I took the metro up to the station last night to try and sort a ticket for Paris. As soon as I got to the station, I remembered being there before. I don't know what made me remember it though.
The ticket office was closed, but the info point was open and the guy there was really helpful. He told me what I needed, but said I had to get there early in the morning though because the tickets for this train sold out quickly.
I took the metro back to La Rambla where my hostel was. Its the main street on a night and it's always busy. It was even busier though, due to Spain winning in the football. Barcelona isn't the safest place in the world and this was the first time I'd felt slightly uncomfortable. I met with Ludde and Maria for a fairwell drink and swap emails etc.
I left them about 11:30 and headed back to my cell. I got a text from him on the way back saying someone had tried to rob him, but he was fine.
I'm not usualy the sort to overly fussy about places being hygenic, but I slept in my clothes.
I was up early as I wanted to be at the station to secure a seat. I slept well as there was no natural light in my room.
I got to the station, but there wasn't any seats available. I had to get a bunk. The price for a seat was €1.50, a bunk €17.50. Still not bad though. I put my bag in left luggage and then set off fir a look around.
To be honest, I wasn't really bothered about loosing a day in Barcelona. I've been here a couple of times before and as Long as I saw the Gaudi cathedral, I'd be happy.
I found it and I wasn't going to go in at first, but I couldn't resist.
It's basically a building site inside, but it's still incredible. It's like walking into a giant forest with huge tree trunks towering up to the leaves at the top.
There was pleanty to look at. All the stonemaisons studios are on site. Plus there's a museum of the history and all that jazz. I sat down in a little cinema in the museum and watched the end of a documentary in French. It was gunna start in English after. Just as it started, the power went out in the museum. Bugger. So I queued for the lift to go to the top of the cathedral. It broke while I was in the queue. Just my luck.
I left and had to do a bit of Joey map to get my bearings. I was using a free map from the train station that was sponsored by mcdonalds, so basically it was a map where all the main points on it were theirs. Which wasn't that bad to be honest because I could stand outside and use the lonely planet app to find where all the best sites were. I walked to a couple more sites and then had a sit down. A couple of people were taking pictures over my shoulder. Then a couple more. I turned round and I was sat infront of the Gaudi museum. I don't know how I missed it.
It looked good, but the price didn't. I was nearly €20 so gave it a miss. I had about an hour left before I needed to be at the station so decided to go the the beach. By the time I'd got to the docks at the bottom of La Rambla I knew I wouldn't have time for the beach, so hung around there for a bit.
My Spanish was better than I thought and came in handy. I used the phrase "sorry, I don't speak Spanish" to great effect. Just like in my Spanish oral exam. Although it didn't pay off as well then as I got a big fat F.
I had to take a train to Cerbere to catch my night train to Paris. If I'd have gone direct from Barcelona it would have been about €80 just for a seat. Even with my europass. The first train was really uncomfy. Just molded plastic seats for 3 hours.
A little Korean girls latched onto me on the train once she found out I was going to Paris. I say little, she was 29. Her English wasn't great but much better than my Korean. She giggled after every sentance and I was expecting the obligatory peace sign at some poin....... And a mace like Gogo Yubari in kill bill. She was very nervous and she said she had twice caught people with their hands in her bag, so I can see why. I hadn't been troubled once and since I was now offering protection I could only assume I looked as hard as nails. I stayed with her until we got the Paris train to make sure she got the right train ok.
I was happy with my bunk and this time it came with a bottle of water and a little travel pack containing things like earplugs (which were crap) and a wet wipe which I used for a quick gentlemans wash before settling down. I was going to try and watch a film on my phone because there was a power socket just outside the door, but At the next station a family got on and came in my cabin. The parents absolutly stunk of BO. I decided to just put my earplugs in and try to go to sleep to try and avoid dealing with the smell.
Goodnight.
Ps - I saw a segway mobility cart in Barcelona. Awesome!
