Affordable Globetrotting: 06/06/18

After two perfect days in London, we started making our way to our final destination: Barcelona, Spain. A direct flight from London to Madrid or London to Barcelona would have been possible, but it would have also been a bit too expensive for our liking (though Barcelona is usually pretty darn cheap to fly into from any bigger city in Europe…I guess just not during this time of year). Therefore, we landed in Girona, Spain, which turned out to be $34 a person. Yes, $34. By the way, have you read my previous blog post, “Helpful Hints for Booking the Cheapest Abroad Flights” yet? Many people don’t know that flights within and around Europe can be super cheap!

Anyway…back to Girona.

Me in front of Girona Cathedral. Girona, Spain.

We land in Girona and from there take a bus to the main city area. We had some time to kill before our train arrived at the nearby train station to take us to Barcelona, so we decided to go and explore a bit of Girona, grab a bite to eat while we were there, and find our way back to the train station all before our train arrived to pick us up that evening. So we did just that.

Honestly, there couldn’t have been a better place to start the Spain trip I had been wanting to take since high school! Girona was everything I visualized Spain to be: medieval architecture, beautiful scenery, gorgeous and friendly people, impeccable food and wine, mouth-watering smells of fresh garlic and bread, and that overall feeling of being in a faraway place where you can feel nothing but safe, welcome, and completely happy and relaxed. I wish we could have spent more time in Girona.

View from top of Girona Cathedral stairs. Girona, Spain.

Our adventures in Girona had to end, but our adventures to Barcelona were just beginning...

We boarded the train that would take us to Barcelona at around 8pm that night. It was supposed to be a 40 minute ride from Girona to Barcelona with some stops along the way. We were the only ones on the train at the time, and the announcements were all in Catalan (not a huge surprise). Now, though I’m not completely fluent in Spanish, I can get by communicating with a Spanish-speaking person. However, when it came to Catalan, I was lost. It’s very different compared to Spanish. Therefore, my Spanish-speaking skills really didn’t help us out when the announcer announced the stops. At this point, our reception on our phones weren’t working, the map we had on hand became useless, and the maps they had inside the train were impossible to read and understand. Did I mention we were by ourselves…stuck on the train…with no one we could talk to or ask for help?

Of course in a big city like Barcelona, there were a million stops that the announcer on the train announced, “Barcelona”. However, it would say, “Barcelona this”, “Barcelona that”, “Barcelona yad-yada”. So that, too, was also very confusing and the least bit helpful. We didn’t want to get off the train too soon, and we didn’t want to get off the train too late. Regardless, we knew we were screwed and not the slightest bit close to where we needed to be. I started to mentally prepare myself to walk a very long time.

At the next stop, we finally decided to hop off the train. Come to find out we were EXACTLY where we… shouldn’t have hopped off. In fact, it was far from where we should have hopped off the train. Well, at least it wasn’t unexpected. Always trying to stay positive, remember?

We both decided that it was a bad idea to get back on another train to try and head the direction we needed to go. Instead, we were hoping to find a taxi to take us to our AirBnB from that area (at this point, regardless of price). It was getting late and dark, so we didn’t want to risk getting stuck at a train station at night.

With a little positivity and Lady Luck on our side, not only did we find taxi services at this particular train station, but we found many cars that had “Uber” stickers. It was a miracle! It was also a miracle that our phones now had reception. Come to find out, getting off at this station turned out to be the perfect accident. We hopped into our Uber and headed to our AirBnB. Our travel adrenaline was running low at this point due to exhaustion and jet lag setting in, so we were ready for bed. We wanted this night to end, so we could start a new day feeling fresh and rested in a new city that had many adventures awaiting us.

Apparently, night Barcelona wasn’t done with us yet…

Since Barcelona is mostly narrow, cobblestone streets, there are only a few main roads that cars are able to take. Therefore, our Uber driver did his best to get us as close to our AirBnB that the mains roads would allow. We got out of the car and tipped him and immediately pulled up directions to our AirBnB (thank goodness we still had reception in this area).

Narrow street of Barcelona.

We followed the directions our phone gave us to our AirBnB, but it only brought us to a dimly lit cobblestone street with many, if not all, doors full of artistic “graffiti”. Our directions kept saying that we arrived at our destination on this street, but none of the doors looked like they could house a presentable AirBnB behind it. We assumed that our hostess was sleeping at that time (we tried numerous times to contact her-a whole different story), and we didn’t want to go ringing doorbells or knocking on random doors at that time of night. Again, not a person in sight was around to ask for help.

So there we were: two knuckleheads holding carry-ons, looking confused, worried, and tired in the middle of the night in one of Barcelona’s quiet and dark cobblestone streets. Luckily, I didn’t feel unsafe.

Artistic "Graffiti" in Barcelona.

Our positivity was about to run out until we went ahead and rang a call button to one of the doors that had the graffiti. We had a hunch and went with it. At this point, we decided that we waited long enough for any help that most likely would have never come our way. So, we went ahead and pressed the button. A lady’s voice came on, immediately stating the name of our AirBnB. With a sigh of relief, we stated our names, and she opened the door to let us in. Just in case you were wondering, inside these doors was a beautiful courtyard with fountain, and many flights of stairs on the outside that led to many apartments. I did not expect this view behind these graffiti covered doors. I learned that trip that Barcelona is full of secrets and hidden gems…everywhere.

View from our Airbnb balcony. Gothic Quarters. Barcelona, Spain.

We made our way up to our AirBnB apartment, checked in with our hostess (who apologized for not having her phone readily available when we needed her), and went to bed so we could wake up to Barcelona in daylight for the first time.

When we woke up, we found the most incredible view from our room: the Gothic Quarters and the gorgeous cobblestone streets of Catalonia. The apartment itself was perfect and had everything we needed and desired. I knew at that moment that our Barcelona visit would be one of the best trips ever despite the dilemmas we had the night before. At that point, I already brushed those off and prepared myself for the many amazing plans we had ahead of us. Barcelona turned out to be, in fact, one of the best trips ever.

Pre- Flamenco show. Airbnb balcony.

Even though we had two dilemmas at the start of our Barcelona trip, we stayed positive and figured them out. We knew that we had many more wonderful adventures that awaited us, so we didn’t dwell on these dilemmas. We carried on with our trip and ended up having one of the best (and most memorable) trips ever. Barcelona tested us at first, but I truly believe that conquering our dilemmas with positive minds allowed us to appreciate Barcelona that much more when we finally settled in and were able to relax.

There are some dilemmas you can’t avoid when you travel. For the other dilemmas, learn from them (I know we have). Regardless, always stay calm and positive, find a solution, and carry on with your trip. There’s too much to see and do on your trip to let a dilemma or two get the best of you and ruin your once in a lifetime getaway.

Have fun, be safe, and stay positive!

Safe Travels,

Veronica