my overseas adventure // part 4 of 4

12.28.07, day sixteen

Most of today was spent in transit to Barcelona. On the plan, there were a crapload of people who seemed to know each other, and one of them – a teenage boy – sat behind me and kept yelling in Italian and kicking my seat. Annoooying.

We’re staying at the Holiday Inn Express just outside Barcelona, which is a little more modern than our previous hotels and has large single size beds available for us. Cathy and I are also in a separate room from our parents. Dear Lord, we surely needed that for the last leg of our trip.

We got a change to explore near our hotel tonight. We picked up dinner at the Mercat Municipal, a few minutes away from the hotel. It was so nice to feel more comfortable with the Spanish language, as compared with Italian. Mom, Cathy, and I got through selecting and purchasing without having to ask for English translations. Woo! This is a much needed break; my head was starting to hurt from all the struggling with Italian.

My face is totally breaking out because of the small amount of water I’ve been consuming lately. That makes me upset.

Ay yay, my sinuses hurt again.

12.29.07, day seventeen

Barcelona – qué fantastico! Oh my God, I love this city! We spent all of today exploring Plaça Catalunya. Las Ramblas, the main street, is full of life and excitement. So many shops to visit, lots of food to try, street performers to entertain you. Cathy and I bought clothes from Zara, and we picked up some souvenirs at a discount from one of the many tourist shops along the street. We got separated from our parents for a while, which was nice but also a little irritating when we couldn’t find the place they wanted to meet us at (Mom gave us the wrong directions). After we found each other, we had a late lunch at a tapas bar – so good! And, amazingly enough, Mom let us all order sangria – Thank the Lord, I seriously needed some alcohol! We walked down to the waterfront, but by the time we got there, it was too dark to see anything. We decided to return again tomorrow to check it out and to see the site of the former summer Olympics.

The highlight of the day was visiting the Mercat St. Josep, a block filled with food vendors. There was so much color, I could hardly take it all in. The pictures will help give the experience a bit of justice. Mom loves those kinds of places because it helps us feel like we’re really in a place, shopping like locals do. It’s a lot of fun.

Tonight we shared a small dinner of baguettes and fruit, along with a couple of glasses of boxed sangria – 0.80 EUR, yeah! I was the only one who ended up drinking because my parents were tired and Cathy didn’t like the taste. Bah, alcohol is alcohol to me at this point. After two glasses, I was good and tipsy.

As our trip comes to a close, I’m starting to appreciate and understand the value of spending this time with my family. We’re such busy people, and we rarely see each other anymore in our daily lives. I’ve learned a lot about each of my family members (today’s fun fact was that Dad used to know how to Moon Walk, to which Cathy responded, “Hey Dad, you’re cool!”) and also about our family history, thanks to my parents’ stories during our train rides across Italy, which are things they hadn’t ever shared before. I wouldn’t have known these things otherwise. All in all, these last few weeks have been a-okay.

12.30.07, day eighteen

We didn’t make it out to Olympic Village today; Cathy was super sick this morning and stayed at the hotel all day while we visited a few cathedrals and the waterfront. One of the cathedrals we visited today – Sagrada Familia by Gaudí – is an incredible architectural feat that reminded Mom of Tim Burton’s animation style. At the Cathedral of Barcelona, people were gathered outside dancing together to the sounds of a wind band. Apparently, it happens every weekend. So fun!

Other random moments of the day:

• I got hit on at McDonald’s. Really? The guy was asking every girl who walked by for her phone number, and when he got to me, I smiled apologetically and said, “No hablo español.” He shrugged and replied, “Ahhh…”
• I got a new jacket. One of those semi-puffy jackets with a fur-lined collar. The perfect jacket for mild Bay Area weather.
• Dad got an Armani watch. What???
• I lost 20 EUR. I think it fell out of my pocket when I was getting my lip conditioner. Sad times. But it could have been a lot worse.
• A lot of places are closed on Sunday.
• They don’t have fireworks or a countdown here for New Year’s Eve.
• There are a TON of people in Barcelona.

Tomorrow’s our last day in Spain. Part of me wishes we could have stayed in Barcelona longer. The other part is so happy to be going home.

12.31.07, day nineteen

Our last day of vacation! Cathy joined us today. We visited Olympic Village and took lots of pictures. The rest of the day was spent strolling down Las Ramblas and frantically shopping for the remainder of our souvenirs. I ate lunch with Dad and Cathy and an all-you-can-eat buffet; oh man, I forgot what it’s like to eat American-style!

Tonight will be spent with bread, fruit, and champagne in our hotel rooms. The trains close early, so we returned to the hotel early. Plus, we all have to finish packing in preparation for our flight(s) home tomorrow – two layovers, meh.

2007 was an amazing year, and this trip was a prefect way to finish it off.

Resolutions for 2008:

• Lose weight – Always a priority, especially when you’re playing a scantily clad character in a musical that’s performed in an intimate 100-seat house (so excited for Chicago!)
• Aim for bigger and better career goals
• Save more money
• Go to church more often
• Keep in touch with and visit friends more than I already do
  
• Learn how to play the guitar

Not too challenging of a list, but I prefer to take life as it comes.

Well, I guess this is it. Arrivederci Italia, adios España, and hello happy new year!

1.7.08, five days after my return

Being home now for almost a week has made me realize how much I actually fell in love with both Italy and Spain. In an email to a dear friend of mine, I wrote:

“Italy and Spain are rich with history and tradition, which I'm realizing are the kind of things Americans sometimes take for granted. Like, we'd be traveling by train through the Italian countryside when, out of nowhere, are some ancient ruins. There is an evident respect for the generations of the past. On the other hand, I've learned to appreciate things that I never thought of as privilege. For example, free water, the free use of public restrooms, and toilet seat covers. Hehe.”

More than that, I fell in love with being able to completely lose myself in a place and still manage to find something about who I really was. That experience alone is invaluable.

For now, it’s back to the real world. Believe me when I say I would go back in a heartbeat if I were given the opportunity. And hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.