Its another budget airline, but far better than Ryanair, which we flew from London to Jerez. Surprisingly, the flight was packed. Midweek (Tuesday), going from Sevilla to Barcelona, made me think what all these people were upto :) . Mostly tourists I presumed.When I got to Barcelona and made my way out of the airport, I was shocked to meet a couple of Indian helper guys speaking in Hindi. They asked me where I wanted to go. For a moment, I hesitated with my hindi, "Was this really happening!?". Both the guys were from Punjab, and I later realized that there were several several people from Punjab in Barcelona. Most of them worked as helpers or had a store of their own. But it wasn't entirely unexpected, because during one of the night outs in Arcos, I'd met a guy who said that he had many Indian friends in Barcelona, and that they were mostly carpenters! Paris had had very few Indians, except for the Tamil area that we'd gone to for dinner on one of the nights. Arcos had zilch, and same with Seville (with the exception of one store selling only Indian stuff, which was closed, but I presumed would've been manned by an Indian or a Spanish person who knew a lot about India - not common in the South of Spain, I can assure you). So, Barcelona had served up a surprise on arrival.
Getting around to finding my hostel was quite easy.
I had the name and the address, and the person at the information desk gave me precise directions, written down on a piece of paper! So all I had to do was to catch a train out to the city, get off at Barca Sants station and walk to my hostel - Alberguinn. It was conveniently located at just 5 mins walk from 3 metro stations. As with London & Paris, one could get to any part of Barcelona VERY conveniently with the metro.The hostel itself was very well maintained, and I was greeted with a loud yet sweet 'Olaaa!' by the cheerful receptionist, Joanna (Its funny how I can remember the names of good-looking women easily, whereas otherwise its quite a tough ask :)). My room had 14 beds! Since I arrived at 4 in the evening, there was nobody there but for two girls who were sleeping. I decided to take a nice nap before I left in the evening to explore this dream city.
I woke up to the girls rolling some joints :O At this time of the day? 5pm.. puhh..! Anyways, I introduced myself, said hello and then headed for a nice bath. I would meet more French girls after my bath, they all belonged to the same group it seemed, on holiday from Paris. I was ready to leave, but I had no idea where to. Joanna, the girl at the reception was a huge help here. She obviously had mastered the map and all the 'must-see' places. I told her the kind of places I wanted to visit and she outlined a nice plan for the evening.
First stop, the Barca Sants station for booking my bus tickets to Marseille in 2 days time. I'm glad I got that out of the way because if I'd have waited any longer, they'd have run out of places on the bus. There are three buses a day, and I could get a ticket only on the one in the morning (9am).
So with that set, I set out on my foot route. Walking all the way from Barca Sants to the Placa Espanya.
Its got an Arc d'Triomphe feel to it, but somehow I liked the view better with the Palace (Palau Nacional) in the background. Walking along the Avenue de la Reina Maria Cristina is quite an experience. You're surrounded by architecture that look MUCH bigger than in pictures or on the graphic map of Barcelona (that I was carrying). The Palace is at a good 5 storeys height from ground level, and open air escalators take you up to it! Its quite a pleasant surprise, and I think they've been put in place keeping in mind the warm weather, which would take a lot out of one if s/he were to climb all the way up.Getting to the top, the view is fantastic. There's someone playing a soft guitar on what looks like the courtyard of the palace and it makes for a very peaceful experience. Taking a walk around the palace, i decide to walk through the gardens behind it further up to the Museu Olimpic i de l'Esport, the Olympic stadium. I get a glimpse of the ground from the outside and it looks like a regular one with a pitch in between and the race track around it. My goal was to get to the Muntanya de Monjuic and the Castell de Montjuic. It is one of the highest points in the city and its a good 5 minute cable car ride from the Funicular Montjuic station. By the time I took my leisurely walk and made my way up to the Castle of Montjuic, it was close to 9pm, just around time for sunset!!
The view was, needless to say, breathtaking! The castle is absolutely majestic and it would have been quite a sight to live here... the sea port on one side, mountains on the other side and the city, replete with Gaudi's mindblowing architecture, sandwiched right in between.With night descending upon the city, I took the cable car ride back down, and to further head towards the station 'Catalunya'. This is the heart of the city, and the name evokes strong a sense of pride in me because of its frequent mention when watching a Barca football match. Right outside the station is the most famous street in Barcelona - Las Ramblas. At past 9.30pm, its choc-a-bloc with people, mostly tourists. Magicians, entertainers, painters, photographers are dime a dozen and people queue up to watch, have fun, be drawn, clicked and the like. There is a fantastic party atmosphere about the whole place.
The sound of music playing from all corners and smell of fresh food from the various restaurants lining along the street make the experience complete. I walk the streets adjoining the Las Ramblas as well. These are full of life as well. One 'square' quickly leads to another and people are just lounging around, having a drink and enjoying the warm weather.That's one thing about Spain. The country just feels MUCH more alive than France or England. The people have a buzz about them. Its not uncommon to give and receive smiles from complete strangers. When I've stood on the street looking at my map for directions, people have come up to me and offered help, can count at least 6-7 instances of that - never did it happen anywhere else. In that sense, Spain feels very much like India, almost as if the people identify with you, rather than consider you a visitor. Its something that really endeared me to Spain. It was an observation consistent across the cities I visited.
I rumbled through Las Ramblas, walked over to the port, through the palm trees - the whole thing felt surreal. I have a weakness for the sea, and I just HAD to sit by it at least for a half hour and soak in the atmosphere. Joanna had suggested that I try this place called Civdad Condal for some good Tapas, but slightly on the expensive side.
I was game, and headed there after my long walk. I'd have preferred to sit outside, but there was no place. Inside it was a bit claustrophobic but I got a seat with a (small) view of the outside, so it wasn't all that bad. I ordered two fish tapas, and of course, Tinto! I had a good fill in the end. The waiters were all Chinese, who spoke English in bits. But it was easy to understand the menu coz it was in like 5 languages. Barca, being the touristy city that it is, restaurants have menus printed in several languagues, so that makes things very easy for anyone traveling.It was nearly 12 by the time I finished and I debated with myself if I should take the last train (at midnight) back to the hostel, or hang around for a bit more and then take a bus (which runs through the night). I decided the easier option, of going for the train. My legs were beginning to complain just a tad bit, and I wasn't sure I'd do much more even if I waited. So off I went by the last train and got back to the hostel around 12.30am. There was a crowd of people standing outside the place having a smoke, and I was greeted by a crowd of "Olaa"s and a few "Bonjour"s as well. Wonder who in the crowd thought I was french :P
I had a quick wash and headed right for bed, only to find a delightful looking girl, Nina, sitting there. Her bed was the one on top of mine and she was "just about to go up" to it and sleep. We had a nice chat, exchanging our stories briefly. What was quite a shocker was that she was from the same village where my cousin lived just outside of London! Its amazing how small the world is! Then I went off to reading my book and she headed off to bed.
And THAT was my first evening in Barcelona. I had fallen in love with the city even before I had come here - thanks to the football and severl shows on TV saying how awesome a place it is. And it had more than lived up to all that hype & build-up.
Tomorrow, the Camp Nou. :)
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