Traveling to Europe is pretty cheap, well going to the United Kingdom is not so cheap, but I found a flight that was only $100 round trip! Round Trip! But, here’s the catch: it consists of a 5 hour layover in Barcelona. Yes, I had to go south in order to go north. I’m not complaining in the least, because it only cost me $100!
I took a taxi to Prague airport and the plane left around 4am, I slept most of the way. I arrived in Barcelona around 6am. So, now I can say I’ve been to Barcelona, right? Nope, I needed to see Barcelona, not Barcelona’s airport. I went to the information desk and asked how much would it cost to get to the center of Barcelona. The information desk was really rude, they were refusing to give me the information because they thought I’d miss my flight! This irked me to no end, so I put on my best Spanish and asked people outside the airport.
I hoped on a bus for a 30 minute ride into the center of the city. It was around 7:30am and it was still dark here. The sun doesn’t rise until 8am. So, I walked into one of the Barcelona Spain luxury hotels and sat in the lobby until the sun rose. I figured I had only about an hour to an hour and a half to walk around. As the sun rose, I headed out to the main street. All I saw were early morning runners and business people. But, as the sun fully rose, I was struck with the beauty of the city. I found a coffee shop and ordered a very strong coffee. I hadn’t had any sleep for a day and a half! As I walked about some more, there were more and more people walking around. The weather was crisp, I only had my t-shirt and jeans on. I checked out a few shops and tried not to get lost.
The things I noticed in just an hour or so: tons of mopeds, more so than cars. All the people I conversed with were very friendly and interested that I was a tourist. Barcelona’s a lot bigger than what I thought. I’m definitely going to have to come back here for an actual stay.
When I was waiting for the bus to take me back to the airport, I met this German guy. He was traveling Europe because he just finished with his Masters. He had stayed here in Barcelona for a week, then he’s off to Munich for a month, celebrate Oktoberfest, then back to Barcelona for another week. Then off to the French Alps to get in some skiing and a possible ski job at the resort. What a life! I managed to get to the airport with 5 minutes to spare! Off to Liverpool!
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