After a lovely few days spent in Edinburgh, Scotland and the forests of England with my mother, it was back home to Sheffield for one night before I was off again. I took a train to the lovely city of Liverpool Wednesday afternoon. On my journey, I just so happened to be seated with 3 other travellers who were headed to New York and Mexico. So pleasant.
I did not have nearly enough time in Liverpool as I was only there for one night, but it was still so wonderful. Backed right up to the coast, it was cool being able to walk along the docks, see all the marvellous shopping, and have my very first meal of authentic fish and chips.
Being the music hub that it is (after all, this is the birthplace of The Beatles we’re talking about), the nightlife scene was quite dynamic. I spent most of my night at the famous Cavern club listening to live music and reading all of the writing that was spewed over every inch of wall. As I had an early flight at 6:30 to Alicante, Spain, I bid goodnight to all my newfound friends at the shockingly early time of midnight and meandered back to my hostel.
From there I was up at three in the morning on Thanksgiving to catch a taxi to the John Lennon Airport. The flight was uneventful and I landed in sunny Alicante with the hopes of finding my friend Jessi without any internet connection. Upon finding her, we hopped on a bus that took as directly into the city. From there, we bought tons of goodies and 1 euro wine from the market and hiked up the side of a castle to have a midday feast. Stuffed from all the salami, bread, and aioli, we roamed down by the water and street vendors before the town shut down for its regularly scheduled siesta.
One movie and a bottle of euro wine later, Jessi and I wandered out into town in search of tapas and beer. Tapas, are awesome. What’s not to like about never-ending finger food that comes in a wide selection? Afterwards, we proceeded to indulge in 3-euro mojitos and 1-euro tequila shots (again I was shocked at how cheap all the alcohol was here; my friend confirmed that “Yeah, it’s a problem”). We soon met quite the vivacious group of Spaniards. As my friend trilled away in fluent Spanish, as she had been in Spain for the last 10 weeks, I did my best at keeping up with the conversation. I must say that, in my mind, I held my own pretty well (although mutual understanding tends to decline as the night goes on).
Two bars and one pizza later, Jessi and I found ourselves back in her ‘piso’ (aka apartment) well tuckered out. Best. Thanksgiving. Ever.
Day two of Alicante was filled with sleeping in until 12 and getting lost along the beaches of San Juan.
At night we spent our time with some Spaniards along with several other international friends that Jessi had made over time. Again I found myself wishing that I was better at languages, but everyone was so friendly and together we spoke a good mix of Spanglish. It was a rather early night as we planned to catch an early train to Barcelona the next morning.
Five hours later, we ended up in the beautiful coastal city of Barcelona. Our hostel was located more on the outskirts of the central city, but we soon followed the beach inwards. Looking at the people playing volleyball and walking along the strand, you almost could forget that it was, in fact, winter. From the beach we walked inwards to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. This ancient cathedral was beyond beautiful with the outside just, if not more, intricate than the inside.
That was thirteen euro well spent in my opinion. Just outside the cathedral, the city was abuzz with the Christmas spirit. After winding our way through the markets, we found ourselves in quite the beautiful shopping district. As the day was coming to a close, we then attempted to find our way back to the hostel (which Google maps had informed us was now an hour away). Completing this task was harder than anticipated but we did run into some cool architecture on our way home (including a very large horse statue). Upon arriving home around 10, it was time to rally before we went out with two other Americans staying in our hostel for a night on the town.
The night began at a quaint little bar where we all indulged in the best homemade sangria I have ever tasted (complete with fruit and sugar). From there we went to a popular electro club. This club was beyond any nightlife experience I have had before. It was beyond fun. Up until the point I had my wallet pick-pocketed. I was walking a newfound friend to the bathroom when I felt a tug on my cross-body purse. Being densely packed in as we were, it wasn’t till we reached the toilets that I looked down and saw that my wallet was gone. That was around 5am, effectively ending the night.
The next morning Jessi and I decided to skip all the excessive walking and head to the so called “magic fountain” via metro. The metro system looked crazy daunting, but it is not so difficult as long as you are patient with yourself and pay attention to signs. The view of the fountain and the surrounding buildings was absolutely breath-taking.
I thought the basilica was going to be my favorite part of Barcelona, but I was pleasantly mistaken. From the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc we wandered throughout Barcelona’s side-streets, ate some paella, and finished up our time together sitting atop one of the tallest building in Barca overlooking the city and talking about life. We were thoroughly exhausted, but it was a lovely end of our time together. I had missed my best friend dearly.
After sending Jessi off on her way on the metro, I made my own way back to the hostel and had a very quiet night trying to get my life in order for my flight home to Manchester in the morning. With the 20 euro that Jess gave me (I will pay you back when I get my cards in the mail- I swear!), I made it safely to the airport in Barca, arrived back in Manchester, and hopped onto the train back to Sheffield (after delays from heavy rain, naturally). The moment I stepped off the train it was off to meetings on top of meetings. Work is never quite finished when you are an avid traveller.
*This was a week ago. Sorry it took so long to get this Spain post up! It has been rather hectic trying to restore my lost identity and preparing for the endless projects I have due at Uni (I know, funnily enough I do actually go to school whilst I am over here). I visited Cambridge this past Saturday and am now in the midst of planning a month long adventure around Europe in January. Until then!*
Cheers,
L
You’ve been in England too long. You’re using words like “whilst.” 🙂 The trip to Spain sounded lovely. I was in Seville in November myself. What a great experience you are having.