Day Five: Guided Sightseeing of Barcelona; Walking Tour
After another disgusting breakfast we boarded the bus again for a tour of the city. We went and saw the Olympic ring, a bunch of old statues and monuments that were pretty cool, and all of Barcelona’s famous architectural masterpieces. It was especially amazing when we went to see La Sagrada Familia. It was so amazing to see it up close. Every little bit of it is symbolic, and it all takes so much effort to have it all so perfect. The work done on that building is truly one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. My dad says it looks like mud. I told him we are all entitled to our own opinions, but to keep in mind he’s the one who needs glasses while I have perfect eyesight.
My favorite part was when we went to Gaudi’s park. We got to see his old house, see some of his work, and hear about some of the things he did in his life. Our tour guide definitely made the tour as special as it was. She was so passionate about Barcelona’s history, it felt like we were all listening so much more intently than usual in order to feel things the way she felt them. The two best parts for me were seeing this really cool tunnel thing and visiting the famous lizard. The tunnel was all sideways; it looked like it had been tipped over. The lizard was just awesome.
There was this Spanish guy trying to pose in all of my pictures, it was very annoying, but I finally got one where he wasn’t completely blocking the shot (after about two minutes of failed attempts). We were ale to hear some of Barcelona’s history, learn some Catalonian words (the people in Barcelona actually speak Catalan instead of Spanish, but that’s a different story), and see a beautiful view of the whole city. I’ve got to say, Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen, and it was one of my favorite stops. Dinner wasn’t bad that night; we just had a meal already prepared for us at the hotel. It felt amazing to go to bed that night.
p.s. There was a nude bicycle group passing us at one point. I tried not to see anything, but they were everywhere. I closed my eyes after a moment and ran into a bike (the guy was stopping for a drink). I ended up just looking at my shoes for the following five minutes. (I kept my camera safely in my bag, so no pictures!)
Day 6: Transfer to Provence via Carcassonne
That day was mostly a long bus ride. We sat there for hours looking at how the land was changing the further we got along. There were more trees here, everything was green and overgrown. When we crossed the border I was surprised. That was it? It was just like one of those stops you take when you enter California, barely more than a minute long break.
Riu explained how select European countries banded together and sort of made a whole new country, although it wasn’t exactly like that… We stopped in Carcassonne along the way, our first stop in France. There was no toilet paper or soap. You can imagine all the fun, 18 girls spazzing out about how unsanitary it was, a French couple came rushing in because they thought someone had been injured. The guys in our group just laughed and peed in the bushes.
Well, we went into this really cool castle place; it was like a medieval mall. Our group saw a haunted house and everyone wanted to go. I got so scared, there was a guy in our group who was right in front of all the girls the whole time, I don’t think he’ll be able to wear his jacket again; we stretched it out WAY too much. We had lunch, and went on our way again. when we arrived in Provence we decided we wanted to see the city at night. It was strangely empty.
We went for a walk and my group of five ran into another group of “nice” French boys. One of the girls with us was wearing very short shorts. A man from the French group walked up to her and began saying she was beautiful and that he was in love with her. At first we were too stunned to say anything, our eyes were rounder than you could possibly believe. The girl he was complimenting just stood there, transfixed. But we all snapped out of it when he called her a wild tiger. I remember laughing the whole way back to the hotel.
Glad you were able to deal with then biker nudes and also the Romeo Frencihes. It takes all kinds to make a world. Eventually someone will come up with a spray for them (you know kind of like mosquito repellant).
Love ya.
Grandpa Bart
You are a great writer Mandi –wonder where you get that from!:) It’s so fun to read of your adventures. I too am glad you made it past the naked cyclists and the wild tiger man!:)