Stranger in A Strange Land :
​The Beauty of Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Confessions of Crystal

Adventures (and misadventures!) in Barcelona

10/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Last year, I visited Spain for the second time and loved Barcelona.  For my reading week, I decided to go back and visit one of my favorite countries for the third time. I spent most of the time walking around Las Ramblas, reading on the beach, and exploring the Gothic Quarter.  One afternoon, I rented an electric scooter and rode alongside the water, which was a lot of fun!
On one of the days, I took a day trip to Zaragoza, a city about a three and half hour bus ride away.  I didn't know much about the city before I got there, but the castle and basilica were gorgeous!  The city was less "touristy" than Barcelona and everything seemed very inexpensive.  We were there on All Saint's Day, so some people were dressed in Halloween costumes again (there were lots of people dressed up on Halloween too).
Picture
Picture
Though Dia de los Muertos has its origins in Mexico, Barcelona also celebrates it to an extent so I was excited to see some of the alters where they honor their deceased relatives.  After walking at least two miles, we only found one, but it was still cool to see.
Picture
As nice as biking, reading, buying exotic fruit from La Boqueria on Las Ramblas was, there isn't really anything interesting to report until the second-to-last day in Barcelona.  I was alone on the beach reading with my purse right beside me.  When I went to check the time, my purse (and my passport, visa, debit cards, student ID, dorm keys, Oyster card, US cell phone, UK cell phone, and other less important things like my earbuds) was gone.  I found the first person I could find speaking English to borrow a cell phone and start an alert to get my cards turned off. Luckily, my study abroad program, ISA, has an office in Barcelona and was able to assist me with emergency cash and obtaining a temporary passport.

On my last day in Barcelona, I walked thirty minutes in the pouring rain to a train station, took a train to the outskirts of Barcelona to the American embassy, paid a large amount for a temporary passport, took the train back, picked up my belongings from the hostel, walked to the bus station, took a bus to the airport, took a shuttle to the terminal, flew back to London, took another shuttle, took another train, took the tube, and finally arrived back at my dorm! 

Replacing everything is a tedious process, but I'm so grateful for ISA helping me out and for my friends' offers to loan me money and a spare purse and cellphone (thanks Victoria!)

I know everyone says not to carry your passport with you and split up your cards, but I thought I was being smart by carrying my belongings with me, as even a pair of jeans left out overnight was stolen at the hostel!  Everyone seems to have a Barcelona theft story, so I guess the moral is that you can never be too careful! 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Crystal Chilcott

    Hi, I’m Crystal!  I love to travel and am currently a graduate student in Scotland. You’ll get all the best tips and insights from my experiences as a former ice-skating coach in Iceland and former study abroad student. Of the 27 countries I have visited, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis has been the strangest land yet.  Type 1 has not slowed down my travels and you'll learn how to take type 1 with you on the road! You can connect with me further on Instagram @CrystalChilcott, or send me ideas of where I should travel next via email: crystalmechilcott@gmail.comHappy Travels, Crystal

    Subscribe to Stranger in a Strange Land by Email
    What am I up to today?  Check out my Instagram feed below to find out!

    Categories

    All
    Austria
    Baby Brown Swiss Dairy Cow Incident
    Books
    California
    Cambly
    Canada
    Cats
    Chicago
    Coffee
    Colorado
    Croatia
    Czech Republic
    Denmark
    Diabetes
    Dumb Things I've Done In Foreign Countries
    Favourite Posts
    Figure Skating
    Florida
    France
    Germany
    Greece
    Hungary
    Iceland
    Ireland
    Italy
    London
    Macedonia
    My Travel Playlist
    Netherlands
    Northern Ireland
    Other Writings
    Sanibel Island
    Scotland
    Slovakia
    Spain
    Stranger In A Strange Land Series
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Travel Tips
    Turkey
    Type 1 Travels
    UK
    Wales

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact