Barcelona!!!

So Barcelona was this weekend.
We left right after school on Thursday; I literally didn't bring any books to class because I only had room for the things I needed for the weekend. We took the tram to the bus station and a bus to the airport. Very Easy. Our Bilbao airport has a total of 10 gates, it was the easiest place I have ever navigated. We then flew out on Clickair. We didn't check our bags, so we carried them on. The problem with that brilliant idea was that everyone else had the same idea. There was no space above our heads, and barely enough space for our feet below. So the lovely Clickair stewardess put our bags in a lavatory and locked the door; talk about ghetto. We got into Barcelona at about 8:30 and took a bus to the city center. We walked along the street where I saw things I have never seen before. The street was called Las Ramblas, and I will explain more about it later in my story. We then went to a bar to have a drink and figure out where we were staying for the night because as world travelers and students we do not have funds to purchase a hostel. I called one of my friends who said he had a couch open for me and my friend. We walked the streets, eventually found his place and went in. That night we went to a club right on the beach. We were out dancing and meeting people all over the world until about 4:30 AM.
Friday, we woke up at 10:00 and headed out to meet up with one of my friend's friends who lives in barcelona to get a tour of the town. (Once again, we don't spend money on tourist attractions). We met up in a plaza in the center of the city on a beautiful sunny day. It was extremely crowded. As well, even after being to Chicago, I have never seen so many pidgeons in my life. People were getting swarmed by them. We then went and stopped for a tapa and a wine (traditional spanish lunch). Which are pretty expensive in Barcelona, but if you find the right places its cheap. I had some Monkfish which was delicious. We then continued on our journey of the city. The problem with not paying for a tour is that you don't get all the details, but its sweet that we saw the whole city in one day. We walked by many old churches (but since it was friday they all charged to go in), walked through the gothic area, and up to the pier. There we stopped for a little rest because this was about 6 miles later and our dogs were killing us. We layed in the sun and listened to the sounds of the city while talking about what to do next. We then went back to my friends apartment to pick up our stuff because he was leaving for a snowboard trip for the weekend. We then had another struggle about where to sleep. We started walking at about 8:30 looking for a place to sleep. We called some friends, with no luck. We were at the point of settling for a Hostel, Hotel, or a street somewhere when we received a call telling us that we could stay at a friends, friends place; this was two hours later and we are all now dead tired. These people we did not know, but hey a free floor is better then a costly bed. We walked into an area that was pretty shady. When I say shady I mean there are numerous Pakistani stores, sex shops, and later we were told that the apartment building down the street was the one that was housing the Iraqis who were making fake passports. (I am sure you heard about this in the states). So we get to their apartment and it is now 3 of us in need of a floor. These guys are extremely nice guys; three went to Penn State and another to U of I. We go out with them to a club called Opium. This was probably my favorite night in all of my Spain staying. I knew I was sleep deprived and had another LONNG day ahead of me so I was the babysitter for the night. The one to make sure the group stays together and everything goes as planned. Every group needs it. If everyone is drinking things or people get forgotten and theres a chance that all hell can break loose. Since we are American, and some go to school in Barcelona we get in for free. This club is huge with an amazing dance floor playing crazy techno music. Outside was seating right on the Mediterranean Sea. When I say right on the Mediterannean Sea I mean they had a door to go out on the beach right out of the club. We stay at the club again until 4:00 in the morning and decide its a great idea to walk back to the apartment. It was a beautiful night right along the Sea. We walk and talk and experience the city that is still alive as we approach 5 AM. We realize that the train system has now opened again and grab a train to get into bed at 5:30 in the morning.
Saturday is more of the same. We spend a lot of time on Las Ramblas which has a market open. This is the coolest market I have ever seen. They have fresh fish of every kind including whole eel, octopus and things I could not even recognize. Fruit stands, bread stands, meat stands. Everything. We decide to grab lunch which consisted of a huge roll of bread, fresh cut meat, cheese, and fruit. 4 euros all together split between 3 of us. It was a VERY cheap lunch. We go to sit on Las Ramblas and watch the world pass us by. There are thousands of people walking this street, street performers every 50 feet, and just copious signs of a city that is alive and wild. We sit there when a Spanish guy comes up to us and pulls out a sandwich. We initially thought he was coming just to eat with us. He talks to us, and we start noticing something about this guy. He starts to get really close with my friend Adam. He blows him a kiss. 5 minutes later he gets the idea we don't swing that way and in broken english says "I tink I Lub you!!" to Adam. Me and my other friend Alec start laughing so hard as this guy blushes and walks away. Never saw that happen in my life and it was amazing. After eating our lunch we head to the Gaudi Park. This park was amazing, but not fully open due to the storms we had last weekend knocking down trees and making it unsafe to walk through. This park was like being in a Dr. Seuss world. The architecture was amazing. Since it was atop a hill it also had a view of all of Barcelona. After going to the Gaudi Park we headed back to the apartment to take what we thought was going to be a nap. We ended up getting stuck in an elevator about half the size of my closet. This elevator is once that u open the door for. So we get in and press 7 and start heading up. Next thing you know the elevator comes to a stop in between floors 4 and 5. We start laughing at this and we are literally crying of laughter. People hear us, speak to us in Spanish. We ask them for help, but they walk away. We finally find a way to open the door and climb out. That was quite the bonding experience considering we barely had room to breathe. After, my friend decided he was going to try and go see Kings of Leon which were playing at a club but tickets were sold out. Poor guy found out when he got there that the concert was cancelled and he couldn't even try to scalp tickets. So we went out again for the night. We went to dinner and ate Paella. Our dinner ended a little after midnight and we went out for a few beverages. We decided to go to a club around 3:00, but that was too late. Most people in Spain go out at 2:00-3:00 for the club. Midnight is considered extremely early here. By the time we got to the club there was a huge line and no way possible to get in, even pulling our American cards. So we walked around the bustling streets and headed back to the apartment to sleep on the floor. Once again we get home around 4:30. We wake up at 10 and decided to grab a bite to eat and head back to our plane. Once again we take multiple trains to get to the airport. I swear I am getting amazing at using public transportation and other ways to save as much money as I can. We get to the airport and I have a test the next day. There are like 5 other kids in my class, but no one seems to have remembered to study. I pull out a book from the class and begin to study. There is a group of 5 spanish girls sitting around me and I realize they are looking at me. I turn down my music and realize they are talking about me. I then turn off my ipod and start to talk to them. It turns out they went to the same school as I go to and we start talking about Bilbao. Mind you this is all in Spanish. We ended up talking for awhile and I get absolutely no studying done. Again a painless plane ride home. I get back to Bilbao, eat, and pass out. I plan on waking up early to study, but somehow that doesn't happen and I go to class today. We take our test and I notice the last 5 people taking the test are all the ones that were in Barcelona, each with a different crazy story about the town (we didn't see each other all weekend really because we were all staying at different places). We finish the test, laugh it off and here I am. Alive after a weekend filled with absolutely no sleep and miles and miles of walking.
Conclusion: Barcelona is an amazing city. It is so historical yet so filled with things to do at night. It is extremely dangerous. To the point where I would not bring out my wallet. We were told that people get robbed all the time and they are very tricky. The people are so skilled that they can kick the wallet out of your front pocket even. Two girls from my program were robbed while in Barcelona. One deserved it because she was flaunting the fact that she was not from the town. The other had her purse cut off of her shoulder and didn't realize it was gone until her friend started screaming for help. As long as you are a smart traveler you will have no problems. I am really mad because we did not get to see Sagrada Familia which is a HUGE church that is still being built. It has been under construction for almost 100 years. This church is apparently the most amazing thing ever. I would love to go back to Barcelona if I could fit it in my schedule, but there are also so many other places to see in Spain. I have only scratched the surface of my spanish life.