Despite our best efforts, we actually caught our first train without breaking a sweat. First thing we noticed: high speed trains are named such for a REASON. Damn thing went just over 200 mph. Got to Barcelona in just under 3 hours, which also gave us a chance to catch a much needed nap. Second thing we noticed: they don't speak spanish in Barcelona. They speak Catalan. It's a completely different language. How did we not learn this in Spanish class? Luckily the subway system worked the same way it did in Madrid, so we took it straight to our Hostel from the train station. The hostel we went to first had a label on the door that read: "If you want to sleep, go SOMEWHERE ELSE." We checked in. Our four bed dorm was by far, the smallest room I've ever been in. It was a squeeze fitting one bunk bed in there, but putting two in turned it from room to roomette. Either way, the hostel had a common room area fully equipped with pool table, foozeball table, and bar, all of which were useful. This hostel also sponsored a club trip each night in which the residents got free entry. After checking the schedule and seeing that we were to meet in the common room to leave at 2am, we knew it was probably going to be a pretty ridiculous night.
For lunch we decided on a selection of Tapas, which included grilled snails in a butter garlic broth, jamon de serrano, artisan bread with a tomato and garlic spread, more croquettes, and some marinated spanish peppers. The snails automatically rank in the top 5 of everything we've eaten during the trip so far. You literally could have drank the broth with a straw and been in food heaven. After lunch, we hit the streets for a little walk down the coastline and a little trip to an Irish pub. They had 5 Euro pints of Stella, which of course we were in for, but in a surprise twist the pub owner was actually Irish and spoke American. After talking with him for a little bit, he casually drops two absinthe shots in front of us, without speaking a word. Nice guy. At this point, it was about 6-7 at night, and we decided to catch a late siesta before the club that night. The dance club itself (once we finally went at 2:45am) was pretty nice; classy place, hip hop and dance music (with a little dancehall sprinkled in), an all around good time. We met some of our American cohorts who were convinced we were from Jersey, so naturally we went along with it and told them that Pauly D was actually a cousin of ours. Several "Oh Yeah's" and "Cabs are here's" later, we got back to the hostel. Joe instantly began a quest to find a 24 hour pizza joint, which entailed asking at least 15 to 18 locals where we could find pizza (if you haven't met drunk Joe, asking is probably more specifically defined as yelling "PIZZA!!" at the people you see with his hands pointing in several directions at once). A half hour search later yielding no results, we settled on a street vendor that was selling paprika flavored Pringles, and almost ate the whole thing before we even had a chance to pay him. After getting back to the hostel, we found our one roommate asleep, however decided it was a good time to have one of those drunken heart to heart conversations, which lasted approximately 45 minutes to an hour (the length and content of the conversation is a guess, and it based on the subsequent events in the morning).
Waking up hungover is never fun. Waking up to a pissed off roommate slamming his locker door open and closed over and over again…….less fun. Apparently this guy missed the sign on the front of the hostel door (noted above). Either way, we slept through his feeble attempt to wake us up. We realized around 11am that we needed to make something of the day, so we got our stuff together and walked to the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park did not disappoint. The "picture of the day" is of the fountain at the center of the park (by the way, whenever a sight or structure makes the "picture of the day" ahead of any food items, you know it must be pretty damn cool). It was also in this park that we found the zoologica de Barcelona. After a bit of debate as to whether the entrance fee was worth it (15 Euros), we decided to go ahead on and splurge a little for some animals. Your standard "good call" expression would be an understatement here: We saw animals you honestly would not see anywhere, at any zoo in America. Massive Kangaroos, Lions, Tigers, Jamon de serrano flavored Ruffles (ok, maybe not an actual animal, but beastly flavor nonetheless), Cheetahs, Komodo Dragons, and the anaconda snake from the movie. Biggest snake I've ever seen. The only reason it fit in it's pen was because it was curled up. Highlight of the zoo trip: As we're walking from one exhibit to the next, Joe is nonchalantly walking next to a fence line, checking his photos from the previous cage. He proceeds to walk directly into a Llama whose head is sticking up over the fence (I'm not joking you, the llama was 6'5 feet tall on all fours). Just before he head buts it, he sees it, craps his pants, screams (high pitch), and runs away. I joined the locals for the best laugh of the trip so far.
After walking to the park (at least 2 miles), walking through the zoo (3 miles….massive zoo) and back to the hostel (2 miles), I needed a serious siesta. Three wonderful hours of sleep later, we hit the boardwalk for dinner. After checking probably 5 or 6 places, we decided on one that had paella with mussels, shrimp, chicken, spare ribs, squid, and peppers. The paella was extremely tasty, however after living in Tampa for so long, I can say that we're pretty close to the real thing. Paella being the main star of the show, we would be remiss to overlook the blue cheese pizza (wow) and croquettes, which were also pretty darn good. We came to a joint decision after dinner (uncomfortably full) that we should take it easy and get a good night's sleep.
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