My sociology final was three days away and I was half prepared, or so I thought. Therefore, I studied harder by reviewing my notes and the slide shows given by my professor. When test day arrived, my professor was so happy to see me and she reassured me that the exam was not going to be difficult as long as I paid attention in class and reviewed my notes (which I did). When I tell you all finals week was like no finals I have ever experienced throughout my college journey, trust me it was not. Basically, the exam was five questions which were very straightforward to the point that I had too much information for each question. At that moment, I realized I studied too hard for the exam and finished it within twenty to thirty minutes. I spent the remaining time reviewing my answers and then submitted it. Afterwards, I had a last time conversation with my professor who is a phenomenal person. She is from Spain, is a business owner of orthopedics, a wife and mother. I really enjoyed having her as a teacher because she shared with me how studying abroad and living with a host family in the United States continues to have a life changing impact on her life since her college years. Before, we said our goodbyes she emphasized the importance of keeping the connections I made throughout my time in Europe (especially with my host family and professors) because it will go a long way in the future. Now that I was done with finals and had a week left before it was time for me to go back home. I needed plans to make my last week fun and not dreadful.
Fortunately, my friend Lauren, who is in the same study abroad program with me pitched an idea for us to use our last week in Europe to travel to Madrid and Barcelona as a way to see more parts of Spain, but more importantly curtailing our eagerness of returning home. So we planned a six day trip between both cities ensuring we do all the touristic sites while relaxing at the same time. As the days became closer to our new trip, I started to second guess the whole thing because a part of me just wanted to be back home. Once we our adventure started, I was very grateful I did not back out of our plan.
Let me fill you the Lauren and Efosa adventure time!
First stop: Madrid
We took a bullet train from Alicante to Madrid (it is called a bullet train because it only took us two hours to get there). The majority of the train ride was good, but the older Spanish women felt it was okay to talk very loudly throughout the train ride (oh did I forget to tell you, it was a six am train ride) so we were highly annoyed but got through it. When we got out of the train station there were these weird huge black babies heads (one was smiling and the other looked possessed) they were pretty creepy. Anywho, we get to our hostel called, “Way Hostel” if I am not mistaken. Let me tell you that hostel was AWESOME we booked a six person hostel (the location of it was perfect from everywhere) it had a dope sitting room, kitchen, comfortable beds, free breakfast and 3 EURO paella and 1 EURO sangria for dinner. Huge shoutout to Lauren for finding this place for us (she has knack with finding great places to live for reasonable prices).
We visited the Cathedral de la Almudena which is a very interesting church (I might add) there were many resting sites which was creepy because they were on the floor and it was free for people to walk over (which I was uncomfortable with at all). Initially, I thought it was people from the eighteenth and nineteenth century who were buried there, but actually there were people from this century who were laid to rest there. One resting site that grew on me was of a young woman who died either 5 or 6 years ago , she was maybe in her forties when she passed away. Even though, she was a complete stranger to me , my heart went out to her and her family because whenever a person’s life is cut short it always puts me in a melancholy state.
Enough of the sadness, the other place we visited was El Retiro Park which is a huge park great for taking long walks, pictures with live statutes, or the best part go on a forty-five minute boat where you row to the other side of the park. It was a great experience for me because it was my first time rowing a boat and thankfully Lauren was a girl scout and knew how to row. For starters, rowing is not an easy thing at first it is a full body workout especially for the arms (shoutout the the IC crew team who does this day in and day out). Occasionally, the boat experience was interrupted by people being careless with their rowing resulting in Lauren and I having to act fast so our boats did not collide with other people. There was a point in time it became so bad that we decided not to care anymore and brace ourselves when people collided with us and row to the other side of the lake with fewer boats. It was a relaxing and soothing experience for us nevertheless.
We visited the Cathedral de la Almudena which is a very interesting church (I might add) there were many resting sites which was creepy because they were on the floor and it was free for people to walk over (which I was uncomfortable with at all). Initially, I thought it was people from the eighteenth and nineteenth century who were buried there, but actually there were people from this century who were laid to rest there. One resting site that grew on me was of a young woman who died either 5 or 6 years ago , she was maybe in her forties when she passed away. Even though, she was a complete stranger to me , my heart went out to her and her family because whenever a person’s life is cut short it always puts me in a melancholy state.
Enough of the sadness, the other place we visited was El Retiro Park which is a huge park great for taking long walks, pictures with live statutes, or the best part go on a forty-five minute boat where you row to the other side of the park. It was a great experience for me because it was my first time rowing a boat and thankfully Lauren was a girl scout and knew how to row. For starters, rowing is not an easy thing at first it is a full body workout especially for the arms (shoutout the the IC crew team who does this day in and day out). Occasionally, the boat experience was interrupted by people being careless with their rowing resulting in Lauren and I having to act fast so our boats did not collide with other people. There was a point in time it became so bad that we decided not to care anymore and brace ourselves when people collided with us and row to the other side of the lake with fewer boats. It was a relaxing and soothing experience for us nevertheless. We met a couple of cool people in our hostel for example a half German and half Brazilian guy who became great friends with us after I found his wallet in our hostel. He had amazing hair like it was a gift from God, his hair. During our stay there, he talked about how he visited New York for a couple of years and was very familiar with the Manhattan area. We all ended up talking about the city life and our individual journeys throughout Europe. Madrid reminded me of home a bit because of the fast pace lifestyle and it was very preoccupied.
Second stop: BARCELONAAAAA (I would be lying if I said was more excited for Madrid than Barcelona)
Just when we all thought everything was handled three hours later there was another bed issue so the same guy from reception figured out that we were put in the wrong room, we were supposed to be in room 102 not room 201. Lauren and I said yes we figured that but our keys did not work for 102 only 201. As a result we ended up having to move all of our stuff back to 102. The reception guy was so sweet he offered us free drinks from the hostel as a way to compensate for the inconvenience and informed us to talk to his boss in the morning about the incident. Long story short because this is getting too long, after talking to Lauren about our options of compensation we decided to see if we can have our dinners for free for two nights. The next morning came and I saw the boss and discussed about last night events and was able to convince him to let our dinners for the next two nights be free. Mind you we were only staying for two nights ! ( we were able to save money big time during Barcelona). Lauren and I realized that us together we are good luck because our trip went better than plan.
Now, back to the places we visited while in Barcelona (many were disappointments in my eyes and one was WORTHWHILE). First place on our list was the Sagrada Familia which is a well known church in Barcelona, it was currently under construction so we were only able to see the outside and the one floor of the church where mass or important services were/could be held. The statutes were impressive and the color scheme of the church’s windows, but after five to ten minutes of being in the church, I was shocked to realized it was only the first floor that was open for people to see; I thought there was more to it. Afterwards, we discovered another part of the church where mass was being held (I guess until the construction was over) and as a past practicer of the Catholic religion, I felt it was extremely rude for while mass was going on tourists were allowed to take votes and tour the church while the priest was conducting the service. Personally, I thought that part should have been closed off until mass was over because it was highly inappropriate in my eyes (Lauren felt the same also, we could not stay any longer so we headed back to our hostel).
Following day, we visited Park Guell which is famously known for being in the Cheetah Girls 2 movie where they went to Barcelona and there is a song called “Strut” that has Park Guell in the scenery. When I tell you the movie hyped up the excitement of Park Guell, I am not lying because when Lauren and I got there were in disbelief of how non-fascinating it was. Park Guell consist of the nice marble design (seen in the Cheetah Girls movie) with a great view, at the bottom a marble lizard, and houses people had to pay extra to see inside. Lauren and I were not amazed at all and were ready to head back home.
Prior to embarking on our six day trip, we found out that one of days in Barcelona will be a rainy day so we decided to make it an indoor activity and head to the Aquarium. Initially, I was thrilled for this because we were going to see the different feeding times of penguins, rays, eagle rays and morays. But to our disappointment, there was no organized schedule for these feeding times as listed on their website. Besides that we were able to find Nemo and Dory which was awesome because we were able to be big kids at heart again and enjoy seeing all the cool different fishes in their habitats.
Prior to embarking on our six day trip, we found out that one of days in Barcelona will be a rainy day so we decided to make it an indoor activity and head to the Aquarium. Initially, I was thrilled for this because we were going to see the different feeding times of penguins, rays, eagle rays and morays. But to our disappointment, there was no organized schedule for these feeding times as listed on their website. Besides that we were able to find Nemo and Dory which was awesome because we were able to be big kids at heart again and enjoy seeing all the cool different fishes in their habitats.
The best part for both of us in this whole trip was THE ARABIC BATHS: AIRE BARCELONA. I thought it would be a great idea for our last day in Spain to end on a high relaxing note and what better way to do that then go to an arabic spa where you can get massages, rotate between various heated pools (room temperature, very hot and very cold), drink Moroccan tea, and listen to soothing relaxing music. When I tell you all that MASSAGE WAS BOMB AND MUCH NEEDED *sighs* (just thinking about it brings a smile to my face). Lauren and I left that place like new people ready to go to sleep and finally stress-relieved to pack and head back to the States.
I really enjoyed myself during those six days, it helped me appreciate Alicante’s tranquil lifestyle more.
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