Barcelona: The city that never sleeps

Barcelona claims to be the city that never sleeps. If you've been there you know this is absurd. To their credit Barceloneans do stay out late, but they also siesta for much of the day. That's okay, so did we. Despite sleeping until 2pm and 5pm on our first and last days respectively, we did manage to see and do some great things. In no particular order here are the top three:

1. Sagrada Familia: SF happens to be the number one tourist destination in BLona, it was also two blocks from our apartment and a wonderful sight to come home to each day. After admiring it from a far for three days we finally paid the 9 euro entrance fee and 2.50 euro lift fee (except for Sarah, who got in for free after presenting the ticket lady with her police report- see below). We discovered a massive construction sight inside- not too unlike the rest of Barcelona- but the views from the top of the towers and the informative write up on how to build a modernist church made it all worthwhile.

2. Park Guell: We are still unsure if the reason we enjoyed Park Guell so much was because it is another Gaudi masterpiece or if we were actually just relieved to sit down after Julia-now the ruthless-led us on 8 non-stop hours of touring (note: this was the only day on the trip to date that we have left our lodgings before lunch, seriously). Upon arrival, we "poked around" briefly before collapsing onto the world's longest bench.

3. Food and Drinks: Chorizo, jamon, seafood paella, bakeries on every corner, 3.50 euro liters of wine, St. Joseph's Market, Latuka's (ask Courtney)... let's just say we didn't go hungry.

While we have previously reserved "lessons learned" as a way to include somewhat random stories, our experiences in Barcelona necessitate that it take a more prominent role.

Lessons Learned:

1. When every person you encounter tells you to watch out for pick-pocketers, you should really watch out for pick-pocketers. While enjoying a snack at a cafe in the Barri Gotic we all absentmindedly put our bags on the ground. It didn't take long for a troupe of druggies- one flute player, one sketchily dressed woman to distract us, and an unseen third man- to steal Sarah's purse. Luckily her passport was locked away safetly at home and after filing a report with the police we were able to salvage the day. Because we couldn't find the troupe to exact our revenge, Sarah created the following haiku to express her pain, shame and frustration:

F-you flute player!
You stole my purse you druggie.
Western Union works!

2. When shopping at the local 24 hour mart and faced with the choice between 1.80 euro wine and 3 euro wine, splurge the extra 1.20. The difference is worth it. Every time.
3. Sarah and Kara learned that it IS possible to make "cookies" in a frying pan. Everyone else learned that you should probably just buy something packaged.
4. If you're out celebrating dia de St. Juan the night before your 10am flight, make sure to set more then one alarm. To Heidi's credit she told us many times, "guys I'm definitely NOT going to wake up to my alarm tomorrow," but unfortunately her ability to prophecize didn't do anything to stop her prediction from coming true. Luckily with the aid of a taxi and sympathetic women at the counter she made her flight anyway.
5. It is a good thing that fireworks are illegal. Barceloneans celebrate Dia de St. Juan by setting off fireworks everywhere, all day long. For us this meant being scared by random booms and cracks of exploding fireworks throughout the day and trying to dodge bursts of flames along the beach at night. None of the revelry makers care if you get in the way of their tiny bombs and if your not careful about where you step or you could easily lose a limb, a fate that Kara avoided by about 2 inches.
6. Make your desposits in check rather than cash. Still too raw to get into this now.

Despite the tough love, Blona stole our hearts (along with Sarah's purse) and we will miss its bakeries and cheap internet cafes as we continue on to Greece.

Shout out to H. Kim who is surely dominating 745 AM in the morning negotiations and scorpion bowl races at 745 pm at night. We love and miss you!!!!

bona nueta,
Courtney, Julia, Kara and Sarah