HOLA BARCELONA!!!! We got to Barcelona had time to check in, eat breakfast, and shower for the day and went out on another walking tour. This time it was a British girl that had moved to Barcelona 12 years ago and she was full of stories. One of my favorites had nothing to do with Barcelona but was instead the question" why don't you see any baby pigeons anywhere?" We all got to thinking why don't you .... She said she would answer that at the end of the tour. She brought us all through the Gothic quarter and old city. We saw the cathedral by the sea, Orwells park, Barcelona cathedral, and the only public work of Pablo Picasso. I also learned why Isabella, Ferdinand, Columbus and the pope all died of syphilis.... Let's just say Isabella was quite promiscuous queue Nelly Fertado promiscuous. The tour let off at the park down from the arc and we went straight to the beach just to say we had seen it that day. Then we found a restaurant to accommodate all 6 of us outside because it was so nice out and all we wanted was to sit outside. I ordered the paella special That came with salad and a yummy grilled pineapple glazed in honey desert and of course sangria! The weirdest part was that when we were beginning to pay they brought out free shots and we think they stole 20$ of ours because we were 20$ short on the bill.... So turned into a little more expensive meal for all of us.
We then made our way to the metro where I had the most memorable and possibly traumatic thing happen to me. We had all been informed pickpocketing was a huge issue in Barcelona but I've been to so many European countries and never had trouble with it. Regardless I'm always very careful and hold my purse in front of me with my death grip on public transportation. So we get on this packed metro and I'm shuffled to the doors on the other side. Me being the germaphobe I am I opt for the balance game on subways instead of touching any surface or pole. So I'm standing there minding my own balancing business and this woman comes up and pushes me and of course I let go of my purse to grab the pole. We'll meanwhile as I'm grabbing on to said pole this middle aged woman's friend is quite close to me as well and there's all of a sudden a grocery bag being hovered over my purse. I then proceed to push her away from me and yell get the bleep off of me. I had felt her try and touch my purse and I knew what she was doing. But then I looked down and saw my purse was still zipped but the tassels I loop and tie around the end we're not looped. So I open my purse and sure enough my wallet is gone. I start yelling to my 5 friends, "guys she took my wallet she took it". I look up and this middle aged woman is staring back at me dumbfounded and I look her square in the eyes and yell you just stole my bleeping wallet. So she starts running- not so fast because it's packed on the metro. Then all 6 of us follow her and she is somehow stopped by the crowds of people. Some nice local man grabs it and threw it to where I was standing. All I could do was sit on the metro floor. Yes germaphobe me sat on the metro floor because my legs were shaking so bad I could barely stand. All of this happened within a matter of about 30 seconds I kid you not. The odds of ever getting pick-pocketed things back is almost never and I was extremely thankful for that Spanish man. As for the middle aged grannie and her purple eyebrow accomplice YOU'RE TACKY AND I HATE YOU. So after this episode we made it to Sagrada Familia but all of us were on high alert and were guarding our belongings with our lives. Barcelona don't worry I still love you but hate those women. As for the cathedral it was beautiful! I love all the elaborate stain glass windows that almost create this kaleidoscope effect inside it's absolutely breathtaking! It's definitely one of my favorite cathedrals in all of Europe!
Later that night I got dinner with Olivia who was in town and rushed back to the hostel and got ready in record time 8 minutes I was pretty impressed with myself. As for my purse it was safe in the hostel and all I brought out was cash and that's it. I wasn't going to try at my luck again. Our first stop was the room which was in essence free shots the entire time. Some fared better then others cough cough Carol. We then went around the corner to dancettoria. This club is three levels with a different music genre on each floor it was such a cool idea! Only downside is the average age was around 16-17 no joke but still a great first night with no pickpocketing drama in Barcelona!