BARCELONA

Barcelona – 6/27

            Buenos Dias! This morning we arrived in port! I got up early to watch us dock before breakfast and it was a beautiful Mediterranean morning. We then had a quick bite on the ship and went to our briefing from the US Consulate. Everyone was itching to get off the ship and ready to explore. A bunch of my friends had field labs for classes so once off the Explorer I set out with a few other buddies to check out the city. We walked out of port and into the city and experienced some funny sea legs as we navigated solid ground for the first time in awhile. Once we made it to Las Ramblas we wandered up the street that is filled with artists, cafes, and souvenir stands. Being that it was nearly 11am we decided there was nothing inappropriate about stopping for a beer and game-planning our afternoon. After a frosty beverage we set out to see the Picasso museum. Along the way we stopped and bartered for some Spain jerseys as it was game day! Unfortunately when we reached the Picasso the line was a solid quarter mile long so we had to scratch that plan figuring our time could be spent more efficiently elsewhere.

            Next we walked towards the water through small alleyways and traditional Spanish architecture until we reached the beach and boardwalk. We sat down to a customary Tapas lunch and enjoyed all sorts of new dishes. Really tasty and surprisingly cheap! Once we finished up we grabbed some large water bottles and set up our towels on the beach. A swim has never felt so good or funny, especially in the Med, where clothing is fairly optional for the locals! We spent the rest of the afternoon having a mojito and tanning before walking all the way back to the ship to get ready for the game.

            Once cleaned up a big group of us set out for George Paynes, a famous sports bar, but the place was packed to capacity and we had to find another spot. We ended up watching the game at Dow Jones bar and did a little “economic research” while there. Spain winning in penalty kicks was truly special and something we were very lucky to be a part of! After that it was off to Chipitos, a novelty shots bar which is really popular. They serve most all drinks on fire or in some fun kind of way and the bartenders were really skilled. Finally it was time for Opium, a nightclub down on the beach to which we had tickets. We arrived and a ton of SAS kids were showing up and we spent the rest of the night dancing on the packed dance floor or hanging out on the large back patio while people watching. The place looked like something out of Entourage! Private tables, roped off areas, the works. A few kids let loose and paid for some of these amenities and invited us to hang out with them, it was sweet! Finally we took a cab back to the MV to rest up for the next day.

6/28/12

            We slept in until about noon and then rallied to go be tourists all over the city. We made good use to metro system and naviguessed our way to some famous sights such as La Sagrada Familia and Parc Quell. The Sagrada is an unbelievable Gaudi structure that is actually still being completed. Afterwards we grabbed a quick tapas lunch before continuing on. We hiked a huge hill to get up to the top of the Parc and it was completely worth it! Vast views of the city and crazy architecture everywhere. Underneath the Parc is the Gaudi district which is home to the largest mosaic sculptures and structures you can think of. We spent lots of time exploring these areas and took a lot of great pictures. It was a long hot day of touring but so worth all of it! We now feel comfortable using the city transportation and were never too lost at any point. I am back on the ship now getting ready to head back to the beach for a nice dinner. We plan to eat around 10pm, so different that the US! This short blurb doesn’t quite do our day of touring justice but it was great!

            After getting cleaned up and organized a group of us sent it down to the beach area to look for a restaurant. We settled on a nice seafood spot on the boardwalk since we weren’t planning on going out afterwards so we enjoyed a killer Mediterranean dinner of Hake fish and white wine and coffee ice cream for desert. The time really gets away from you eating later and in the company of new friends and by the time we returned to the M/V it was around 1am. I also met up with Amanda Taselaar, a Georgetown sailor, briefly because she is studying abroad here. All in all a great day in Barca!

6/29/12

Early morning wake up call for our tour of Camp Nou, the FC Barcelona soccer stadium! We took the bus there and had a guided tour through the museum, massive stadium(all the way down to about ten rows from the field and press skybox), and apparel megastore. This tour included a visit to the opponent locker rooms which are really not too nice. They say that the FC one is 5x the size and never ever allowed to be seen as players keep personal belongings there. Messi is a god-like person around Barca and they had the coolest interactive video boards of all his goals for the club. Also there is the large trophy room which houses what seemed like every trophy a team could compete for. After the tour we continued on the bus to the stadium that was used in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Also very big and had cool pictures of events that were held there. That stop was much more brief but cool nonetheless. Once back to the MV we snagged a quick lunch on the pool deck and packed up bags for an afternoon at the beach. It was crowded because it was a weekend day but we found a nice spot to lay out and buy a beer off one of the hundred gypsies roaming the sand, these guys are relentless! After a couple swims and a few hours under the sun, we headed back to nap, eat, and gear up for our last night in Spain.

            Around 9pm we woke up and started to get our friends together and left the ship by 10. The rest of the night was spent bouncing from bar to bar, conversing with SAS kids and snacking on the occasional tapa. We made it back somewhere around 4am and I went to bed because of a “field lab” for class I had the last day. It’s funny because even your professors tell you that you can sleep once you get back to Boston so everyone rallies to pack as much in as possible whether it’s daytime, nighttime, or somewhere in the between.

6/30/12

            The alarm sounded at the crack of dawn, well 9am, and I went up to my classroom. My lab was for Food, Gender, and Culture class so we listened to two guest lectures that all had to be translated into English about the influence of gastronomy and it’s historical basis in the city. Around Noon we ventured down to Las Ramblas with our class and were given two hours of free time to explore La Boqueria de St. Joseph. It is a huge marketplace with every food you can think of. There was a whole fish area in it where live lobster were on display and just about every other type of fish that looks fresh out of the sea…the smell was ripe! But there was also creperias, fresh juice stands, and butcher stands. You name they had it at a negotiable price and in vibrant color or smell.

            After the market we walked down Ramblas into the city farther and bent off into a nice shopping district where the 4 Cats Restaurant is located. All 30 of us dined off a partially set menu that was phenomenal. Our first course was salad with fresh duck. Next for the main course I chose veal with potatoes..amazing! So nice to have really good meat. We finished up with a traditional tiramisu, of course red wine was present to complement the entire meal. What a neat day at school! Ha this program is unreal! Once we finished everyone was burned out and we made tracks back to the MV one last time. We boarded and then waved goodbye to an amazing four days in Spain as the sun set over Barcelona while we left the harbor. All said and done, Spain was fancy at times, wild at times, touristy most of the time, and an absolute blast the whole time! We are now bound for Italy and will arrive early Monday morning. I guess one day of class isn’t much too complain about. Everyone is busy sleeping, planning, and getting organized for a week long stay off the Explorer.

MOM AND DAD: THIS TRIP IS AMAZING SO FAR AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR EVERY MINUTE

There are many more stories and loads of pictures to be shared but I will have to save those for our return. Thanks to those who are following my adventure and reading these long posts!

Adios,

Jeff