I was really looking forward to going to Barcelona, one for the numerous fun times that I was told would happen and two for the sun and beaches...well only one really happened. Lucky for me I arrive the day it clouds over...good thing was... it never really rained on me...yes.Onto the first day. A little meet and great and off I go with a guy from Scotland to a place called park Guell. If you know anything about arcitechture you'll know that it was one of the Famous Gaudi arcitechtural builds in Barcelona...dont worry I really didn't know either. After heading there walking around the mountain side for what I thought was a little while I look at the time and wow will you look at that...the days gone. Turns out the trip to Barcelona is just like the many before it...intense walking excursions and many sights to see.
Day two Gaudi Cathedral or in reality Cathedral Sagrada familia. Just to be honest with everyone, when I first looked at coming to Barcelona the Gaudi stuff was just...eh so so to me, but geez pictures do not do his work justice. You really have to see the stuff first hand as its just amazing how intrecate everything is. All the small details and just random items he puts into his work...just blew me away...and yes I became a fan.You cant see it in this picture but the entrance to the Cathedral has the entire Nativity scene of the birth of Jesus sculpted out of rock all in hand...crazy stuff...o and theres a giant Christmas tree full of doves between the two double pillars.
Again the cathedral along with a few other small stops completed the second day...geez i couldn't believe how fast these days were going, and man the people just everywhere...it was sick to think that this was the start of their slower season...I would not want to see what busy season was like.
The big reason I had planned to come to barcelona was for their biggest festival, called Marcé. Its based on their Saint and it just a crazy outdoor music festival with just enormous ammounts of things to do. Now I was checking the list of band performing and something caught my eye...one of the bands was from Canada and...it was...SAM ROBERTS...yes thats totally awesome. Just a sidenote...not a superfan or anything, but have a few of his songs on my ipod and hes Canadian....so ya gotta see what he's like live.
A group of us Canadians with a few Americans tagging along because they just know we know how to bring the party decide to head there a little early just so we can get close...turns out theres a Spanish group playing before hand and holy smokes...the place is jammed tight like sardines...turns out it starts to rain aswell...ooops guess I lied earlier on...oh well. Ya so after that group goes well past its playing time and after all of us non spanish speakers had enough of the band we make our way to the front for the REAL concert.FRONT ROW AND CENTRE BABY...and boy was this concert a rocking...it filled up super quick after these guys let loose the golden sounds from above. probably funniest part was when Sam Roberts comes out on stage...chugs a Moloson Canadian beer then throws it into the crowd...unfortunately it hits a girl right infront of me...right in the head...and she was a super die hard fan...boy did that baby swell up fast. He sees this...apologizes right away then brings her up on stage...ya I think he made her night after that.
The concert was outstanding so I booked another day to stay in Barcelona and by golly am I glad that I did. Me and another guy that I've been meeting up with along the way headed out to the Olympic area and on our way there we saw an advertisement for the bull fight...well hello something I've been wanting to do this whole time while in Spain and Portugal lands on my lap. We finish of there and race to the bull ring, we get the cheapest tickets...and even though this turned out to be one of my most expensive days...it was sooooo worth it.
I really wasn't sure what to expect when I went in. I knew they killed the bull, but that was basically it. Now these guys have guts...you would never find me inches away from a huge bull who is just super pissed because you have these little turds in tights poking at you and just tauting you.
I do agree to a certain extent that its severe torture as they end up killing six bulls throughout the night, but it was still unique and entertaining to see how they actually perform the entire show. I was impressed, but at the same time would probably not go again.
The picture above and to the left is tought to make out but if you're able to zoom it in you can see the matador stabbing the sword into the bulls back...pretty intense and graphic stuff...definitely not for the faint of heart as three people fainted during or after the show.
After these past few intesified filled days what more could you ask for...well lets see...how bout a nice 12 hour train ride...hmmm ya that sounds real nice. Well it should because thats where I was headed...Nice, France (pronounced Neese for those that aren't sure)
Turns out the rain enjoys following me places...it just knows how muuuuuch i love it. So the left is Nice.(there was a sunny break and I thought it just looked stunning with the rays over the water and birds flying across)Again walking was on the agenda as me and some fellow backpackers explored the town of Nice. I was able to walk through some beautiful outdoor markets as well which made me salivate as the food looked and smelled soooo good...darn budget.
O and a quick note for my Grandma. There was a stand with some of the sweetest smelling wild lavander I have ever smelled...and for my sister...well she needs to look at this next picture...a stand chalked to the brim...of all olives.
She probably doesn't check the blog so I might just have to email it too her, but boy oh boy, these olives were to die for. Now of course I didn't try them all, but geeez....just look at those bad boys.
After the Nice walkaround on Monday it was time to hit sunny Monaco...unfortunately for me it still wasn't sunny. Luckily though me and some others were able to find a quaint little spot along the beach and get a few gorgeous rays in before it clouded over once again.
After beaching it for a good couple hours, it was off to the world renouned Monte Carlo Casino...home to the world series of poker as well as many other high rollers.
I wanted to waltz in and take a look at all the different games they had going, but because Monaco loves its money...they were charging 10 euros to get inside just to look around. I said thanks but I can see just fine from right here. While the others went to gamble away some of their savings me and another member of the group headed off down the F1 racing track around Monaco. They actually close the entire city of Monte Carlo when they host the race...geez only a ritzy place like Monaco could you do that...also just to point out, I saw more ferraris and lamborghinis then any place else. Plus the Yatchs....ya lets not get into how big those babies were
Clouds clouds and more clouds was in store for me in Nice, therefore I was good and ready to be heading towards the Paris region. Unfortunately, I wasn't very clear on the directions to stay at Cyril's parents house. But I'm three weeks in...so I have a little travel sense behind me.
Now this is when the fun starts. The train I catch isn't going to be taking me to the location I need to go, therefore I get as close as possible. A side note I forgot to mention was that in all the commotion of trying to figure out where the bus was heading I never purchased a ticket....soooo....being the last one left, and at the final stop guess who's there to greet me?
No not Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny, but the ticket checker guy....live and in the flesh...no myth about it. He asks me to present my ticket, so I give him my train ticket. (Hey Im not going to stand there looking like bacon ready to be cooked Im gonna do my best to sell the situation) He looks at the ticket...takes a long hard look at me...looks at the ticket again...then asks what country Im from. I reply Canada, while pointing to the stitched on flags. He smiles and laughs....tells me next time make sure I buy a ticket and say hello to Ottawa for him.
Well let me just clean up my underwear and then Ill continue the story...boy was I ever lucky. Now I just need to find a phone. I end up wandering around an unknown town before catching a break yet again. A shop is open and they have a phone I can use for free. I call up Cyril's mom and everything works out. As Im waiting to get picked up I just laugh to myself thinking...now this is what travelling is all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment