SPAIN PT. 1

Patatas Bravas

By Justin Tang

May 4^th, 2015

BArcelona

POST-MIDNIGHT MISH

Barc-notalone-a. 27th April, Sheffield-Manchester Airport train was at 3:25am. Flights were 6:25am. Got into Barcelona at 9:30am local time. You get what you pay for with Ryanair, it’s not great. Coffees kept me up through the night. Multi-line snapchats also helped. ‘Murican travel buddy Sarah slept through it all with ease. Probably the most tired I’ve ever been. Life’s like a road that you travel on.

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¿NO HABLA(S) INGLÉS?

The first couple hours of Barcelona were stressful. I’ve never really had to find my way around a city without knowing the language or having a handy local. We eventually made it to Clara’s mother’s amazing hilltop house located right beneath Tibidabo and overlooking the whole city. Clara then made us delicious meals that pretty much covered general Spanish snacking. I seriously regret not taking photos of the place and city views. Also, Clara is the best and I love her. It’s really weird when you haven’t seen someone for a while and their English is at a different level.

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Local Life

Everything changes when you have locals to show you around. From then on you can just follow and enjoy, easily the best way to see a city. Clara and her mother (and Vera) showed us all the best places for food and everything. We got to see cathedrals, local skaters and walk along La Rambla. The next day we spent a couple hours on Barceloneta beach, nobody gets into the water which is absurd. After naps, Nasty Mondays at the Apollo is a great night out. Spanish guys in nightclubs are creepy and aggressive AF. Don’t do it alone, ladies.

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FOOD

Other than the fanciest Burger King ever at the airport, we haven’t really eaten anything other than authentic Spanish food. Good lord, it’s all delicious. I’ve don’t think I’ve ever had better food in my life. Everything is premium Grill’d quality. It balances out the thousands of daily walking miles. Our friend’s friend’s local friend Martina took us to this place called La Taperia in ‘El Nacional’ where the servers just yell out food they’re bringing around and you take it. They called us the United Nations. Patatas Bravas (hence the title) are amazing. I rate the experience and food 15 out of 10. I think we’ve tried all of the local foods. I’ll list what they are when I can figure out what they’re called. They put olive oil on everything. I’ll have to remember that when I become internationally enlightened and pretentious. We also drink coffee everyday for energy and wifi.

TURISTA

So as Vera went home to ‘Deutschland’ and Clara had to go on her South America journey, Sarah and I began going full tourist. We did really well. Our fancy hostel was located right in the middle of the city. Instead of keys, fingerprints were used to access rooms. The Picasso museum was booked out when we went but we got to enjoy his famous works in the giftshop. Once you realise La Rambla and Placa Catalunya are central points, it’s all good.

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA

Absolutely stunning. It is unreal. We could have easily spent the whole day inside. I couldn’t capture the lighting anywhere close to how it was.

“Gaudi pun about being God-dy in the cathedral” - Sarah H.

Museu Nacional

We didn’t want to spend money but the stairs, Font Magica and views just outside are very nice.

There was a day where we failed at everything.

Parc Guell

They started charging tourists to enter Parc Guell and we didn’t think it was worth 8 Euros. We walked above and around it, got better views from behind it and essentially saw all of it and more for free.

‘You don’t need to go to Parc Guell when you can just see McDonald’s’ - Vera V.

Placa d’Espanya

Ancient arena converted into a shopping centre. 360 degree views on the rooftop are pretty cool.

Misc. Gaudi Buildings

This guy can really architect.

We also got meet up with the legendary Victor Da Pena (VDP). Spanish beers are delicious. Thank you for everything and good luck with your new job, brother!

Barcelona is my favourite place and I’m scared nothing will top it. The photos are pretty self-explanatory.

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“I have this odd fascination with things like sand castles and ice sculptures. I assume it‘s because I usually find myself dedicating time to things that will only last a few moments.” - Rudy Francisco

Panic

I didn’t realise there was a Spanish public holiday on this particular weekend so Sarah and I got stranded when train prices went through the roof and hostels everywhere in Madrid were booked. Someone in our hostel room recommended we just go to a bar and not sleep. Great advice, bro.

When is there a better situation to try Blablacar (recommended by Sofiene/everyone)? I’m really glad we did because we had a great time. Alex and Jorge were the sweetest couple and gave us a fully authentic Spanish road trip experience to Madrid. Sarah slept through most of it again, literally the worst transit person ever. In the middle of my hectic panic attack, Sarah’s lovely angel of a mother put us up in a fancy hotel in Madrid.

Thank you, Mr and Mrs H!

“Fly, Eagles, Fly. Bleed green til I die.” - Everyone after Sanchez throws the winning TD to Agholar in Superbowl 50.

MADrid

Devastated about having to leave BCN, I was just not liking Madrid nearly as much. Madrid is aight. If Barcelona is a cool and fun young dude (Me), than Madrid is more like Barcelona’s elegant yet far more boring older sister (Amanda). It’s definitely much classier but it just didn’t have the vibe that Barcelona has. Sarah really liked Madrid and eventually warmed me to it’s beautiful gardens, museums (specifically the Prado Museum) and overall classiness. The central strip at night looks like a wannabe NYC.

These Calamari Rolls are extremely popular in Madrid. You get exactly what you expect, nothing more.

Waiting in line at the Prado Museum. These jeans are expensive.

Handy tip: If you’re ever lost or confused in a new (and non-english speaking) city, just head into the nearest hotel and ask reception. Extremely useful and helpful.

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Reddit recommended Casa Mingo’s, claiming they had the tastiest chicken ever. Can’t contest that.

That’s the first leg done! I’m currently on a bus onto the south from Madrid to Granada. So that’s goodbye to travel buddy Sarah and on to travelling alone. Sad yet exciting times. Also I turn the big 20 tomorrow… Not happy.