With Dan Weller's arrival in Barcelona came an interesting realisation for me: the true strangeness of travelling alone for so long and seeing, literally, not a single face I recognised for weeks. Think about it: every day of our lives, we see the same people. Our families, our friends, our roommates and professors, our coworkers, neighbors, people on the street.... These are the constants in our everyday lives, and I went without that for longer than I probably ever have and ever will again. The constants in the last few weeks for me have been the young people at the hostel reception desks and the occasional roommates who stay longer than one night with me. I have had so many "single-serving friends" during this time that it actually feels normal now to say goodbye to someone, know that I will never see or hear from him/her again, and be okay with that.
Anyway! So Dan and I met up at our hostel on Friday morning and almost immediately left for the market I had been to the day before. We didn't buy anything that time, but we took a ton of pictures. For lunch, we went to a vegetarian buffet right next to the market. For €4.20, we got a bed of shredded lettuce, 3 pieces of falafel, and all-you-can-eat toppings, including tabbouleh salad, sun-dried tomatoes, cucumbers with dill, breaded and fried cauliflower, curried chickpeas, hot peppers, pickles, and more that I just can't remember. And it was all delicious.
Actually, now that I think about it, we did buy something at the market - a fruit salad that had melon, watermelon, kiwi, strawberry, orange, grape, pineapple, and dragonfruit. Yum.
After lunch, we went to what is, still to this date, the most incredible sight I've seen in 4 weeks: the Sagrada Familia. A cathedral designed by the Spanish architect Antonin Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia is actually still unfinished - but damn, is it beautiful inside. I can't describe it in words, so you'll have to wait until I can post my photos :-P
After we spent an adequate amount of time gawking over the Sagrada Familia, we then walked (hiked) halfway across the city to the Parc Guell, a park also designed by Gaudi. On the way there, we had some snacks (that we may have stolen off of some trees), and asked about 100 passers-by for directions. But we made it.... Very tired, yes, but certainly not hungry.
We briefly returned to our hostel and then went back out to find dinner and to see the "Magic Fountain," a beautiful yet touristy fountain full of lights that, for some reason, closed at 9pm. So, we were able to get a few photos in before the fountains literally shut down and everyone went away.
It was difficult to find a restaurant for dinner that would cater to a vegetarian and someone who is allergic to milk, gluten, soy, and basically everything delicious in life, but we were eventually able to find a sketchy place that had a slightly overpriced veggie paella. The first place we tried had allegedly run out of patatas bravas (ummm, who runs out of potatoes and hot sauce?), and a lot of the cheaper places were closing. So, veggie paella it was.
That night, we had THE WORST ROOMMATES EVAR. First they checked in around 1am, came into the room, turned on the main overhead light, and had a full conversation. Oh, this was only two of the roommates - the other nine (9) of us had been asleep. Then they left, and everyone tried to go back to sleep. Which would have been largely successful if the two hadn't come back at 4:37am (I know, because I woke up and looked at my watch) and repeated the same behavior as earlier. Eventually they went to sleep, and the next morning after Dan and I had gotten up way before everyone else to eat breakfast, the roommates' friend came in to wake them up (while everyone else in the room was still asleep), and they had another full conversation. It was absolutely ridiculous - everyone was pretty happy to be checking out that morning.
So! We started our day with buying an enormous bar of chocolate with hazelnuts in it that we split for a second breakfast. Then we went to the chocolate museum (time #2 for me). It was a very chocolate-filled morning. Next we went back to the market for lunch and ended up eating at the same place as yesterday - why pass up a good deal? This time we supplemented it with fruit juices, which were freaking awesome.
Next we went to the erotic art museum (again, a second for me, but in a different city this time). It was pretty good, but I liked the one in Paris better. After that we spent the rest of the day walking around, looking at craft vendors, walking along the pier, trying to find the gay nude beach we had read about online, looking for more fruit to steal, and just enjoying the city. I got sunburned, again. But overall, it was a great day. Until I almost missed my train, but that's another story.
So I said goodbye to Dan and headed off on an overnight train to Paris. It was so nice to finally be able to spend some time with someone I actually know and can talk about things back home with. For the most part, I've actually really enjoyed travelling alone.... but it was nice to not have to ask a stranger to take my picture, to be able to joke about things without being afraid of offending the other person, and to just finally be myself.
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