European Beaches..?and Flamenco! (June 29)

Apparently I was mad at my alarm when it went off, because I hit it so hard it snapped in half! :( After breakfast, I went back to sleep. Michelle and I were the only ones without trips in the morning, so we tried to get internet to make Flamenco plans. No luck. Then we tried to use WikiTravel (one of our free sites) to find out more info on Spain, but the internet was too slow to actually accomplish anything. We noticed, though, that on the “country boards” someone had written that Flamenco at Tarantos was only 6 euros with a student ID. Every other place for Flamenco was at least 35 euros! We decided that was a legit suggestion so we would go there for Flamenco at night. Then we just waited around and relaxed until Kristin and Katie got back from their trip. We left at about 2:30 to go to the local beach. We wanted to go to Sitges, but it would have been more complicated to get to. Of course, we barely missed the first shuttle over the bridge and had to wait. Then we took the bus to the beach. Poor bus drivers, waiters, and cops we encounter- we swamp them with a million questions of how to get here and there and where to get this or that. But hey, they’re the ones who know!

So…we got to the beach. Let’s just say it was a bit of a SHOCK! I was definitely not expecting to see topless women galore and stark naked men. They were ALL over! I figured there would be some, but we STUCK out as tourists because we were a group of 4 girls, all with our bathing suits on. It was so weird!! Not only were there naked people, but these naked people were very affectionate with each other in public on the beach…naked.  Everyone was smoking and drinking and a constant marijuana smell drifted by us. People were walking around selling things and ALWAYS stopped to try to sell things to us. I swear it was because they knew we were American because we weren’t naked! We learned that if you pretend they aren’t talking to you, they go away. Otherwise if you acknowledge them, they willlllll not go away! I considered getting a massage- someone got one next to us and it looked so nice! I resisted and bought some ice cream instead. There was a guy walking around with a tray of donuts balancing on his head. He had a musical triangle and was dinging it, singing, and dancing around selling his doughnuts. It was funny! Back to the naked people- soo weird! One man in particular was completely naked walking around, and then started to set his stuff down to lay down. I think he had something wrong with him because he couldn’t stop shaking and moving, and he was having the hardest time, but he was naked so I don’t think people felt comfortable helping him- I don’t know if he would even want help? It was kind of sad to watch, but at the same time it was weird because he was naked. I tried to read some, but I couldn’t get comfortable and it was so hot. I seriously couldn’t believe how many naked people were around me. I’m a little disturbed!

We got back from the beach, ate dinner really quickly, got ready, and shuttled to Las Ramblas. Now it was time for FLAMENCO! Oh my gosh, it was amazing. We were worried about the quality of it because it was only 6 euros compared to 35, but it ended up being AMAZING! It was so cool. There was a band behind the dancers- I fell in love with Spanish guitar that night! A man and woman danced the Flamenco, the men behind played their instruments, and it was so fun to watch. We had some sangria to sip on while watching. It was such a Spanish experience! The pictures can explain better than I can, but still don’t even come close to capturing the experience!

When we left the Flamenco show, we set out to get churros con chocolate. We didn’t care how long it took! We saw Javier, the interport ship guest for Spain. He is a student at the University of Barcelona and sailed with us to Barcelona. He was there to give Barcelona advice, hang out, and give lectures on Spain. Anyway, we saw him outside the Flamenco show and asked where we could get churros con chocolate. He said we were crazy because they are a breakfast food, not something for late at night! He said we wouldn’t be able to find anyone who would make them this late so we should try in the morning. We decided that churros con chocolate would be the number one item on our itinerary for the next day. We decided to walk around the side streets AWAY from Las Ramblas for a little bit and ended up getting some souvenirs. I got a fan and even learned how to flip it out right. :) All of us kept our money in one of our no-no zones (bras), so the cashier definitely noticed the warmth of some of the girls’ money. Woops! I have a feeling we might run into some awkward situations, but it’s better than getting pickpocketed!

We walked outside one of the stores and were figuring out where to go next when a girl walked by us, stopped, turned around, and asked if we were from America. Her name was Alex- she lives in Barcelona and her cousin was visiting her, and they were traveling around for the month. We started talking to her, and told her we wanted churros con chocolate. She immediately motioned us to follow her and said she had gotten it at night once! She had to ask a few places, but we finally got a restaurant to make it for us. The good thing was that it was fresh! Let me tell you- it was well worth it!!! 100%, hands down the BEST thing I ate in Barcelona. For sure. And I’m still craving more. The 7 of us girls, Alex, and her cousin ended up sitting in the restaurant for 3 hours eating, talking, and laughing. It’s crazy the places you can make friends!

On our way home, we ran into a fellow group of SASers on Las Ramblas. When we walked up, one of the guys Andrew was talking to a prostitute. After she left and he said bye to Precious, we asked him what was going on. Well, she walked up to him and asked for sex. Then when he said no, she tapped him down there and was trying to convince him because she needed money. He still said no. She was frustrated and walked away (that’s when he said bye to her- not disrespectfully, he was being very sweet!). He felt so bad for her and wanted to help her, but obviously wasn’t going to sleep with her. On Las Ramblas, people sell things ALL over. One of the common things sold is roses! A man came up to us wanting to know if we wanted to buy roses, and I told Andrew he should buy Precious one since he feels bad- totally not serious. He was, though! He bought a rose for Precious, and crossed the street to give it to her. There was a group of prostitutes and he asked where Precious was. All of them pointed to themselves. I guess they were all Precious. He finally found her and gave her the rose. Then we left quickly so her pimp wouldn’t come beat him up! But really (we heard that happened last summer).

As we were nearing the end of Las Ramblas ready to take a taxi, we were waiting to cross the street and a creepy guy started talking to Kelsey. “Hola guapa” he said as he raised his eyebrows. She responded and said hi, saying we were just waiting for a taxi. As he got creepier, I motioned her out of the conversation and asked why she was talking to him. “Why, what’s guapa?” I told her it meant beautiful or gorgeous, or something along those lines. Thankfully, I was Nani’s “guapa” growing up and knew it was something I only wanted nice people to call me! Not old creepy men. Thank you Nani! :)