It's the little things you find yourself doing on this trip that is not a part of your everyday life at home. Along with showering in narrow stop watch showers, low water flow pressure and jammed shower doors, another way of life you must adjust to in hostels is doing laundry. Yesterday, I had run out of underwear, so here I am washing my underwear in the sink with a bar of soap. I now am hanging all my panties on the shower hooks to dry in our community bathroom. You quickly learn to drop your modest ways of operating. My nails which were perfectly painted upon my arrival had now chipped away to almost nothing. My purse went from an oversized Michael Koors leather bag to a tiny black square pouch that holds only Euros, a camera and a map. You pass the elevator every time because stairs and walking are your only source of exercise. I'm used to my routine at the gym every other day back in California. No matter if I'm at the hostel or the five hundred steps to the Copula, I take the stairs.
I woke up to my last day in Spain feeling overwhelmed, I had so many things I wanted to do and only one day left. Yesterday, I had rode my bike to The Sagrada Familia but today would walk back and tour the inside. Mark had told us that famous movie producers got a lot of ideas from visiting Goudi's work. I was excited to see if it was true that this is where ideas for Star Wars originated.
I packed up my belongings and said goodbye to my Canadian roommate, Melissa. Last night after I crawled into bed, I couldn't sleep because of the heat. She was uncomfortable as well, so we had stayed up in our bunks talking until 2 am like girls having a sleep over. She talked to me about being lonely. She was a beautiful girl and had been single for a while and was beginning to get restless. The last relationship she was in, she ended. She told me that sometimes in relationships you begin feeling and adopting the same attitude your boyfriend has. She began to notice her mood shift from the bubbly, outgoing positive girl to the negative, "the world is out to get me" role like her boyfriend. I could relate to what she was describing. If your boyfriend is lazy, you become lazy with him. If your boyfriend is lacking motivation, you slowly overtime lose that fire of drive. After all, you can't keep it going for the both of you forever. It was interesting hearing other people's theories on why their relationships didn't work out, It allowed me to reflect more on my past and confirmed that I had no regrets for ending them. I shared Luciana's concern with her ex not adopting to her passion for being a dreamer. I agreed with Melissa's complaint with saying enough to an ex who was lacking motivation. Now my list of expectations may be getting longer, but I know what will work for me now and what simply will not.
Melissa went on about how she just wants to find someone to settle down with already. I told her sometimes being alone is a beautiful thing and that in the last year of my life, being alone was actually the best thing I've ever done. I told her I've always had a boyfriend and was enjoying the time to myself. Getting to know myself again and making decisions on my own before engulfing myself in a relationship has provided me with a new level of strength. Melissa liked this idea and will embrace it as well.
I wished her good luck and dashed out the door to check into my final hostel. Mark had recommended this as the best hostel, Kabul in the center of the plaza. I walked in and felt like a walked into a club in London. There were beautiful wood floors complimented by red brick walls. They had huge windows in the common area that opened up to the courtyard of the square. Mark was right, this was a posh hostel and I was excited to get to experience one final night in a new place.
I opened the door to my room and felt like I had just walked on the set of Annie. Every room I stayed in had eight bunk bed setup, this room had twenty four. Bunks lined the room from wall to wall. There were three tall windows that led out to balconies over looking the courtyard. It was a beautiful room, but I wondered how I would adjust to adding twenty three more bodies in my room. Tomorrow I would be back in my big comfortable down comforter queen bed. I could handle one more night.
I threw my belongings in a locker and made my way to Sagrada Familia. This site is all the way out of the city, by bike yesterday it had not taken long. Today by foot, this was a different story. It took a little over an hour with five stops asking people " Sagrada Familia?" every person pointed me in the direction until I turned the last corner to see the magnificent building in the sky. I walked up to the line which wrapped all the way the entire building. I stood in line for a while, when I asked the family from the Netherlands behind me how much longer they guessed we had. He quickly asked if I was American. I laughed and nodded. I asked him how he knew and he chuckled and said my accent. He said he has got very good at spotting Americans out. I asked " How so?" he hesitated. I urged him to continue and wouldn't be offended. It always interested me on this trip to hear foreigners perception of us. He started with " Well, all Americans think they are the center of the universe." I laughed and asked again," How so?" he explained that he is fully aware we dominate the movies and music scene but that we always have an attitude like the way we operate is the best and most efficient way. I laughed and asked him to continue. He gave me a nod of approval to ensure that he could continue without me taking offense. I motioned for him to go on.
" Well, all Americans are fat." He told me that they walk everywhere in Europe. Americans drive and eat lots of fast food. He said when they travel and see an obese person, nine times out of ten, they are American. I laughed again, this conversation was beginning to be entertain me. We turned the corner and across the street stood a McDonalds. I pointed and said, "We may be fat, but without us, you would not have that." I pointed to McDonalds and said in a cocky tone "You're welcome" All four of us now laughed. He went on to tell me that all Americans can easily be spotted in a crowd because they wear tall white tube socks with sneakers as he pointed to an obese man walking into McDonald. That man wasn't doing Americans any justice.
"Okay, so we're fat, full of ourselves and wear white tube socks, what else my dear European??"
He laughed and asked what kind of car I drove. I replied Mercedes and he said that we buy cars that he wouldn't dream about owning until he's sixty. He said his car cost seven thousand Euros. He said we all drive big trucks and SUV's which is a huge waste of gas. He pulled out his iPhone and showed me a picture of his tiny smart car. I laughed at the size.
He covered all the basics, and I told him I hoped I had provided him with a new perception of Americans. He replied, " Well, you're very fit, you're not wearing tube socks and you don't appear to think you're the center of the universe. "
You're welcome America.
Talking to the guy from The Netherlands helped pass time in line, over an hour had passed and I was now paying my twelve Euros to tour Sagrada Familia. As I walked in to the building, my eyes led their way from the walls to the very top of the temple. The incredible designs did make me feel like I was walking through a fantasy world. I could see the theme of Star Wars in the design. It was the most intricate design I had ever seem. I walked around with my head up, staring at every inch of the never ending ceiling and accidentally bumped into someone. I hadn't been watching where I was going.
I took a seat and admired Goudi's work. How someone could create something so detailed, so unique, was truly fascinating. I sat in that spot for a while and soaked in my last day Spain. I wasn't ready to go back to work. I wasn't ready to leave this amazing city. I peeled myself off the stone bench and headed out to my next stop, the Parc De La Ciutadella. I had fallen in love with this park yesterday on the bike tour but didn't get enough time there. I retraced my steps from the tour and after a half an hour walk, found my way back to the beautiful fountain. I walked around the park and found a little bridge that led to a brick platform. The platform overlooked the pond where tourists rented row boats and paddled around the water. I sprawled across a bench and began writing about my day. I sat there for hours and realized my new favorite place to write aside from trains, were now parks.
After the park, I headed to the beach. I was checking everything off my list today. I wanted to take a dip in the water and get a taste for Barcelona's beach if I made it through all the sites today.
Once I reached the beach, I picked up a Sangria and walked downtown the water. Mark had warned me that if I wanted to go to the beach that I should not go to the man made one made for the Olympics. He said they brought the sand from Egypt and it wasn't nearly as nice as the real beaches in Barcelona. I didn't feel like worrying myself with trains today, besides how bad could a man made beach be? A beach is a beach in my book.
Once I stepped into the water, I saw what Mark meant. This was a terrible beach. The sand was dark brown, the minute your feet touched the water you step on tiny peddles that stab your toes like little daggers. The shore drops after a few feet, it didn't come close to the beach in Italy. I finished my sangria and made my way through the topless beach back to my hostel.
While walking down the street, I turned to the girl walking beside me and commented on what a disappointment the beach was. She disagreed and said it wasn't that bad. We began talking about our idea of good beaches. Her name was Nora and she was traveling from Germany. She was renting a little apartment right outside the city. I asked her if she had gone down Las Ramblas yet and she had not. She said she hadn't met many people since was not staying in a hostel. I told her she must meet me and my friends that I made out for my last night in Barcelona. She lit up, you could tell she was eager to have met a friend. I told her if she wanted to meet me for Paella, to wait for me outside my hostel in the plaza at 7pm. She pulled out a notepad and wrote down my Facebook name. We reached her bus stop and she told me it was great to meet me and she was excited to meet for dinner and drinks later.
Meeting new people in the hostel, on the streets and at the market may have been one of my favorite things. I hurried back to my hostel and laid down for a nap. I woke up with only a half an hour to shower, print my boarding pass for tomorrow's flight and map out directions to the airport. I knew I would be drinking late tonight, so needed to ensure everything was squared away prior to meeting up with my new friends.
I was writing Rebecca back on Facebook that we would be meeting at 8pm for dinner and that I would be bringing another friend. When I glanced at the clock it was 7pm and I was still not dressed. I ran over to the balcony and watched Nora pacing back and forth, waiting downstairs by my hostel door. She was right on time. I ran down stairs and let her in. Her face lit up that I remembered her. I apologized for not being ready yet and she didn't seem to mind. Her eyes were focused on all the exciting views of the plaza. She looked like me when I first got here. I guided her up to my room and got dressed. She asked a lot of questions about the hostel. This was her first time in one. There was no private bathroom in this one, so her and I got creative, pulling the curtain drapes around for me to change behind. I slipped on a dress and some eye shadow and walked out the door with a wet head of hair.
We had an hour before we were to meet up with Rebecca and the others so I asked he if she minded if we stopped at a bar Luciana recommended. Lu had gone to a bar called Manchester and met a cute guy name Erro. He was the bartender that she had spent a night talking to in Barcelona. This was like her version of Shawn. I had promised her I would stop in and say hi to him for her.
I asked the host at our hostel if they had heard of Manchester and she said there were two locations. She told me the closest one was by Travel Bar. I knew exactly where this was because it's where I rented bikes. I grabbed Nora arm and guided her through the busy streets. She was stunned and asked how I knew my way without a map as we turned corner after corner through the winding alley ways. I hadn't even realized until that moment how good I had become at finding my way around. She was right, I was just now leaving when I finally could make my way without a map.
We reached the bar and I asked the owner for Erro. He said that there are to locations and that Erro works at the other one. Nora and I threw our hands in the air and decided we would try later tonight.
We still had thirty minutes before dinner so walked in and out of the shops. This was Nora first time shopping in Barcelona so we tried on dresses and asked for each others opinion. I had been searching for a dress with a Spanish feel to take back to San Diego. We both found dresses that suited us and I wore mine out to dinner.
We arrived to the pub and I introduced Rebecca and Nora. A few minutes later, more of the friends Rebecca had met on a biking tour arrived. Ricardo and João were from Portugal. Ann-Marie was from D.C and then Nora and Rebecca from Germany. Now we ate paella and drank beer with people from all different countries and you would have ever guessed. You would have thought we had been friends for ages. João talked to me for a while about his job back in Portugal. He makes cartoons and talked to me about his industry. He told me that the cartoon he's working on now just got picked up and will be playing in the U.S. It was so fascinating to hear everyone's jobs across the country. Ann-Marie studied Chemical Engineering and Rebecca was a teacher before taking off to explore Europe.

We laughed and talked about our plans for the club tonight. I had yet to experience a club in Barcelona so was very excited to check it out. I told everyone about the Netherlands perception of Americans. I told them how they said that we always think we have the best way of doing everything. Rebecca cracked up laughing and chimed in that All Americans always think their way "is the best way."
She pointed out that I said the beach here was okay and that I said the beaches in California were a bit nicer. We all laughed in good fun. Rebecca said that an Australian will have a meal while traveling and say it's great. An American will say it's good but that in America we get much better portions. All the guys from Portugal agreed and poked fun.
Wow, I couldn't believe Americans get beat up over here. It was all funny to me though. The rest of the night whenever anyone said anything I would joke and say " well, in America we do this better...or that better"
It was an ongoing joke for them as well. I was having so much fun with them. We all left the bar and drank on a patio while a man played an accordion by our table. I told the group about how I try to pretend I'm Spanish when I was in Italy and here in Barcelona. I confessed the only true sentence I know is "Como te llamas"
So in an introduction, or in the middle of a discussion I would blurt out "Como te llamas."
The rest of the group adopted this and the for remainder of the night, our drunken excursion consisted of everyone saying "Como te llamas" over and over. They loved it.
We were on the hunt for Luciana's boys bar and I was bound and determined to meet him before we reached the club. Our group walked down alleys, adopted new members to follow us in search of Erro. We were getting warmer and a restaurant told me that it was one more right and then a left. When we finally arrived, it was the wrong Manchester bar. It was the original one Nora and I went to earlier. We basically had made one big circle so called off the search and headed to close out our tab and head to the club, Razzmatazz.
When I went to pay for my tab I realized that I had grabbed the wrong bill. I had only pulled ten Euros and meant to grab a twenty when I reached for my money in the dark locker. Now I paid for my beers and did not have enough to get into the club. I was embarrassed. Back at home, you have a credit card and there's no problem. Here, it's not safe to bring out your wallet, so you just bring enough cash for the night. As everyone started heading in the direction of the club, I broke the news that I would not be joining. I explained that I had got ready so quickly and grabbed the wrong bill. They all refused to allow me to leave the fun so volunteered to pitch in so that I could stay with the group. They made a big production about it saying that there was no way I was leaving. It really touched me that these people just met me and didn't want me to miss the big night out. I felt extremely lucky to have met such great people in Barcelona.
We arrived to the club and it definitely was worth the trip. There were three different levels and eight different sections. It was a maze of stairwells, flashing lights, roof tops, dance floors and bars. It was a the perfect grand finale for my trip in Spain. We ordered cocktails and danced the night away on the stage all in one big circle. Our group made our way through the entire club, trying out each level and having a night to remember. I loved that I met the this group of fantastic people in Barcelona. Around 3am we crawled in a cab and made our way back to our hostels. I had a flight to catch in the morning, I would be going back to California sad, but happy knowing that I made most out of my time in Spain.