Better In Time

An epic beginning for Elizabeth and Karen in Barcelona but getting better with time. Last friday night I had some friends invite me to go Salsa dancing in the city which I thought would be a good opportunity to show Barcelona my non-existent Latino moves. I brought KK and Doug who also had two friends in town from Alabama. All football rivalries obviously go out the window when you're in a different country. The five of us plus another chica found ourselves combined with the group I went to Carnaval with. We all went to this bar called Mojito where they have obviously mojtios but also a salsa teacher yelling at you "manos arriba!". I can really only move forward, back, side, side. repeat. Getting better with time. 

This fun idea of mine to go salsa dancing meant quite possibly that the worst case scenario of not hearing/turning off alarm and leaving Karen and Elizabeth in limbo at the airport for 1.5 hours could come true. But I took the chance to better my salsa moves. There flight arrived at 9am and I woke up in mad dash at 840am. I haven't had this feeling since I was late for morning practice. Nothing I could do because obviously it would take me more than 20 min to get to the airport by walking/train/switching trains/ going to all the other terminals besides the one they arrived in...

I found Elizabeth and Karen waiting like the sweet friends they are coming to visit me on their final college spring break, notably known as sb2k9. They felt stupid for not even having my number if I didn't show up, I felt stupid for being an hour and a half late for no apparent reason other than my own laziness. Two teammates just made the 8 hour trip hopefully finding a smiling friend on the other side... no other word than IDIOT. 

After the initial lame brain Kelley story was told I was ecstatic that they were finally here. It was a long February but they were ready to go. VAMOS A BARCELONA! Carmen gave me Monday off of work so I could spend some time around the city con mis amigas. My Danish friend Iben let us bunk with her for the weekend. We dropped the bags off and walked out the door for some coffee and roaming the city. The cafe we were going to was less than a 5 min walk. We chatted a bit, drank some coffee and were quasi recharged to see anything and everything that Barcelona has to offer two tourists. We went to pay for the coffee and Elizabeth couldn't find her wallet or phone. Another worst case senario of being robbed within the first 5 min out and about BCN. This nightmare turned out to be a REAL ONE. An innocent tourist targeted and hit. E and K took out money at the airport which was obviously irreplaceable.We quickly ran to the closest internet cafe to check the activity of the debt and 3 credit cards. 4-5 heavy charges w/ in half and hour of being stolen. Calling all the banks in the US to cancel everything is NOT what you want first thing getting to a foreign country. Some heavy tears and hugs later we realized it could only get better from here. Determined not to let this put a damper on our day we looked at K and E's "things they want to do" list. 

1. Sagrada Familia

2. Picasso Museum

3.F. C. Barcelona Game

We went with number 3 since I have done all the others. Barca was playing a league game against the Athletic Club. No idea what to expect but the stadium is quite impressive and Barca won 2-0. 

The bad was out-weighted by the good. Sorta. 

We spent Sunday walking down Las Ramblas, Barrio Gotic and all over Barceloneta. Monday was our big trip to Monserrat (blog to come...) then three very tired girls headed back to Sant Andreu De Llavaneres via a packed train. 13 stops from Placa Catalyuna I took a seat for one stop just to find myself on a fold out seat/dropping my water bottle/ sitting back down to a non-existent seat and a whole train car of people (including myself) laughing. Good thing I was the next stop.

Tuesday, Ricard the girls and me walked to the beach and around town to show them the one grocery shop, the one main street to get some coffee. They had some good R&R before heading to the city both Wednesday and today to visit the legendary Sagrada Familia (yes they paid 10 euros to go in... ha ha) Park Guell, Picasso Museum and some wandering in the Borne district. Tomorrow calls for another easy morning with a siesta mid-day to rally for a fiesta manana por la noche. 

Aye! Aye!