Barcelona

Another quick post for you here...

Today was quite interesting.  After arriving late late late last night via bus from Madrid, I was greeted in Barcelona with a downpour.  What happened to that whole thing about Spanish summers being nice?  No worries though, I found the nearest hostel and tossed my stuff down to go exploring.  The only problem with that was I had no map and I was relying on bus route markers to guide me. Turns out I walked around the unpopular parts of town because all the restaurants were closed by midnight.  Fortunately I found one still serving a few tapas and ate a ton of patatas bravas and the pimientos padron again (love those peppers).

Now, for the bad news. Just like the last post, you get no pictures.  Although this time I have a reason beyond just laziness.  Thanks to the first hostel I chose (I swear it was rated highly), I no longer have my phone (aka camera). I blame the stupid French guys.  Oh well, I will give them props for having the balls to pull it from the socket right next to the place I slept.  I hope my phone has a nice new home now.  And dont worry Mom and Dad, I already took care of it with Verizon and the insurance company.  Ill have a new phone as soon as I land in DC.  Gotta love an excuse to buy the latest version.  Muahahaha

Moving on, Barcelona is great.  I found a new hostel that is smaller, quieter, and has less high school aged dudes. I spent most of the day walking around the ENTIRE city.  So in addition to my smelly feet and awesome farmers tan, I got to see pretty much every important site in the city as well as some other cool things as I explored.  Yes, this time I had a map. 

Highlights...
-the children playing pickup soccer with a water bottle outside Estadio Olympic
-barely understanding a word of Catalan right as I was starting to think in Spanish
-walking up the Montjuic and seeing the dozens upon dozens of runners and cyclists tackling the massive hill. 

Which brings me to the last point, you know where I will be tomorrow morning.  Right alongside those Barcelona triathletes. Yesssss