Barcelona

A preliminary note: I forgot to mention in the last blog that while in Montpellier, I went to put on my one pair of non-denim pants, and I couldn't find them. I really have no idea where I left them. Last I remember I washed them with some other clothes in Prague (about 2 weeks prior). Maybe I hung them up somewhere and forgot them? Another piece of clothing bites the dust. I'm really good at losing things.

Day 261 - Tuesday, October 9

My first day in Barcelona, the initial order of business was to sort out my financial situation. Apparently I had been misinformed about the inability to send a replacement debit card to Europe, so I had that sent to Madrid, where I would be at the start of the following week. Then I went to a Citibank branch in Barcelona planning to get some cash using my passport and account information. Well, I showed up about 12:30 and was told that because I was in Spain, it would take 2 hours to get any money because they'd have to contact Citi in the US and it was quite a bit of paperwork and verifications. Two hours? Really? This IS a Citibank right? You can't just pull up my account details see that I have money, verify that I am who I say I am and give me some of my money in some reasonable amount of time? ... What's that? Oh, you also close at 2pm for siesta, so you can't give me any money today at all and I need to come back tomorrow so that there's plenty of time to complete the two-hour process? Great. Can I have some Euros for my Swiss Francs? Oh, you can change those, but you charge 20% commission? Sweet. You guys are awesome!

On a less frustrating note, the weather on Tuesday was amazing. I felt like I was back in Southern California, after a cold couple of weeks in central Europe. So I walked down through the famous La Rambla and its hordes of tourists to the beach and relaxed there for a while. La Rambla:

From Barcelona

The beach:

From Barcelona

A few other photos as I explored:

From Barcelona

From Barcelona

While all of Europe seems to be on board with the idea that no one goes out until really late, I think Spain takes the cake, with many clubs not even opening up until 2am, and staying out until mid-morning seemingly even more commonplace than elsewhere in Europe. So I decided to channel my inner Spaniard and joined a pub crawl that didn't leave the hostel until well after midnight, stopping at a couple of bars before getting to the club sometime after 2am. For the umpteenth time, I confirmed that I'm not really a club person, but when in Rome Barcelona. Prior to going out, I think I had the worst beer I've had all trip. And that's really saying something. It probably ranks right up there with the worst beer I've ever had, right along side King Cobra and O.E.

From Barcelona

Day 262 - Wednesday, October 10

Wednesday I headed back to the bank, where for some unknown reason, it really did take nearly 2 hours to get cash. Then I explored the city a bit more. Some photos:

From Barcelona

I came across some kids breaking into the locked up diving complex from the 1992 Olympics that overlooks the city. When they noticed, they proceeded to yell at me for taking photos, forcing me to quickly come up with a spanish sentence easing their fears. I think I was successful; they didn't steal my camera or attack me or anything.

From Barcelona

Perhaps Barcelona's most famous landmark, La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's crazy unfinished cathedral that they are now trying to finish.

From Barcelona

That afternoon I started to feel really crappy. I had been battling cold/allergy symptoms for a couple of weeks, but Wednesday, I was extremely fatigued with a fever as well, so I just took it easy Wednesday night.

Day 263 - Thursday, October 11

Thursday, it rained all day and whatever illness I had contracted was getting worse - fever/chills, nausea, and any movement at all was a struggle. I determined that this probably was not merely a cold/allergies. A prudent person in my shoes would've probably stayed in and rested. That of course was my plan, but after a free dinner at the hostel, mostely due to the combined influence of several healthy glasses of wine and some very persuasive (read: cute) hostelmates, I was convinced to go out. In retrospect, that was probably a mistake.

Day 264 - Friday, October 12

Friday I felt absolutely awful and it had very little to do with the mild hangover. It was crappy weather again, so it seemed like a good travel day. Given my condition, I probably should've just hung out in Barcelona and rested, but instead, I took a bus a few hours south to Valencia.