Barcelona: Nathan

So, I don't feel I need to say very much about Barcelona, Jordan pretty much covered it all except for the day she went to Valencia. I decided a night train to Cordoba was going to be more practical than a day train, so I ended up with the better part of a day still in Barcelona and a Metro pass to get me from place to place. The day itself started off late because I had to pick up laundry at 11:00 and I really didn't have much to do before then. Jordan had taken the computer for Brandeis stuff, so I couldn't do anything with that, so I checked out and walked around the area.

Being the nerd that I am, I tried to go to the railroad museum near Barcelona, but that late start killed me. I ended up in the right town just after 2 pm, but they stop admitting people at 2 pm, so I had made a trip for nothing, full gear on. Back to Barcelona I headed so that I could kill time until my train out.

I ended up eventually at Estacio Barcelona Sants, after getting off at the wrong place and waiting 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get out) and got the staff to let me through with my railpass and not a ticket (for the train I didn't need a ticket so I couldn't use that to get out). I decided I'd eat lunch, especially since I didn't have breakfast, find a locker for my bag, and go explore some more. With my brother so obsessed with FC Barcelona, I had to go take a picture of their futbol stadium. There was a concert that day and the music was enjoyable even from the outside of its expansive size. I bet at least 100,000 fans could stand in there and do all the stuff we see on TV that crazy futbol fans do. I also really wanted to see some of the Olympic leftovers and remembered there was an Olympic Museum there. Of course, one would naturally think: Olympic Museum is at the Olympic Village stop. And of course they would be as wrong as me (although the zoo is right there). The museum is actually built into the Montjuic Stadium in Montjuic Park on the other side of town. I picked a metro station because there weren't really any nearby, so it was going to be a walk anyway.

Montjuic Park is actually very cool in itself. There are a lot of museums there and a monastery in one part, along with the stadium. The walk was very pretty, but there were a lot of stairs. I got to the stadium finally and walked around because the museum was on the far side. Except it definitely wasn't. One of the signs nearby said it was under construction, so it seemed like a trip for naught. I continued walking around and discovered you could go inside the stadium for free. Maybe not such a bad excursion. While initially unimpressive, the stadium has a very unique history that upped my appreciation for it. Unlike most Olympic structures, this one was around prior to the Olympics for many years. It lived through the Spanish Civil War and was upgraded from time to time to host bigger and better events. For the Olympics, it got an extensive facelift and now can host some of the largest and most important futbol matches around, along with upcoming European Games events and other multinational athletic gatherings.

I walked back down from the park and hopped on the metro to go back to Sants. There, I picked up my bag and decided what to do for dinner. Unfortunately, McDonalds was cheap, hot, and had burgers so I opted for that instead of another tuna sandwich (that was very good) that I had for lunch. Let's just say McDonalds definitely isn't better in Spain.

I got on my night train, marveled at the stuff they gave me (a headset, a bottle of water, and a toiletries pack) and went to sleep. A little to well, but that's next post.

Sorry, that was more than I expected, even for not a full day. Algeciras and Gibraltar next.