BARCELONA & COSTA BRAVA

In 2019 I tried to go to Barcelona twice, and on both occasions my tickets were canceled due to airport worker strikes. But the third time is the charm! I was thrilled to finally make it here and discovered I’m a fan of this cool city that blends boujee European elegance with hipster edginess. And solo travel felt daunting prior to this trip, but it exceeded my expectations. Someone once told me, “If you’re willing to do things by yourself, you’ll end up doing more things.” The older I get, the more I realize it’s true. Don’t wait. If there’s something you want to do, just do it. It’s actually pretty unrealistic to think there will be someone else who wants to do all the same things you want to do. And you’re capable of doing way more than you think all on your own ;)

Ok, on to the trip! I’ll start off with some highlights:

Spontaneity. I love to start off my trips by wandering with no real agenda. This helps me get a feel for the city, begin to orient myself, and simply enjoy the views without giving too much thought to google maps. Of course, I do this during the day and stay in populated areas. Wandering does require some limitations.

I’ve been doing CrossFit at my gym in Seville and I saw there was a box super close to my hostel, so I signed up for a couple of classes. One of the workouts was on the beach (how cool?!). The coach was extremely welcoming but not someone you’d want to meet in a dark alley. In the middle of the workout, she came right up behind me and said “YES! We need more women around here who can do pullups!” I’m used to being around a lot of women much stronger than I, so it was a nice little ego boost…and maybe even a bonding moment for us. I still want to stay on her good side, though. Everyone went running for the ocean post workout.

In my hostel I met another solo sister from Mumbai…and now Mumbai is on my bucket list. The more places you go and people you meet, the more places you end up adding to your list 😅. She and I went about our individual plans for the day and then met up for dinner in the evenings and swapped stories. I also learned all about traditional Indian weddings. They last 5 days, include lots of food and dancing. Sounds like the way to do it.

Time to reflect, pray, and think. Life moves too fast sometimes, and we often just keep moving with it. I walked around inside the Sagrada Familia in awe of the stained-glass windows. In an attempt to block out the creepy organ music, I turned up the last playlist I’d been listening to, which happened to be Taylor Swift. I didn’t bother to change it. And oddly enough, I felt surprisingly close to God in that moment. Go figure.

And then there are the things that don’t go according to plan.

I dropped my locker keys behind my bed in the hostel, and there was no way to get them out. I had to ask the hostel guy to come break the lock at 7 am while everyone was asleep. Rise and shine, hostel friends.

Barcelona’s rental bikes have a sophisticated-sounding Catalan names like Monserrat or Xufera. I figured Peré would be an excellent choice to transport me to Park Güell, but I ended up transporting Peré up some very steep hills. Peré, a true cruiser, was not cut out for anything but the flats. I should’ve thought about the park’s location in relation to the beach, but clearly, I didn’t. As there were no parking spots where I could ditch Peré, I had to haul him all the way to the entrance at the top of the longest, steepest hill on the route. I was willing him not to give up and go rolling back down the hill because I probably would’ve just left him and been charged a fee for abandonment. But he and I made it, and Park Güell was totally worth it. I ended up spending three hours wandering through the gardens, which I can best describe as an elegant Dr Seuss land.

I found cheap bus tickets and took a day trip to a beautiful little beach town. Actually, the beach was beautiful. The town was not. It seemed like it was built on a budget in the 60s with a strong emphasis on tacky tourist shops and not much else. Food was even a little hard to come by. I spent the day out on the beach and trails, which was more than enough—the pines, rocky coastline, and clear water were just what I needed for a good dose of Oregon-like nature.

I had to go back through the town to catch my bus home, and I did not regret avoiding it all day. The bus stop was outside the town on a highway between a Burger King and Hotel Estrella, which might not have been in business for at least 10 years. I hoped I was in the right spot. Buses came and went. The scheduled time for my bus came and went. I felt a bit like Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest. I said a quick prayer that no crop dusters would appear and that I wouldn’t get stuck eating at Burger King for the rest of my life. Then I started searching on BlaBla Car and found Marle, who had 4.8 stars and looked a lot more trustworthy than Hotel Estrella. Out of nowhere, a nice, confused-looking Portuguese couple joined me at the bus stop and it turned out they were waiting for the same bus. It eventually did come, and I think I know why the tickets were cheap.

On the bus, I thought about how it would have been a much less dramatic situation if I had a travel partner (or if my imagination learned to chill). As for the travel partner, I like to imagine he’s out there doing something insanely cool like leading climbing expeditions in the Himalayas or kayaking through the Philippines. When we meet one day, I’ll get to hear about all his adventures, and then he’ll kindly listen to my story of nearly getting kidnapped and held hostage at Burger King. A girl can dream, right?

For now, it’s back to work and time to start planning my next adventure. It’s good to be back with people, shift the focus to others, and enjoying being home in the Sevilla sunshine for a bit.

Until next time!

Anne