Day 22 (Sunday, June 4)

Troy's Waking-Up-in-the-Middle-of-the-Night Schedule

Time	Perpetrator(s)	Lights turned on?
3:00am	Alex the Brazilian Englishman	No
5:00am	The 3 Mexicans	Yes
6:00am	Richard, Akhil, Raoul, and Mike	Yes
6:00-6:30am	All 3 Mexicans snoring loudly	No

I woke up (for good) around 8:30am and went outside the room for the free continental breakfast: bread and jam. There were three girls that looked rather haggard having breakfast and we started talking a bit. Turns out they were from Sweden and studying abroad in Barcelona. They had been clubbin all night and none of them had had any sleep yet. After a while, they all left and two other girls sat down and started having breakfast. I guess I didn't have to go out to meet girls...haha, don't get mad, Rachel. :-) These girls were from Canada and had just graduated from the University of Ottawa and were in the middle of a 5 week backpacking trip.

After breakfast, I went for a run to the Olympic Village. Barcelona held the Olympics in 1992 and a big part of the city has all the facilities such as the stadiums, pools, etc. It was an extremely scenic run, and I wish I had brought my camera with me. Once I got to the village area, there was a steep uphill that took over 10 minutes to run, but when I got to the top, I could see the entire city spread out below me in all directions. It was truly breathtaking. Maybe I was just winded from my run, but something was making me short of breath, and I'd like to think it was the scenery. :-)

After I got back from the run, the two Canadian girls were heading out for the day, and they offered to show me how to get to the supermarket. Since the guys were still sleeping and would probably be sleeping for several more hours, I went with them. We walked down one of the better known roads in Barcelona, Las Ramblas, and it turned out all the supermarkets were closed since it was Sunday, so I just kept walking with them. After about an hour, I split up with them and came back to the hostel. On the way back, I had one fo the best smoothies I have ever had: A strawberry, banana, and pineapple smoothie made from real fruit... Mmmmm, it was sooo good, especially after a long run.

When I got back to the hostel, I took a much needed shower and made a decision. The guys were still asleep, and I realized that I just wasn't having a good time around them. So I decided to leave early. I looked online, found there was a night train going to Metz and checked out of the hostel. The guys had this plan for Sunday: go to the beach when they rolled out of bed, spend the rest of the day there, and then go out and party all night again. I really wanted to tour the city and see the historic/cool sites, so I figured I was on my own anyway. I guess I could have just found another hostel in Barca, but I decided it would be easiest to just catch a train.

So, I left the hostel with a map of Barcelona and started out. I had about 4 hours before my train left, so I wandered down Las Ramblas and took in the sights and sounds. The thoroughway through the strip was full of random things: artists, booths, mimes, gypsies, etc. The gypsy I saw put knives down his throat and lay on a bed of nails. Pretty cool stuff!

I then grabbed some lunch, and had some yummy gelato afterward. Afterward, I walked through an area of town that had tons of ancient buildings. I don't know what they were all called, but it was really cool to see. It was interesting to see what looked to be castle ramparts next to a modern business building. The whole city seems to be a mix of the old and the new.

The city is so huge that I felt like I had barely begun to explore when it was time to get to the train station. I took the Metro to the train station and got a reservation for the night train to Metz. At this point, it's kind of boring to talk about riding trains, so I'll tell you about all the Americans I met:

* First, while I was waiting to find out what platform to go to at the Barcelona station, I met two guys from Missouri who went to school at Creighton. They were studying abroad in Madrid.

* I met three girls in the Barcelona train station who were from Michigan who were backpacking across Europe.

* At a train station in Cerbere, France, I had dinner on a bench with a guy who had recently graduated from Purdue and was backpacking across Europe for 5 weeks.

* Finally, I met a group of four girls from the University of Minnesota who were studying abroad in Montpellier, France, and talked with them for about three hours on the train before they had to get off.

It just hit midnight as I'm writing this on the train, so I guess that does it for today. I should get to Metz around 8:30am in the morning, and if you are reading this, then I got back just fine. So, no worries. That means you, mom! :-)

From this trip, I'm taking away the lesson that when you travel, no matter how wonderful the place is that you're visiting, the most important part is simply enjoying your time and the people you're traveling with. This trip would have been much different if I had gone with a group who I was more compatible with. But, like so many times already on this trip, it was a learning experience, and I feel I am better for it.

Also, this just gives me an excuse to come back and really see Barcelona one day. :-)