6/18/12
The past three days have been wild, crazy, an downright strange. Multiple times I have tried to sit down and write about my happenings in Barca but it has seriously been a nonstop 72 hour party. So I guess I will recount all that has happened. Starting on the 15th.
While I waited in T2 for Ross to arrive I tried to catch up on some sleep. The airport was so freaking hot that when I did fall asleep I broke out into an immediate sweat. On top of that, a rowdy group of British Indians on a bachelor party trip showed up and proceeded to start throwing back airport beers.
After eavesdropping on their rap battles, I figured these guys were pretty cool to approach and boy was I right. Their eyes lit up when I said I was from Texas and immediately asked every question imaginable about the U.S. What is Texas like? Have you ever been to Vegas? Do you own guns? Awesome. Yes. Yes, multiple as a matter of fact. I had a great laugh with them. Balu the bachelor invited me to go out with them later that night. The Sonar music festival was happening at the beach and for only 60 euro you could see Dead Mau5 and a ton of other electronic artists.
We snapped some photos, exchange facebook info, and numbers. Once Ross lands, we're giving these guys a call. Balu and his entourage went on their way around a quarter to 4. Time was counting down until Ross' plane landed and then the real fun would begin.
I was not sure if Ross was flying in from Milan or Rome. All I was aware of was that his flight was scheduled to land at 4:20. None of the flights in T2 were arriving at that time but one from Milan was landing at 4:25. Ross has got to be on that plane.
Around 4:45 panic began to set in. The Milan flight had completely deplaned and Mr. Cooper is nowhere in sight. I can't call him because the international SIM card I bought only makes calls internationally from the U.K. That is the last time I ever buy a product from a stand labeled "Mobile Unlocked". Sketchiest establishment ever.
By now it begins to dawn on me. If the terminal I am in is called T2, there has to be a T1. I set off in a sprint to find T1 and ultimately Ross. A bus drops me off at T1 and when I walk in, it is even more crowded than T2 and I have no idea where the kid can be. So I locate the nearest pay phone and deposit 2 euro and FINALLY get in touch with him.
From El Prat we took a train into the city and proceeded to navigate our way to the hostel. Yellow Nest Hostel was located in the north western part of the city just a short walk to the FCB stadium but about a 20 minute rail ride to the nightlife. We had booked 3 nights in a 12 bed room and of course there was no A/C.
With both of us feeling hungry we set out to find some grub. The food we ate was filling enough for us to get our doozle on. Doozle is a vocab word Ross taught me and it's just another word for pregaming. We bought a sixer of doozle juice called Damm and sat on a park bench and doozled away.
After catching up and getting slightly buzzed we headed back to the hostel. Tonight we would hit up the club Opium on the beach. We met a guy named Andy who was a student from Purdue that had been in Barca for some time but was going home the next day. He asked if he could come with us to Opium and we said why not.
After loading up on more doozle juice we set off for the area of town called Barceloneta. Once we arrived in the area, we were immediately bombarded by Indians hawking euro beers. The euro beers were a steal of a deal so we loaded up on a couple more of those. Along the way, someone handed us free entry cards for Opium. Sweet, looks like we don't have to pay cover tonight.
The line into the club was super long and I was in need of some cash for the evening. While Ross and Andy held my spot I went on a wild goose chase to find an ATM only wot wind up in a seedy casino. The place was super sketch but it had an ATM and that's all that mattered.
Maybe I'm quick to make rash decisions when I am overwhelmed with panic and out of my comfort zone. When I made it back to Opium, the pier surrounding the club was crowded with even more people and I couldn't find the guys anywhere. The assumption I made on the spot was that if they made it to the front of the line, then they would have gone on in and not risked not getting in. The thinking is very selfish reflecting back on it, but humans have selfish natures I've come to realize.
I use my free entry pass to try and get in but find out it is only valid for the first 500 people. After that it was a 20 euro cover. Whatever, if 20 euros is the price of finding Ross then it's definitely worth paying.
Once inside I knew I wasn't going to find him, not without a cell phone at least. The club was shoulder to shoulder and pitch black. If this is what constitutes a club in Spain then I could make a killing if I opened a club in a closet. Charged for cover. Limit entry to 8 people and then charge outrageous prices for drinks. Because that is really all clubs are over here. Crowded, dark, expensive places to dance to electronic music that is in fact about six months old.
A very nice hungarian woman let me use her phone to text Ross, but not response. I tried to go outside and use a pay phone but wouldn't be allowed back in unless I waited until 2:30.
At 2:30 I get my hand stamped, locate a pay phone, and try to call Ross. The layout of the phone was confusing and I must have been showing it because it was at that point that I was approached by a prostitute.
No matter how many times I told her I wasn't interested, she just wouldn't go away. At one point I even haggled with her over prices. However, the angel on my shoulder showed up and told me if I was going home with anyone it was Ross, in a straight kind of way.
The second time I called Ross he answered! From the noise in the background I could tell he was at Opium. So I booked it back to the club, got in, and had to pee. 14 euro redbull vodkas will do it to ya. As I waited in line for the bathroom, lo and behold but who should appear? None other than Mr. Ross G. Cooper himself.
Turns out Andy and him waited for over an hour for me to come back. I think because of my rash decision making I had somehow overlooked the 2 of them. The guys somehow friended some older women from Bolivia who were friends with the bouncer and they got in for free. The situation was terrorizing at the time but looking back on it I can only laugh.
We raged the rest of the night away with some Brazilian chicks and then bailed back to the hostel around 6 am. Looking back on that first day seemed like a whirlwind of confusion coupled with the uncertainties of being in a foreign country.
6/16 - It hits the fan
Ross woke me today around noon. Time to hit the beach. Both of our wallets took a pounding last night and we needed to eat cheaply. Luckily, Kebap shops sell delicious and filling wraps for dirt poor prices. The kebap cured my hangover and lightened my mood for the beach.
The beach at Barceloneta was crowded by the time we rode the train down there. The water was bright blue and refreshing to swim in. We took turns going into the ocean while the other looked after our stuff. Ross and I had out wits about us and would not fall pray to thieves.
The afternoon on the beach made for a great hangover cure. A W hotel overlooked the beach and was a pretty tight site to behold. Another great sight to behold were the topless beach goers. There were some nice ones and then some saggy fried eggs as well. Whatever, this is Europe.
Thoroughly sunburned and in need of a nap we headed back to our neighborhood to eat and sleep. An aussie staying at Yellow Nest approached us at the cafe and informed us of a pub crawl tonight. For 10 euro we got entry into most clubs and all the free sangria we wanted during doozle time. Didn't like like a bad deal at all. Once we were inside our room, I used Ross' ipad to connect with the outside world. It felt great reading my email and seeing what was happening in the headlines. I put the ipad back in the locker and took his iphone so I could FaceTime my parents, leaving him alone to nap in the room. The time was around 7:45 pm.
At 8:45 I returned to the room and Ross was still the only person in there. He awoke and inquired if I wanted to grub again. That's when I noticed the lock missing on our locker. In the hour time span that I was gone someone came into the room and took 70 euro and the ipad.
It's not like we were being stupid or anything. We never let our guard down for a second, yet we still got jacked. The thing is though, my ipod and camera were in there too but they weren't taken. Ross said he heard a man and woman enter the room but didn't wake up to see what they were doing. We informed the hostel staff but they didn't do shit to help us. The police were even worse. We would have had to go to the police station and waste more time filing a report while the thieves got further away. We had to come to terms. Ross got robbed an there was nothing we could do about it. Another lock had been cut in the room and a couple of others had been tampered with. Yet nobody else had anything taken that we could see. How could these thieves get into the hostel and into our room if they did not have a key? There were too many questions with not enough answers. Ross was clearly rattled by the theft because he had all of his notes about his Texas-exes trip on that ipad and he was out 70 euro. He refused to stay another night and wanted to check into a hotel ASAP. It was already late and I knew what I had to do. Get Ross as drunk as possible and rob him again.
I did however want to at least stay here another night. So I bought him some sangria and paella for dinner. Josh from San Francisco bought us a pitcher of Sangria and Ross received some much needed pity from the other staying at the hostel.
With enough doozle juice in him and some convincing from the others we got him to sign on to the pub crawl. It turned out to be a blast and definitely worth it.
Not losing each other this time around we went to a club called Shoko that was next to Opium. The drinks were cheaper and we had a raging good time with the group. We met some people from A&M, CU, Northeastern, and BC.
Afterwards we got most of the remainder of our group and set out on the beach. A couple of black guys were wearing MLB flatbills out there and I started talking to them. Turns out they are basketball players trying out for European league play. One went to OU and another Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The guy who went to CC played with my old next door neighbor Matt Slatnick. It's a small world we live in!
I knew this was our last night clubbing, but it was worth it 100% of the way.
6/17 - Safe Haven
Ross woke me this morning at 1 pm. With a hotel room booked we made moves to GTFO. 2 beds would be free a day early, we didn't care to collect a refund of any kind.
Fully strapped and luggage in hand we hopped on the metro and headed towards our new place for the night. The metro was especially crowded today and we were forced to stand. The train stopped at a station and one group unloaded while another climbed aboard. I was facing Ross when I heard the crinkling of a map and what felt like someone bumping into me. I looked down to my right and that's when we both saw it.
Two fingers sliding into my pocket. i immediately turned and 'bowed up to the would be pick pocket. "Don't do it. Don't you fucking do it", I yelled. Placing my camera in a safe place I looked around and checked our surroundings. The man had one other accomplice we knew that for sure, but how many others were there? By now the adrenaline was coursing through our veins. Somebody was gonna die right here and now. Thoroughly enraged we did what we thought was best and drew as much attention in the form of shouting to deter these two.
At one point I'm pretty sure the guy asked me what I was gonna do in Cataluns. I told him touch me again and I would bash his skull in and curb stomp his amigo. The rest of the train knew what was going on now and all eyes were on these two shitbags. We arrived at the next stop and kicked them off. They must have been pretty shitty pickpockets because they each had a couple of teeth missing and scars all over their arms. Next person who thinks about checking out what's in my pocket will be eating the bottom end of my canteen for their next meal.
Once the fiends were gone, several locals cam up to me and shook my hand. One even made the universal gesture that I should have dropped that fool on the spot. I though about knocking him out cold. For all I know he couldhave wanted that just so his other friend could steal more. Also, I'm in a foreign country. I didn't want to start a fight and wind up in Spanish jail.
The hotel we checked into was close to the beach and in a quiet neighborhood. It was very nice being in a hotel room with A/C, and a door two people had access to. We definitely felt a lot safer and secure. Ross is going home on Tuesday but I'm here for another month. I am always going to be suspicious of anyone from here on out and trusting no one.
In an attempt to do some sightseeing before leaving we rode the train over to the gothic district. We heard about a free walking tour of Gaudi architecture. The tour was two and a half hours of walking around the city looking at his famous architecture. Not having eaten anything all day we were feeling pretty low. We saw a lamp post and a house he designed, then we bailed. Instead we took a train to La Sagrada Familia, his most famous work, and called it a day.
I know I probably missed a lot, well, all of the sights in Barca but I still had a blast.
Aside from all the trouble we encountered, it was still a trip I won't forget. Ross may have given up on the hostel lifestyle, but I haven't. I still havea whole month over here and need to be mindful of my spending. Especially after Barca.
I am less than an hour from Madrid. Brooks and I will be meeting up and traveling together for the next 4 or 5 days. It's going to be fun and cheap. I doubt my bro will want to go clubbing and I have not desire to. I am caught up on journaling for now and need some well rest.
The past three days have been wild, crazy, an downright strange. Multiple times I have tried to sit down and write about my happenings in Barca but it has seriously been a nonstop 72 hour party. So I guess I will recount all that has happened. Starting on the 15th.
While I waited in T2 for Ross to arrive I tried to catch up on some sleep. The airport was so freaking hot that when I did fall asleep I broke out into an immediate sweat. On top of that, a rowdy group of British Indians on a bachelor party trip showed up and proceeded to start throwing back airport beers.
After eavesdropping on their rap battles, I figured these guys were pretty cool to approach and boy was I right. Their eyes lit up when I said I was from Texas and immediately asked every question imaginable about the U.S. What is Texas like? Have you ever been to Vegas? Do you own guns? Awesome. Yes. Yes, multiple as a matter of fact. I had a great laugh with them. Balu the bachelor invited me to go out with them later that night. The Sonar music festival was happening at the beach and for only 60 euro you could see Dead Mau5 and a ton of other electronic artists.
We snapped some photos, exchange facebook info, and numbers. Once Ross lands, we're giving these guys a call. Balu and his entourage went on their way around a quarter to 4. Time was counting down until Ross' plane landed and then the real fun would begin.
I was not sure if Ross was flying in from Milan or Rome. All I was aware of was that his flight was scheduled to land at 4:20. None of the flights in T2 were arriving at that time but one from Milan was landing at 4:25. Ross has got to be on that plane.
Around 4:45 panic began to set in. The Milan flight had completely deplaned and Mr. Cooper is nowhere in sight. I can't call him because the international SIM card I bought only makes calls internationally from the U.K. That is the last time I ever buy a product from a stand labeled "Mobile Unlocked". Sketchiest establishment ever.
By now it begins to dawn on me. If the terminal I am in is called T2, there has to be a T1. I set off in a sprint to find T1 and ultimately Ross. A bus drops me off at T1 and when I walk in, it is even more crowded than T2 and I have no idea where the kid can be. So I locate the nearest pay phone and deposit 2 euro and FINALLY get in touch with him.
From El Prat we took a train into the city and proceeded to navigate our way to the hostel. Yellow Nest Hostel was located in the north western part of the city just a short walk to the FCB stadium but about a 20 minute rail ride to the nightlife. We had booked 3 nights in a 12 bed room and of course there was no A/C.
With both of us feeling hungry we set out to find some grub. The food we ate was filling enough for us to get our doozle on. Doozle is a vocab word Ross taught me and it's just another word for pregaming. We bought a sixer of doozle juice called Damm and sat on a park bench and doozled away.
After catching up and getting slightly buzzed we headed back to the hostel. Tonight we would hit up the club Opium on the beach. We met a guy named Andy who was a student from Purdue that had been in Barca for some time but was going home the next day. He asked if he could come with us to Opium and we said why not.
After loading up on more doozle juice we set off for the area of town called Barceloneta. Once we arrived in the area, we were immediately bombarded by Indians hawking euro beers. The euro beers were a steal of a deal so we loaded up on a couple more of those. Along the way, someone handed us free entry cards for Opium. Sweet, looks like we don't have to pay cover tonight.
The line into the club was super long and I was in need of some cash for the evening. While Ross and Andy held my spot I went on a wild goose chase to find an ATM only wot wind up in a seedy casino. The place was super sketch but it had an ATM and that's all that mattered.
Maybe I'm quick to make rash decisions when I am overwhelmed with panic and out of my comfort zone. When I made it back to Opium, the pier surrounding the club was crowded with even more people and I couldn't find the guys anywhere. The assumption I made on the spot was that if they made it to the front of the line, then they would have gone on in and not risked not getting in. The thinking is very selfish reflecting back on it, but humans have selfish natures I've come to realize.
I use my free entry pass to try and get in but find out it is only valid for the first 500 people. After that it was a 20 euro cover. Whatever, if 20 euros is the price of finding Ross then it's definitely worth paying.
Once inside I knew I wasn't going to find him, not without a cell phone at least. The club was shoulder to shoulder and pitch black. If this is what constitutes a club in Spain then I could make a killing if I opened a club in a closet. Charged for cover. Limit entry to 8 people and then charge outrageous prices for drinks. Because that is really all clubs are over here. Crowded, dark, expensive places to dance to electronic music that is in fact about six months old.
A very nice hungarian woman let me use her phone to text Ross, but not response. I tried to go outside and use a pay phone but wouldn't be allowed back in unless I waited until 2:30.
At 2:30 I get my hand stamped, locate a pay phone, and try to call Ross. The layout of the phone was confusing and I must have been showing it because it was at that point that I was approached by a prostitute.
No matter how many times I told her I wasn't interested, she just wouldn't go away. At one point I even haggled with her over prices. However, the angel on my shoulder showed up and told me if I was going home with anyone it was Ross, in a straight kind of way.
The second time I called Ross he answered! From the noise in the background I could tell he was at Opium. So I booked it back to the club, got in, and had to pee. 14 euro redbull vodkas will do it to ya. As I waited in line for the bathroom, lo and behold but who should appear? None other than Mr. Ross G. Cooper himself.
Turns out Andy and him waited for over an hour for me to come back. I think because of my rash decision making I had somehow overlooked the 2 of them. The guys somehow friended some older women from Bolivia who were friends with the bouncer and they got in for free. The situation was terrorizing at the time but looking back on it I can only laugh.
We raged the rest of the night away with some Brazilian chicks and then bailed back to the hostel around 6 am. Looking back on that first day seemed like a whirlwind of confusion coupled with the uncertainties of being in a foreign country.
6/16 - It hits the fan
Ross woke me today around noon. Time to hit the beach. Both of our wallets took a pounding last night and we needed to eat cheaply. Luckily, Kebap shops sell delicious and filling wraps for dirt poor prices. The kebap cured my hangover and lightened my mood for the beach.
The beach at Barceloneta was crowded by the time we rode the train down there. The water was bright blue and refreshing to swim in. We took turns going into the ocean while the other looked after our stuff. Ross and I had out wits about us and would not fall pray to thieves.
The afternoon on the beach made for a great hangover cure. A W hotel overlooked the beach and was a pretty tight site to behold. Another great sight to behold were the topless beach goers. There were some nice ones and then some saggy fried eggs as well. Whatever, this is Europe.
Thoroughly sunburned and in need of a nap we headed back to our neighborhood to eat and sleep. An aussie staying at Yellow Nest approached us at the cafe and informed us of a pub crawl tonight. For 10 euro we got entry into most clubs and all the free sangria we wanted during doozle time. Didn't like like a bad deal at all. Once we were inside our room, I used Ross' ipad to connect with the outside world. It felt great reading my email and seeing what was happening in the headlines. I put the ipad back in the locker and took his iphone so I could FaceTime my parents, leaving him alone to nap in the room. The time was around 7:45 pm.
At 8:45 I returned to the room and Ross was still the only person in there. He awoke and inquired if I wanted to grub again. That's when I noticed the lock missing on our locker. In the hour time span that I was gone someone came into the room and took 70 euro and the ipad.
It's not like we were being stupid or anything. We never let our guard down for a second, yet we still got jacked. The thing is though, my ipod and camera were in there too but they weren't taken. Ross said he heard a man and woman enter the room but didn't wake up to see what they were doing. We informed the hostel staff but they didn't do shit to help us. The police were even worse. We would have had to go to the police station and waste more time filing a report while the thieves got further away. We had to come to terms. Ross got robbed an there was nothing we could do about it. Another lock had been cut in the room and a couple of others had been tampered with. Yet nobody else had anything taken that we could see. How could these thieves get into the hostel and into our room if they did not have a key? There were too many questions with not enough answers. Ross was clearly rattled by the theft because he had all of his notes about his Texas-exes trip on that ipad and he was out 70 euro. He refused to stay another night and wanted to check into a hotel ASAP. It was already late and I knew what I had to do. Get Ross as drunk as possible and rob him again.
I did however want to at least stay here another night. So I bought him some sangria and paella for dinner. Josh from San Francisco bought us a pitcher of Sangria and Ross received some much needed pity from the other staying at the hostel.
With enough doozle juice in him and some convincing from the others we got him to sign on to the pub crawl. It turned out to be a blast and definitely worth it.
Not losing each other this time around we went to a club called Shoko that was next to Opium. The drinks were cheaper and we had a raging good time with the group. We met some people from A&M, CU, Northeastern, and BC.
Afterwards we got most of the remainder of our group and set out on the beach. A couple of black guys were wearing MLB flatbills out there and I started talking to them. Turns out they are basketball players trying out for European league play. One went to OU and another Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The guy who went to CC played with my old next door neighbor Matt Slatnick. It's a small world we live in!
I knew this was our last night clubbing, but it was worth it 100% of the way.
6/17 - Safe Haven
Ross woke me this morning at 1 pm. With a hotel room booked we made moves to GTFO. 2 beds would be free a day early, we didn't care to collect a refund of any kind.
Fully strapped and luggage in hand we hopped on the metro and headed towards our new place for the night. The metro was especially crowded today and we were forced to stand. The train stopped at a station and one group unloaded while another climbed aboard. I was facing Ross when I heard the crinkling of a map and what felt like someone bumping into me. I looked down to my right and that's when we both saw it.
Two fingers sliding into my pocket. i immediately turned and 'bowed up to the would be pick pocket. "Don't do it. Don't you fucking do it", I yelled. Placing my camera in a safe place I looked around and checked our surroundings. The man had one other accomplice we knew that for sure, but how many others were there? By now the adrenaline was coursing through our veins. Somebody was gonna die right here and now. Thoroughly enraged we did what we thought was best and drew as much attention in the form of shouting to deter these two.
At one point I'm pretty sure the guy asked me what I was gonna do in Cataluns. I told him touch me again and I would bash his skull in and curb stomp his amigo. The rest of the train knew what was going on now and all eyes were on these two shitbags. We arrived at the next stop and kicked them off. They must have been pretty shitty pickpockets because they each had a couple of teeth missing and scars all over their arms. Next person who thinks about checking out what's in my pocket will be eating the bottom end of my canteen for their next meal.
Once the fiends were gone, several locals cam up to me and shook my hand. One even made the universal gesture that I should have dropped that fool on the spot. I though about knocking him out cold. For all I know he couldhave wanted that just so his other friend could steal more. Also, I'm in a foreign country. I didn't want to start a fight and wind up in Spanish jail.
The hotel we checked into was close to the beach and in a quiet neighborhood. It was very nice being in a hotel room with A/C, and a door two people had access to. We definitely felt a lot safer and secure. Ross is going home on Tuesday but I'm here for another month. I am always going to be suspicious of anyone from here on out and trusting no one.
In an attempt to do some sightseeing before leaving we rode the train over to the gothic district. We heard about a free walking tour of Gaudi architecture. The tour was two and a half hours of walking around the city looking at his famous architecture. Not having eaten anything all day we were feeling pretty low. We saw a lamp post and a house he designed, then we bailed. Instead we took a train to La Sagrada Familia, his most famous work, and called it a day.
I know I probably missed a lot, well, all of the sights in Barca but I still had a blast.
Aside from all the trouble we encountered, it was still a trip I won't forget. Ross may have given up on the hostel lifestyle, but I haven't. I still havea whole month over here and need to be mindful of my spending. Especially after Barca.
I am less than an hour from Madrid. Brooks and I will be meeting up and traveling together for the next 4 or 5 days. It's going to be fun and cheap. I doubt my bro will want to go clubbing and I have not desire to. I am caught up on journaling for now and need some well rest.
Great post! Keep 'em coming!
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