It might just take your entire day and maybe your first-born son to get to Barcelona...

Wow, we are sooooooooooooo looking forward to being done with all forms of European public transportation! It is such a hassle!!

Our morning however, started out quite nice - I took a wonderful long shower and then we got to grab some delicious pastries from the boulangerie next door before making the 5min walk to the train station. Love that it was so close! Especially since we were hoping to catch the 9am bus to Barcelona. However, as soon as we showed up at the ticket counter, we noticed that there was a huge crowd and some rather stressed-out faces. Awesome. 

After waiting in line and trying to pick up bits and pieces of conversation, turned out that the entire bus was full and seemingly late. So we asked when the next bus left. It was 1pm. Equally awesome. So leaving Tibby with our bags, I made my way over to the train ticket counter and asked if they had any trains to Spain....after waiting at least half an hour in a ridiculously long line. When I finally got up to the front, they said there was but it didn't leave until 2pm and we'd have to make 4 connections. HA! ...nevermind then! So I went back to sit with Tibby until we could buy tickets for the next bus at 1. Although the group of people around the counter began to lessen, it didn't disappear and I waited in THAT line for another half hour or so too. Finally I began to get light-headed and Tibby took my spot only to eventually find out that the 1pm bus only had one seat left. SERIOUSLY?!!

So with only one choice left, I ran back over to the line for the train (which moved much quicker this time) and immediately bought two tickets for the 2pm. We braced ourselves for the adventure ahead of us with some McDonald's for lunch (it was cheap and close...and it was much needed comfort food) and then waited until our train arrived. 

Luckily all went well (except that I couldn't get my computer to adequately play Count of Monte Cristo...we were inspired after yesterday), and besides some weirdos on the trains, we made it into Avignon to change trains towards the next station. It was on that train that we found out it was going to be delayed 45+ minutes due to fires. Again, awesome. So now we were worried about the connecting train which would take us into Barcelona! Luckily, there was one lady and three other guys who were in the same boat - and could all speak English! - so we felt a little more relieved knowing we wouldn't be alone if we missed that train!

Eventually we did make it to that connecting station - Port Bou - and as we got off it was like being in a stampede! People (the majority of which were young backpackers like us) came out of the woodwork and swarmed the police officers at the doors to the station. They were checking passports which slowed things down and Tibby and I definitely felt some prickles of panic. Luckily, the guys waved us through with just a glance and we rushed onto the platform to find that, thank heavens, the train hadn't left yet! We immediately hopped on and stashed our bags before collapsing into the seats. We were in Spain!!

Suddenly every instruction and greeting was in Spanish and we were able to relax - it was our last train, finally!!

But we still had a few more hours to go, so I pulled out the pc and we started to play some random and rather hilarious games on paint. 

Here's a few pics...

...she's a lady stick-man ;P

Anyways, so once we reached the station in the center of Barcelona, we tried to find an information kiosk that might give us a map so we could find our hostel. Unfortunately, since it was about 11pm at this time, everything was closed down and eventually we just decided it'd be easier to just take a taxi. I was certainly glad to not have to deal with navigating the metro lines or streets of the city so close to midnight, but unfortunately we're both pretty sure the taxi driver took a few too many circular turns and cheated us out a bit. In the end though, I'd rather have him take a few extra euro than have to haul our gear around without a map! He'll have to face judgement one day anyways...lol. And we did get to see the city all lit up at night which was amazing! I think we definitely are going to try to walk around an snap some non-blurry-car-pics tomorrow!
So! Eventually we did make it to our hostel - it's nice and clean if a little sparse - and Tibby did an awesome job whipping our her Spanish skills with the owner! But once we dropped off our bags, our sole intent was to find food!
Although it took a little while and we were slightly overwhelmed by the CRAZY night life here in Barcelona....like people are EVERYWHERE!!!....we did finally find a nice little restaurant in which to eat. We ordered tapas - five to be exact, though I only got a pic of four - including some artichoke hearts, a seafood salad, a mozzarella and veggie salad, hearty meatballs, and potatoes with a spicy sauce! They were each super delicious and just what we wanted!

YUM!!

After dinner, we came back to our room to chill out before bed and that is where you find me now! Tomorrow we plan to sleep in a bit but then hit the sights! Can't wait!