Entry 6: Barcelona, Spain May 24-25, 2011

We got to Barcelona early in the afternoon on May 24^th and made the trek to Alberguinn, our hostel. The hostel has a laundry room which made both of us extremely happy. We found it quite amusing that the washer and dryer are identical to the ones in UNC’s dorms (they are old school mid 80’s looking/functioning machines). We were joined in our room by an odd collection of people. Nicolas is Dutch and incredibly talkative. He informed us that he hitchhiked to Barcelona and that he routinely does his when traveling across Europe. Needless to say, we plan on sticking with public transportation. The other members of the crew were a random girl that we didn’t get the chance to meet, an old man (in his 60s which really surprised us since it is supposed to be a youth hostel), and 3 teenage boys that seemed to be traveling with the older man. Our first day in Barcelona led us Las Ramblas, the main strip of the city, which had a ton of shops, performers, and people to watch. At the end of the street we stumbled into another large rally for the Spanish social revolution (this one much tamer than the one in Madrid). There was a main speaker with a megaphone and thousands of people sitting, squished together in the plaza. The listeners would throw their hands in the air and shake their hands to show approval (much like spirit fingers or Duke Basketball fans – either way rather embarrassing from our point of view). After exploring for a few hours we decided to go to IceBarcelona (an Ice Bar on the beach) later that night in Barceloneta. They kept it at -11˚C and supplied a winter coat and gloves. The ice area was really cool (haha) and smaller than we expected. The inside had a bar made of ice, ice sculptors, televisions, and ice couches. We met a few French students and some Americans before heading back to our place for the night. Not too surprisingly the older man and his crew were leaving as we were calling it a night at around 4am (after eating Dὂner Kebabs which is pretty much the taco bell of Europe). The next day we rented bikes and explored the city. Our first stop was the Nou Camp which is Barcelona’s soccer stadium. The tradition there is immense and the stadium is the 2^nd largest in Europe holding nearly 100,000 people. After spending two hours at the Camp Nou Experience we went on to see La Sagrada Familia and some of Gaudi’s architecture (Casa Battlό was amazing). Our bad luck with bikes continues as Matt got a flat tire and we had to walk for the last 2 hours of our journey. Barcelona is a great change of pace from the rest of Spain. The Catalan culture/pride is palpable (more than half of the windows have a provincial flag or FC Barcelona memorabilia) and the language is difficult, but interesting, since we have been exposed to Spanish almost exclusively.

 Catalans showing their approval in a rally for the Spanish social revolution

 Entrance to Camp Nou

La Sagrada Familia

Entry 5: Balearic Islands, Spain May 21-24, 2011

We made 3 stops on our tour of the Islands of the Eastern coast of Spain (one very brief). We flew into Pala de Mallorca from Valencia in route to Ibiza. The flights were gorgeous as we were able to see Mallorca, Ibiza, and the Mediterranean. While in Ibiza (Eivissa) we stayed in the town of Ibiza. We spent a while looking like tourists trying to find our hotel (Hotel Central Playa) but did so with the help from a few locals. I think that we were satisfied with the hotel overall as it has a great location, friendly staff, and good amenities. The only real negative that comes to mind was the inconsistency of the air conditioner (wouldn’t work 80% of the time). Matt and I enjoyed having a TV for the first and only, time on the trip and watched the end of Rocky III in Spanish on the first day (which is funny if you can imagine how goofy it looks when Sly speaks in English). The island has a lot to offer and we tried to take advantage of it all in our short 2 ½ day/3 night stay. The beaches were unbelievable. The sand on the majority of them was a stark white and the water was the clearest I’ve ever seen. Ibiza is famous for its night life and it certainly lived up to expectations. We spent the first two nights getting to know some locals and going to Club Pacha. By this time we were beginning to get used to the Spanish lifestyle of eating dinner later and going to bed much later, but leaving Pacha at sunrise was odd (not to mention beautiful). We decided to catch the sunrise before heading to bed and it was well worth staying up the extra 30 minutes or so. The 2^nd day was highlighted by a great meal at a seaside restaurant, short time on the beach, and a return trip to Pacha. The final day was a treat. We took a 45 minute fairy to the island of Formentera in a glass bottom boat for about 20 euro round trip. Ibiza is gorgeous, but Formentera is divine. The atmosphere is much more laid back and there are gorgeous, secluded beaches framed by huge mountains and other tiny islands. We decided to rent bikes while on the island but seemed to have some bad luck with them (this has become a theme on the trip). My chain came off on five separate occasions with two different bikes. We explored the beaches on the island, ate lunch at a beautiful restaurant, and swam in the Mediterranean. Formentera is easily the most scenic spot on our trip to this point. After nearly three days in Ibiza we flew to Barcelona for a Catalan experience.

 View from the plane flying to Ibiza

 Sunrise on Ibizan beach

Beach on Formentera