September 22nd, Nice - Barcelona, Spain

September 22, 2006
Nice – Barcelona, Spain

This morning I woke up around 7:30 and went down to the wonderful breakfast. After filling myself, I showered and packed my stuff up. It was then time to say goodbye to Marty and Peter (for the second time…).

We made it to the train station at about 9:00 and chilled out for about an hour. At 10:00 we boarded the train to Montpellier, France. I spent most of the 4-hour ride listening to Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix (Thanks Mom and Bro’s).

We arrived in Montpellier very hungry and tired. We found a quick lunch and then sat on the floor of the train station for a couple of hours. At 17:00 we boarded the train for Barcelona. It was the oldest, most uncomfortable train yet. To make matters worse, the people in front of us (from Wisconsin and Minnesota) were not very friendly. We repeatedly tried to make conversation and have fun with them. In the end, our efforts were futile.

The train ride seemed to take an eternity but we eventually arrived in Barcelona. Just as the train was pulling into the station B informed me that Meghan (from Rome and Cinque Terra) would be meeting us at the train station. Apparently he had been corresponding with her and made a plan.

Meghan has been here for several days and knew where our hostel was. After a quick but very hot metro ride we were at our hostel. As we approached our new place of residence we were shocked to see that a giant parade was coming at us in the opposite direction. We were informed that we had arrived in Barcelona just as the years biggest festival was getting under way.

We quickly dropped off our bags and then headed out to enjoy the legendary Spanish nightlife. It did not disappoint. There were people everywhere! The streets were packed and there were numerous parades going on. There was also a plethora of street performers and musicians.

We eventually arrived at a large square where a concert was going on. We spent most of the rest of the evening there and I had to bear witness to several makeout sessions between B and Meghan…

I arrived back at my hostel just before 3:00am.

PS – I tried my luck with one of street performer games and got taken for 10 Euros (Meghan lost 50!). It was one of those games where they have a little ball and you pick which box it is under…it seemed easy but was a total scam!

PPS - pictures of the festival to come...