day 9 - could it be any bigger?

day 9

This was one of does days.

I waked up early as my train is arriving in Barcelona at 9am, so i started to get my act together, wash up, does tips from Rachel really come in handy, get my pack's close to the door and wait for the train to stop. It looks like a normal station at the first glimpse. The train is stopping three minutes earlier that expected and off we go, we are at the lowest floor so i have to take the stairs up.

After all i take it back, it isn't a normal station, this thing looks like an airport terminal in christmas day, it took me at least ten minutes to find the information post and i had to ask to get to it, so they got me a map and now i'm ready. As soon as i crossed the door i was like... can this be any bigger? there were at least one hundred taxis outside, "autobus" as the spanish call the bus, were arriving and leaving simultaneously which helped the visual confusion to get even bigger...

Went inside and searched for a wifi connection to see if my host from Barcelona had said anything. There was no free wifi in the station, so i went into McDonalds, its 09.20am and there are people already eating burgers and fries :s
I asked for a muffin and an orange juice and the wifi connection code, i got 30 min. free. Looked for a table a little bit more hidden, and tried to connect, for some reason my computer wasn't getting a valid IP, and asking the waitress doesn't look like it was going to do any good so i decided to go to the hostel.

Well the map i got indicated that i was on one point of the city, and the hostel was on a street that crossed almost all the city from one end to the other, i sure hope it is somewhere along the beginning. First it was a challenge to get me on the right street, i think the size of the city, and all the people crossing directions got me a bit blocked at the start. When i finally got myself situated thanks to a monument i don't yet know the name, this guy comes to me and asked if i needed any help, he just confirmed my suspicions.

So the number i had to find was 527/529, and i was at the house number 7, just at the begging of the road, no time to waste, motorbikes are to Barcelona like bicicles to Xangai the people walking have to slip the sidewalk with the parking bikes.

I started to go down the Aragó street, and it was like odd numbers on one side and even on the other so at least the side i already knew. Well to be short it took me two and a half hours to get there. It was on the opposite side of the map. Due the time and effort i invested to get to the hostel i don't want to elaborate my description of the way there.

This guy got me a bed in no time for 12 euros, it was a room with 18 beds, no stress for me.
So in a first and fast look i heard an asian a few frenchs and a couple of english with and old lady i couldn't quite figure out what nationality she was, i was yet to discover that she had worked for the Times, yes, the newspaper The Times, and been everywhere around the world.

So i have some things to catch up on line, and photos to organize, and its past lunch time so i will stay in the hostel. During the afternoon, i started to meet some of the others guests. A canadian one, two more from Manchester, on brasilian, they keep on arriving, it is a cocktail off nationality's.

They had all kind of styles, from rasta to hippie, hip-hopers to rockers, if my grandmother could see me now, she would stop making comments about my way of dressing :D At the end i was glad i stayed in today, i got some sun, cause the wireless signal was pretty good outside, and there were some tables and a net so i could lay down and swing, this is the thing to have at home :D and even had some pleasant conversations. Some of them were more serious than others, the amount of drugs they had smoked really interfere with the subject and for how long it could go on.

Got to talk about biological farming, jobs, respect, drugs, beer, lifestyles and life experiences and even space and chemistry (the good chemistry stuff not the drug chemistry stuff). In the over all, i really enjoyed this day, i talked portuguese, portuguese from brasil, english, spanish and even a little french, which for me is a situation to avoid, but necessary.

So i got to bed now, i will go watch this french dude practice is skills with this thing with balls strap to a wire, i'm not in the mood to ask him the name of it, he talks like the world is going to end if he stops, tomorrow i'll start to explore the city, and i got extra battery's for the camera, because if it is all i expect it is, it's going to be a long day, and a night to. They are setting a night out between all the guests it is going to be a hell of a party :)

If my post from tomorrow runs a little late you know the reason :D

by the way if you want to see some of the picture i have taken check out:
http://picasaweb.google.pt/notsolonelyroad/