. . I found a comforting plate of fettucini.  I spoke in Spanish to everyone I met, and they spoke right back to me in English. Everyone tells me it’s because they’re used to tourists, but I wasn’t very happy. If I continue to speak to you in Spanish, please respond accordingly.

 I decided that was the day for Park Guell. It being on the outskirts of the city, I had to find my way around by bus and metro. I took the bus about 45 minutes north of my hotel. I didn’t quite know how to pay, so I accidentally took a free ride. I got off the bus and was in awe. I was in Barcelona. Alone. At Park Guell. I started walking, heard beautiful music coming from inside a stone structure; tossed the man a euro, took a few photos, and covered all the land I could before it got dark. I facetimed my mom and Jordan from the high point and took too many photos to count. It was around sunset I got to go out near the mosaic benches and down towards the main entrance.