Spain... time to practice my spanish

After Thursday night out, I got a half day at work and headed home to pack for Barcelona. I honestly had no idea what to expect out of Spain. I had heard that it was amazing and that it was one of the top cities in Europe to visit, but beyond that I think all I knew was that they spoke Spanish. And that turned out even to be false. They speak a special kind of Spanish. And I speak almost no Spanish. Gracias. Por Favor. Si. And I probably don't even say them right!

I had heard before that Ryanair can be awful to fly with because of delays and all that jazz. We made it through the airport quickly, as James had promised me, and made our way to our gate. Jussi and Olivier were meeting us there and we all made it on time. The plane ride was uneventful, and we landed on time. Yay!!

However, Jade was meeting me in Barcelona and her plane was an hour late. I decided to wait at the airport for her, as we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to get to Barcelona (another disadvantage with flying with such a cheap airline). James (thank you!!!) waited with me, saying he wouldn't leave me alone in Spain. That left Jussi and Olivier to go on ahead and find the hostel for us. Jade's plane arrived an hour later, and we took the next bus putting us in Barcelona around midnight. Luckily Jade had a map and we somehow found our hostel.

First thing I noticed: tons of people out at midnight. Like the main street was packed. Second thing I noticed: people selling you beer on the street. Beer, beer they would ask. And we just kept on walking. Third thing: I can't speak spanish. I can't even say por favor or gracias. Not naturally anyways. It took a good 5 seconds for me to form the words in my mouth. And by that point I looked like a complete idiot. Because the only time I've been in a country where I don't speak the language was Germany, sometimes I found myself speaking German in Spain. Yup, don't know what the situation was. Whatever, somehow found a way to communicate.



After settling in at the hostel which was very nice, we headed out!! At 1 am. Let the night begin. First we went on a short tour of the city, then to a bar that Olivier knew about. It served a special kind of drink called a Mariachi, which has it's own special ingredients. Surprise number 1: 2 euros for a drink. 2 euros. Yep, only 2 euros!! I couldn't believe it. Compared to Dublin's 4 or 5 for a pint, I was in heaven. It tasted excellent. After our first drink, Jade and James said because we were in Spain, we HAD to do Tequila shots. Me and Tequila aren't friends, but because I'm friends with Jade and James I said ok. Guess what? Only 2 euros for a Tequila shot!!! So we did the whole salt and lemon thing and it wasn't half bad. After Spain, tequila and I might rekindle our past relationship.

Anyways, the bar was closing so Olivier took us to another bar that was also closing. So we decided to buy some beer from the guys that were selling it (only 1 euro per beer!) and we headed to the port. It was wonderful sitting by the ocean, looking at the boats and lights of Barcelona. Loved every single second of it. I'm already falling in love with this city. We made it home at 5 am, wake up call for breakfast: 9 am. What's new?