Jan 26th – Day of Being a Kid Again

We started out the day the same as yesterday, getting up and out before 10am. The night before we planned to go to the Aquarium because we wanted to go during the day where we could spend enough time in it; in my Frommer’s book of Spain it said that it is the best aquarium in Spain with hundreds of different types of marine life and a huge walk-through tank. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get there. Since we would be by the marina, we planned to go get sandwiches from a shop nearby, fruit and water to take and have ‘brunch’ at the marina, then walk over to the aquarium. Walking with our food, the morning was clear and beautiful, like the day before. To walk to the marina, it was very easy, we just needed to walk all the way down Las Ramblas and we would run into it. We hadn’t walked down this part of Las Ramblas but this part was filled with local artists and different paintings varying in medium, sizes or themes they painted. We saw amazingly talented artists whose drawings of people were so incredible that they almost looked like photographs. Only when you walked up close enough would you see the pencil marks. Then artisan booths were setting up for the next stretch after the artists with all kinds of jewelry, crafts and other goods they have. Crossing the street we could see the glistening marina with all of the boats, yachts and tiny fisher boats waited to be taken out for the day. We found a free bench on the bridge over the marina and had our brunch. After, Dominique wanted to feed the fish, which turned out to be her feeding the birds. She even got some of them to start catching it in the air mid-flight! It was awesome! After the bridge opened up to let a boat pass through, we walked across to find the aquarium. We had to walk through an open/outdoor mall, and upon leaving, we came across a candy shop! So we all stopped in to get candy and walked over to the aquarium. We felt like we were little all over again, standing in line to get our ticket for entrance while eating our candy and becoming giddy about the fish. Once we got in, we had to pose for a group picture of us in the mouth of a shark and then we went though. There were tanks beyond tanks of different types of fish and it seemed to never end…we saw cuttlefish, octopi (that were HUGE!! And changed colors while we were there!), sharks, fish (that I had never seen before and some I had), coral reef fish, penguins, turtles, sting rays…everything! Then we walked into this massive walk through tank. The fish could swim over you and around you and there was a central tank connecting all of it. It was like they were creating a mini ecosystem in it! There was smaller coral, sea weed, plenty of sand, and all the fish in between. Several sting rays, two huge sharks that swam together (they reminded us of the big mob guys from the sopranos), smaller sharks, huge fish, small fish, different types of eels….I’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t think I could even attempt to keep my mouth closed. Wow, I can see why it was talked about so much! Then we went to a tank where there were several crabs and other tanks for coral reef fish that had the same setup as mini-ecosystems. Michelle and I even went through the little kid tanks where you could crawl through and see fish swimming. We could barely fit! Then we walked through the kiddie trail in a whale, then the sting ray tank where you had to crawl through to stand in the middle and they swim around you. Some are really big, some are small and they vary in different types of rays. At the end of it, you have to crawl back out and there was the coolest thing. It was clear above us so the sting rays could swim over you and you could see everything! It was awesome!! By that time, we had to meet with our group to walk back up the street to see other museums. I couldn’t have been happier. Then we made our walk back down Las Ramblas to go take a closer look at Casa Batllo and Casa Mila. Catching the rays of the sunset against the glass mosaic on Casa Batllo was beautiful. Then half of us went to the market and the other half went to shop. My favorite store was above all Desigual (translation- it’s not the same) it was the one store that had clothes that looked like they were from Spain. A lot of the stores had cool things, but didn’t have that look where you knew it wasn’t from home. Then we met up with the rest of our group and we decided to go back to Divinus for dinner again. The other half ran into a bar promoter who invited us to go to a bar crawl with other groups of Americans and they were all excited to go. Victoria and I weren’t since we had made plans as a group to go party and clubbing Spain-style….not American-status. Oh well, if the group is going then we have to go too. And the other half was already dressed and ready to go, so after dinner Victoria and I went back to get ready fast but my body had other ideas in mind. Because it had been so long since I last ate and dinner was horribly rushed, my blood sugar was out of control. I felt awful and I wasn’t happy that our group made plans without all of us there. We had perfectly good plans before, and I didn’t want to go on a bar crawl when I could do that back home. I didn’t want to go to an Americanized-Spanish bar or club…I came for the Spain experience, and I didn’t want to do this. When we got back to the room, even Victoria could tell I wasn’t doing so hot and she wasn’t too happy with the change in plans either. So we decided that I would eat a couple of protein bars, take a nap and she would tell them that we would meet up with them once I felt better. Since they wanted to leave in half and hour and we didn’t know how good it would be, we would call and see if it was worth it and meet them. The rest of my group was so focused on getting trashed that they didn’t pay much attention and said they would meet us later once we called. And they hoped I would feel better since they wanted us all to be out together. 45 mins later, I felt better and could take a deep breath (which mom and dad know what this means when it gets that low). Victoria could see I was better too, so we decided that now we would get ready to go out, call the group and if we needed to wait we were going to the Q-Bar to have a couple of drinks. Our major plan was to not pay for the drinks that night. Spanish guys love to buy drinks for cute girls even if you walk away immediately after and don’t get upset. So tonight we would make it work for us. The bar crawl was 15 Euro and we didn’t want to pay for something like that, so we were going to have a great time on 0 Euros. And that is exactly what happened! I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun and we danced to our hearts content until our feet could no longer take it! So here’s how the night proceeded…we called once we were ready, and like we expected they didn’t answer but we knew they would call us back and we’d be able to find them. Walking into the Q-Bar it was awesome (just as the night before) and before we could even walk up to the bar to order the ‘initial’ drink, two HUGE (as in gigantic tall) basketball players, obviously from the states asked us if we wanted a drink. Andre and Adrian were professional basketball players that had played on several different international teams and right now they were on Spain’s for the year. They got paid whatever they requested and they got a flat, a car and expenses paid for. Lucky!! They had picked up Spanish coming here to live and they were loving it. The two of us were definitely making a scene standing with them as Europeans kept coming up and calling them Michael Jordan 1 and 2 or shooting an imaginary ball through the hoop. They said they get this all the time and mostly adults are the most obnoxious…but they like kids’ reactions because they are genuinely in awe. Must be hard to never be able to blend sometimes, they described it as constantly being in the world of Alice in Wonderland. Funny. Andre was 6’ 7” and Adrian was 6’ 9 ½ “ ….wow. Another round and they went to go meet a friend at a club. Sweet…our plan was already working. Then we walked a little down Las Ramblas to find another bar like Q-Bar. We ran into a group of guys that were going to a jazz club (full of natives and they were too) called Soul. Sure. It was in a well-lit area, we knew where we were and weren’t far from our hostel. If it was sketch, we could easily make an exit safely. Plus we could easily take them…it helps sometimes to be in a country where men are smaller and thinner than you. Soul was awesome! Mostly American jazz music and filled with Spaniards. This was the night we wanted…to do it like a native. We danced, we had a few drinks and then after talking with them we asked about any discothèques on Las Ramblas. They were going to one and would walk us there. Plenty of well-lit areas, lots of people around in the streets…okay. The club we went to was called Fellini’s and it was huge. Standing in line, one of the guys said cover was 15 Euros. Which so far we were still on 0 Euros, so Victoria and I looked at each other and we knew. I turned to her and said loud enough for them to hear, ‘I hope they take credit cards…we didn’t bring any cash!’ when we turned around, they were holding two tickets to get into the club that included a free drink on the house. Awesome! We weren’t even trying. Going in, there were three levels and different types of house music, techno, and UK club music. Each had a different theme and all were fun. Another drink and we hit the dance floor. Thankfully Spaniards are not like statesmen, so when girls dance they stand and dance next to them but not with them. It’s kind of funny to see…like they’ll dance with each other (in a group) but get weird asking a girl to dance. And no they aren’t gay. We went for our second (and last drink, which we ended up pouring out since we were plenty good for the night and didn’t want to loose control or ability get home) and then had to go to the bathroom. Washing our hands, we felt someone tall walk past us to wait in line. Man they were tall for a girl….oh my gosh, it is a Spanish drag queen!! Oh and she was out on the town, fluffed platinum blonde afro, glittering tube top and cute black Bermuda shorts. Her makeup was flawless…obviously, they always do it better. Now, since we felt we had fully uncovered every stone in Barcelona at this point, we found our new friends and told them we were going home. They said fine, bye and hoped we had a great weekend visiting in Barcelona. Walking to our hostel, Victoria and I couldn’t stop giggling….and all we could say was ‘Come se dice cero Euros?’ Which is ‘How do you say zero Euros?’. Our plan worked (and yes we watched every drink made, took them straight from the bartender, didn’t set them down and didn’t take our eyes off of them the minute they were being made. We were completely safe and cautious about tonight and I was so proud of Victoria and I)!! We couldn’t believe it. our friends had to pay for their bar crawl (which they came back to the hostel a half hour after we did) and we didn’t have to pay for not one cent. Which we found out the jazz bar had a cover as well. Awesome night, great times, but now we had only gotten texts from our friends. Once we got into our room, Victoria tried to call (and they answered) and they said they were at a bar and we coming back soon. We didn’t end up together but at least they are okay, so are we and we had an amazing night. Once everyone came back we were already passed out but at least they were back.