Nice to Barcelona!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
We woke up early this morning to catch our 930 train...hopefully!! We were told that the strike was only to last 24 hours but who knows... “nothing is for sure in France” we are told! So we got packed up and had to wake up our Argentinean roommate Manuel since he was up late and asked us to make sure he was up for his train too. We grabbed a quick breaky and headed to the reception to check out and ask if the strike was over. They weren’t sure but thought that it had so we’d soon find out. So we grabbed the shuttle down to the tram stop and saw that the trams were running!! Hooray!!! That means the probability of the trains running is good. So we grabbed the tram to the train station and it was packed full of people trying to get to where they are already supposed to be. Anyhow, the train was running and we were thrilled!!! Barcelona here we come!! The thing is though, that our ticket from yesterday doesn’t entitle us to a seat today so I go to the ticket window line and it is simply massive. The line is not moving and there are only 2 people working with about 50 people in line. It was ridiculous. Anyhow, I figured that I may as well wait because what else do I have to do for the next hour?? Heather was waiting on the platform with the bags so I waited and waited and waited some more until finally I was nowhere near the front and the train was due to leave in less than 5 minutes so we just got on the train and took our chance with a seat. We had to move a couple of times while we were on the train but it wasn’t actually all that bad because we only stood for about 10 minutes at the end and we could have found another seat. So we arrived in Avignon but we were at the TGV station and had to catch our next train at the central station so we had to find a bus to take us there. It turned out to be much easier than we thought but once we got to the central station, we only had a few minutes to grab a bite to eat and get on the train. We made it, but just barely. We then took the train for an hour or so and had to change again near the Spanish border. It would be our last train of the day but it was due to take about 4 hours. It was the most ghetto train we have ever seen. It was seriously busted up and had been the same decor since the early 70’s. It was really gnarly!! We grabbed a seat and hoped for the best. About an hour in, we were kicked out of our seats and decided to just grab some floor space and some beers and make a party. We had the laptop out too so we put on some tunes and rocked out on the floor. Great way to meet people too! This Turkish guy came and talked to us for awhile and taught us how to speak Turkish...then we ran into Manuel!! The guy from our hostel who we woke up this morning! We had known that he was heading to Barcelona too but we left on different trains and never thought that we’d meet up. So, we had some beers and chatted with him the rest of the train ride. It was fun! Funny story though, so when you cross some European borders, you have to clear passport control. So essentially the French customs officers came and then the Spanish customs officers to check passports and visas if necessary. The first were the French...”citizenship?” he says and we reply with “Canadian”, of course and he just walks away. No identification needed if you are Canadian. Again, same thing with the Spanish officer...he walks by and asks for our passports, Heather holds hers up to give to him and he just waves it away and walks on. HAHAHA! We laughed about it for a really long time. Apparently if you are from Canada, they don’t give a crap if you enter the country or not. So funny! We even made friends with the conductor. Anytime we had to stop at a station, he would come and let us know which side ahead of time since we were blocking the doorway. The one time though he got it wrong so we were totally in the way with all of our stuff and he helped us move everything. Pretty ridiculous actually!! He was holding the laptop which was beating out the tunes. Hehe! Anyhow, after a lot of beers and a few laughs later, we arrived in Barcelona. We parted ways with Manuel but planned to meet up after. He gave us his mobile number and he told us where he would probably be tonight. So we headed to the hostel, checked in, met a Canadian guy and got ready. We got into a little “tift” this evening but cried, hugged and now it’s all good! Hehe! So we got ready really quickly and Scott met us at the hostel at 10pm ready to rock! It was so good to see him; a familiar face (even though he’s a new friend) is so amazing! Plus he is amazing! So we ended up going to get some drinks and heading to the apartment of the Canadian guy Michael’s friend Iris. Wow, mouthful! We had some drinks and decided at about midnight to head out and grab a drink at a pub or restaurant before heading to the clubs. In Barcelona, the party doesn’t get good until 2ish so we had some time to kill and just chill out first. After we left, I remembered that I left Manuel’s phone number on the vanity at Iris’s apartment. Shoot! I felt really badly because it felt like we stood him up. Oh well! We hoped that we would run into him that night since we were heading to the beach bars that he suggested. So we ended up in this little outdoor square or Piaza they would call it in Italy, and had a drink on the patio. Now when I say we had “a” drink that means Scott and I had a litre pint of beer and the girls had huge, really strong sangria. It took awhile to get those ones down. When we were done, we grabbed a taxi to the beach bars and decided on one that looked the busiest and had good music playing. Cover was also cheaper there too so that was a bonus. It was a crazy night, lots of good times and we partied until 430 at the club. We were wrecked and it was time to head back. We grabbed a taxi and started heading back when we started talking about food and our hunger especially since we didn’t have any dinner. So we had the taxi driver, literally turn around and go the opposite direction to McDonald’s because that was all that was opened. So we went to the drive thru which was full of taxi’s and got our mcmeals. Hehe! 45 minutes later and a 20 euro cab bill later, we arrived back at the hostel. Everyone was getting back around the same time but everyone was jealous of our food. They all loved it! We ate, then hit the sack, Scottie went home and we had to laugh, he wasn’t a far walk home but the metro was now running again because it was nearly 6 am by the time he left.