The final day in Jaca I ended up losing my camera, fail. So sad about that loss, but it isn’t entirely unsurprising. That’s why I had the cheapest camera available. I’m struggling with details of the days because they were so busy, but I’ll give my best.
Wednesday we went to a castle in the morning and it was incredible. It was so beautiful and filled with history. Then we went white water rafting. Ok, well it was supposed to be white water rafting, but the river was too low, so we did white water canoeing. I hate to say it, but canoeing has just never really been my cup of tea. Dominic was my partner though and I let him do all the hard work haha. We fell off our canoe in the rapids twice though, and for some reason it just really freaked me out. I think because the first time I got my head stuck under the canoe for a few seconds, so it just made me paranoid the whole rest of the time. Sorry to sound like a negative nancy though, because I’m still really glad I got to experience it.
By the castle
Group before white water canoeing
That night was very relaxed and Erin, Amanda, and I got kebabs at a restaurant. At Valencia they’re all just stands, but this place was pretty legit ha. We met the rest of our group at another restaurant and saw our favorite bartender, David. Thursday morning I woke up with his mugshot in my wallet because he decided to give it to me. What a weird sir. Of course, I’m cherishing that forever though ha.
Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and rode the bus to Zaragoza. From there we rode the bus to Barcelona, which worked out nicely. We ended up just taking a taxi to our hostel where we were pleased to find it was about ten times nicer than our Amsterdam hostel.
That day we just went shopping a lot and a got some boots, heels, and a dress. We just happened to be in Barcelona during the biggest festival of the year, Marce. We didn’t even know until we got here, but it was packed and filled with parades, music, and crazy traditions like a fire run in the streets. We loved it!
That night we went out to a disco on the beach with our hostel because they had a deal where they could get us in free. It was a white clothes themed party, which we weren’t aware of, but I ended up wearing a white dress just on accident. Nice. It was super cool and we danced, wandered around, met lots of tourists like us. Eventually I wandered out to see the beach and then got a taxi back to the hostel. That taxi driver was most definitely my fav haha. We bonded, no big deal.
The next day we went to the Dali museum, walked around La Rambla and the port, and just got to know the city a lot. There was a parade when we went to get paella for dinner and saw fireworks on the water. The two days we were there were the two days out of the year you could technically legally drink on the street, so we got some sangria with that. We went to this cool bar called Chupitos where they have hundreds of different types of funny shots. My favorite was of course the Harry Potter shot where they say incendio and light it on fire before you take it. We also did things like the creep show and the kiss of death, which had tabasco sauce in it. Someone had recommended a bar called the stock market bar to us where the prices of drinks go up and down based on their level of consumption. It turned out to be so far away, but we navigated the metro and had to ask directions a number of times, and finally made it. It didn’t end up being as cool as we expected so Amanda, Erin, and I went to a club next door. I just danced with them for a long time until I got tired around 4 and left. Guess I wasn’t really a Spanish champion because I never made it until 7 this weekend.
Us at chupitos
This one was called the creep show I believe
The next day we slept in literally until like 1. I got lunch with Murt and Jacob and we wandered around the city. We saw the coolest things like the Gaudi waterfall in the park and the Parliament building. They wanted to nap later, so I went back to the hostel. That night Kelly, Emily, Erin, Amanda, and I met them at the port for this wine tasting. It was only 6 euros and you got 5 glasses. We ate dinner after that and then met a lot of people from out group at Chupitos. I really didn’t end up staying out late at all because I was just tired and I think everyone was getting on each other’s nerves a little.
Sunday we had to check out of our hostel by 10 am, which was kind of unfortunate because our bus didn’t leave until 10 pm. But Sunday was literally one of my favorite days. We got to see the castellers, which are human tower builders. I learned about them in my Spanish civ class last semester, so it was amazing to see them in person. They literally just stand on each other until the littlest child climbs up to the top, which was probably like 30 feet high. I was amazed. After that we just got to wander around the city, sit at cafes , and laugh the entire time about funny memories from the trip. Around 5 I decided to metro out to the Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudi’s really famous cathedral. The other 4 girls had seen it while I was hanging out with Murt and Jacob the day before, so I went on my own. I really really enjoyed just getting to be by myself for the first time in like 10 days though. I read my book on a bench and then went back to meet them. We went to dinner and then left for the bus station around 9.
Me and Amanda sitting at one of our many people watching places in Barcelona
The castellers! SO COOL
The bus left at 10 and we didn’t get home until like 2:30 am. We walked back to the study center and then I had to stay up and do homework because I forgot it on the trip. I didn’t go to bed until at least 4:30 and then got up for class at 9. It was a tad rough, but class was good and then I napped until 2:30. I finally was able to unpack and then my professor had us over at his house to make paella. Like 10 people ended up being there and it was really good.
I stayed until 8 and then Amanda and I came out to Pan de Queso to do homework. Aka I’ve spent all my time here updating my blog haha. Oh well, it just feels good to be back home in Valencia :)
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