Check out at the hotel was 10am this morning and though my flight wasn't until 2:30, I decided to head straight to the airport.
I walked over to the train station, hoping on the local line to Fiumicino Airport. The airport was a mad house. People and check in booths everywhere! I was sooo confused!
If you've ever been to the airport in Rome then you may understand why I suddenly became overwhelmed with confusion of where to go next! The gates to check in were EVERYWHERE!!! Maybe I'm spoiled when in the United States because our airports make it very easy to figure out where your airline check in is because all the stands are in one big line down the terminal, but in Rome you have hundreds of check in booths! I'm standing in the middle of the terminal with the stereotypical confused tourist look on my face, thinking "Uhhhhhhhhhh....."
I see airport security and ask where the information booth is so that maybe I could actually get some information about why the heck this airport has to be so confusing (okay, well no, but I could at least find out where my check in booth was!). The woman at the information desk gave me a number... because apparently it's actually not that hard to figure out where check in is if you notice the numbers on the top corners of each booth and look at the giant board that tells which airline is what number... Duhhhhh... (sigh..)
I walked over to the check-in and to my surprise (which I haven't ever notice in other airports) there was a giant scale to weigh your bags before you get to the desk.
Oh god.. here we go... please, please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeease don't be overweight!!!!
28kg. (61lbs... limit is still 50lbs...)
Son-of-a!!!!
Alright, alright.... So I drag my bag over to a nearby corner and start emptying. My carry-on bag almost ready to rip. (Hey, it was a free-with-purchase Steve Madden bag... they only hold up so well.)
I put my bag back on the scale, "24.1"
....hmm.... my carry-on is about to make me topple to one side, I'm starting to sweat from the lack of AC in this place, and the line up is starting to wrap around the corner..... WELL, time to cross my fingers and hope luck stays on my side for this one!
AN HOUR FREAKIN' LATER...
I finally get through the line, to the check-in counter and I put on my "Let-me-dazzle-you" face.
"Hiiii! How are you? (*insert big smile here*) ...Busy Day? ...Aww.. yeah, that's hard! ...Yes, I am going to Barcelona!" (Please don't look at my bag, please don't look at my bag...) "I know! ...Yeah, they reaaally should turn on the AC in here! ....So sorry to hear that! ...Well, have a great day!!!"
PHEW!
... almost wished I had left more stuff in my bag now! Ha!
Thank goodness I was so early because it took me another 30-40 minutes just to get through security! By the time I got to my gate, the flight was just beginning to board!
I was on an airline called Vueling. I was a little nervous because I had never heard of it before, but it was super cheap so I decided to take a chance! It turned out to be pretty great! I mean it was nothing super special but it was clean, the seats were comfortable and I can't complain about the service.
I was stoked to have an entire exit row to myself.. stretch out.. take a nap... take up as much room on the arm rests as I like.. Maybe sit in the aisle seat.. then have a peak out the window... You know, just enjoy the luxury of having an entire row to myself... that is until this older couple decided to switch seats and sit beside me RIGHT when we got into the air. (D'oh!) I wouldn't have minded it they had at least apologized for constantly bumping into me, trying to move my stuff to make room for their stuff and hogging the arm rests. Sigh... well at least I got lucky with the slightly overweight baggage right?
When we landed in Barcelona, I couldn't believe how beautiful the airport was! It was so modern and clean and open! They had tons of shops and restaurants and even a beautiful courtyard with trees and a grassy area in the courtyard to kick up your feet for a while and read a book, if you will. If only all airport looked like Barcelona's!
After I grabbed my bags, I soon realized my phone had no battery. I searched high and low for a plug and ended up being told the only outlets were in the washrooms.
Really?
Okay Barcelona Airport, you were pretty great until now.
So there I am standing in the bathroom with my phone plugged in and charging while watching women wash their hands, put on lipstick, powder their noses, fix their hair, etc... seeing a few drink from the sink was a little gross but whatever.. Not my cuppa'tea.. I guess when you're thirsty, you're thirsty, huh? Haha
I let my phone get to about 20% before getting out of there, with the directions on my phone, I caught the Aerobus to Plaça Catalunya where I would catch the metro to my hostel.
The metro was no big deal, got on at one stop, off at the next. Had no idea how close it really was... probably could've walked! Oh well. I walked a couple more blocks down to where it said my hostel was.. in this cute little square called Plaça Reial! The square featured lots of little cafes and restaurants with people sitting and drinking their sangria on the patios and a big round water fountain in the center. Super cute!
I walked through the entrance of Plaça Reial, off La Ramblas, and made a right - my hostel, Kabul, was just a few storefronts down. I was buzzed in and had the fun of lugging my giant suitcase and heavy carry-on up a flight of stairs to the check-in desk. There was music going people having beers at the bar around the corner in the lounge.. it was so lively in there! My excitement perked a little bit having stayed in really mellow accommodations previously.
After checking in, I took the elevator (thank God) up to my room on the third floor and put my stuff in my room. As I was starting to change, two girls walk in - my roommates for the night. "Hi!" They say hi back.. and then I quickly realize, after trying to make a bit of conversation with them, they don't know more than a few words of English. Of course I get stuck with the non-English speaking French chicks. Darn! Was really hoping to maybe make a cool friend today! Maybe later, downstairs I guess!
So I cleaned myself up, putting on a cute little outfit and then headed out the door to explore Barcelona before having to head over to Palau de la Musica Catalana for a Spanish guitar concert by Manuel Gonzalez!
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When I first moved to San Diego, I had lived in an apartment in Mission Valley called Club River Run. It was the same complex that my school, the Art Institute, had their student housing. We thought this was a good plan for meeting people as well as being close to school, and for safety, etc. On one of my first days in the complex, there was a group of younger people (my age) sitting on their second-story walk-up balcony... as my mom and I walked by, all I hear is "Dammmmmmmnnnnnnn!"
Of course I crack up laughing, and then we all start laughing when my mom turns around and says "Oh thanks!" hahaha!
Well, that guy that said that... that was Afram, who later ended up becoming one of my best friends, and after that my roommate when I moved downtown. Afram grew up playing guitar with his dad, specifically that Spanish style. So when we became good friends, we would all sit in my living room doing homework, or on my balcony telling stories with Afram playing his guitar in the background. It got even better when we lived together and I would come home and he would be sitting on my couch or balcony just playing guitar. It was awesome! Him and I always used to talk about how great it would be to go see a real show, whether it be in LA sometime or one day, dare to dream, in Spain. Well Frammie, because of you, I fell in love with the sounds and styles of Spanish guitar and here I am, in Spain, off to see that concert!
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After wandering around for a little while, I arrived at the beeeeeeeaaaauuuutifullll Palau Musica Catalana! Designed by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built in the same Catalan modernista style that most of Gaudi's designs are done. It was amazing! The small details of the pillars, the ceilings, the walls, the windows... everything was so intricate! It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, in person, you can most definitely see why.
As I waited, in awe of the incredible and historical building I was standing in, I grabbed a quick appetizer and drink at the little bar set-up they had. I was absolutely starving from having not eaten in so long. Before I knew it, the lights started blinking and it was time to go find my seat!
I was sitting in the third box to the right of the stage, first row, and super cramped seating. I was relieved to have had a corner seat so I had a liiiiiiitttle bit of room, but still not much. Manuel Gonzalez comes out, everyone claps, and he sits down under the spotlight on a chair and begins to play.
It was so magical. I feel like Spanish guitar always evokes so much emotion when its played; sometimes I think even more than any other style of music. I love it. It was nice to even recognize some of the songs he played! He was fantastic!
After the show, I ended up meeting him, thanking him, and getting an autographed cd! Look at me go! Wahoo! haha Maybe I'll give it to Afram the next time I see him! :)
When I left the Palau, I was still starving and exhausted. That little appetizer did nothing. So I found an amazing little vegetarian place just on the outside Plaça Reial where I had my first falafal! I couldn't tell you what was in it, other than some hummus, I knew that much - but it was GREAT! If only I knew what the whole thing had in it so I could try and find it or make it in San Diego!
Oh well...
Following my first and awesome food experience in Barcelona, I went back to the hostel, exhausted. It was nice to meet my third roommate that night when I got back. She was super nice, chatty and from Vancouver! Sweeeeet! We chatted a little bit while I was laying on my top bunk, her on the bottom before finally passing out...
Nice end to a busy day! :)
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This is Manuel Gonzalez at the Palau back in 2009, but he did play this song as well when I saw him! :)
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Pictures of Palau De La Musica Catalana:
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