Sagrada Familia and more Sneaky Bites

​July 15

We had a 7:30am train from Zaragoza to Barcelona this morning, although our hotel being located in the train station made this much easier. We were slightly worried that our train would be delayed or cancelled because there were widespread train strikes across Spain today. Luckily, we got to Barcelona no problem.

We took the metro straight to our hostel and left our bags in lockers for free. As the only one who’s been to Barcelona before, I was in charge of leading our walking tour around the city! We passed the Cathedral of Barcelona on our way to Mercat de la Boqueria. Indoor markets are always fun and we enjoyed walking around all of the stalls.

We walked north on La Rambla and while it’s usually a staple of Barcelona, it was completely under construction and not at all pleasing. We were pleased, however, by the LEGO and Swatch stores which were very entertaining and air conditioned.

We kept north past Casa Batlló to La Pedrera - Casa Milá. From there, we walked East for a long while until we reached the Sagrada Familia. We didn’t get tickets to visit the inside of the basilica but the outside is the impressive part.

Once we had taken in the impressive views and walked to the back side of the basilica, the girls and I went into KFC for chicken sandwiches while Alastair kept walking. After we ate, the girls and I took a bus to Ciutadella Park and then walked back to our hostel in the Gothic Quarter.

After some downtime, we found an Irish bar where we could play some cards. I’ve actually been to this bar 2 years ago with my study abroad classmates. Our bartender was a Ukrainian refugee. We headed back to Mercat de la Boqueria to look for dinner but instead opted for a nearby Michelin recommendation: Bar Bacaro. The Italian food was delicious and we shared a bottle of wine.

Alastair’s thoughts: The bistro offered unique flavor combinations that many of us had never experienced before such as cod fish and white chocolate. The sisters all opted for pappardelle with ragu while I ventured for a pasta with anchovies and lemon juice, that could have used a little less acidity. The atmosphere of the restaurant was excellent, and was made better by the extra appetizer for Maggie and I that was left on a nearby table. 

He’s not kidding. He and Mags really snuck someone else’s leftovers. One of the best parts of traveling as a family is that we are constantly laughing and creating inside jokes. Tonight’s dinner was no exception and our topic of conversation was less than appropriate. There was a woman at the table next to us who we suspected was eavesdropping. When she paid her tab and left, there was still an appetizer on her plate that was left untouched. Alastair was appalled and reached over and snatched it. He and Maggie scarfed it down to hide the evidence. We all laughed way too hard.

Our last stop of the night was La Ascensor Bar, known for their mules, which was mostly empty. We played cards and headed back to our hostel to go to bed. Once we reached the lobby, the hostel employee organizing the bar crawl recruited Dagny and Magnolia. Alastair and I fell asleep on account of our 8am train to France tomorrow.

Adelaide 

Running of the Bulls

​July 14

Today was the day! Alastair woke up around 6am to get dressed and walk to the starting line for the running of the bulls. He actually had a hard time getting into the lineup of runners and had to climb over a port-a potty? 

Us girls got to sleep a bit more but we were walking by 7am to find a place to watch. Along the route, restaurants and shops barricade their doors and windows, leaving just enough room to watch over the top. Crowds are gathered on the balconies above (which you either are lucky enough to own, or can afford to rent).

The fencing barriers on the side streets include two layers of fences, such that the police and EMTs can stand behind the first, and spectators behind the second. We found a spot along that second fence, and defended it fiercely. When the time came, we climbed up and had a great view of the running.

The whole event went so quickly! We saw the runners spread out along the street, nervously jumping up and down as they awaited the bulls. There were ~8 bulls that ran by and it was over in a flash. Almost immediately, the fences were opened and we all filtered into the street. There were many people laying throughout the street on stretchers as their heads or limbs were assessed by EMTs. We were grateful not to see Alastair on any of the stretchers. The TVs in the bars along the route were already playing highlight reels of injuries from the run that had just occurred. It was kind of surreal the rush of adrenaline followed by the search for our brother.

We made our way back to the AirBnB, our designated meeting point since Alastair didn’t have his phone with him. We all arrived at the same time, and were relieved to see him on two feet. He had a blast, claiming that it was neither difficult nor scary, and that if he were to do it again, he would take even more risks. Brave kid.

We walked around town for a bit before deciding to FOB until checkout at our AirBnB. We packed our bags and then walked with them away from the festival to find a place to eat lunch. We were SO hungry having had no breakfast, and we came upon a burger place that looked delicious and air conditioned. Unfortunately, they weren’t open yet so we had coffee at the cafe next door and played cards while we waited until 1pm.

The restaurant was themed around an ambiguous “Kevin” which we thought was funny. My burger had guacamole, pico de gallo, and a jalapeño aioli. It was perhaps one of the best burgers of my life, which may have had to do with my hunger level. We played more cards, shared a big cookie/brownie, and then split up for some down time before our train. 

Alastair and I walked to a park to sit on a bench and scroll on our phones. The girls made their way to the train station and found AC. Alastair and I joined them there and then we all hopped on our train back to Zaragoza. Unfortunately, it was a slower regional train and the AC was broken. We were all completely melting for 90 minutes before they stopped at a random station and had us load onto a different, slightly cooler train that was also bound for Zaragoza. I would say that our biggest challenge so far traveling together has been staying out of the heat, and the second is finding creative ways to ditch our bulky bags so we are not limited by them.

Once in Zaragoza, we checked into our nicest accommodation of the whole trip so far. Our hotel was conveniently located in the train station and we had two rooms, two bathrooms, four beds, AC, and plenty of room to spread out.

I spent the evening booking the rest of the accommodations and train reservations for our trip. Alastair watched the World Cup game on our TV and eventually, he and Mags walked to McDonalds to grab dinner for us all while I talked to Palmer for a bit. The four of us have been eating lots of fried chicken sandwiches on this trip as they’re cheap and delicious.

Another busy day of travel tomorrow!

Adelaide

Ready, Set, San Fermín!

​July 13

We woke up around 5am to make our train to Pamplona, Spain. The journey was easy enough and we were to the Pamplona train station by 9am! We had to kill an hour at a cafe (playing cards of course) before we could drop our bags at a convenience store/luggage hold.

We took a bus into town and were instantly surrounded by hundreds of people in matching white outfits with red scarves. The San Fermín festival lasts one week and tomorrow is the last day! The bus dropped us next to Jardines de la Taconera and there were many vendors selling red scarves, jewelry, purses, etc. We carefully selected our red festival attire and felt very cool once we were all dressed up.

As we walked closer to the center of Pamplona, we saw a large crowd shuffling into the bull fighting ring without tickets so we joined in and found seats. Turns out, we happened upon the only free event in the ring, a demonstration of matador skills by junior matadors and young bulls. We were grateful to have found the family and kids demonstration because it involved very minimal stabbing of the bulls.

The only bleeding occurred when the bulls would attack the supervising horse/rider who were wearing full padding to protect from injury. The rider would poke the bulls back with a long stick. A flesh wound though.

The highlight of the show was when one of the junior matadors tripped over his capote (colorful cape) and narrowly avoided injury as he fell in front of a charging bull.

We’ve been looking forward to San Fermín for many weeks as it was the first thing we booked for this second half of the summer as just us 4 siblings. Once we knew that we were planning to be in northern Spain around the time of the festival, it was a priority for us to make it happen.

We spent the afternoon walking around Pamplona, listening to the many marching bands perform, watching people celebrate, playing cards, having drinks, and generally soaking up the energy of the festivities. We walked the route for the running of the bulls (the final one takes place tomorrow) to scout out good places to watch Alastair run, and for him to determine where he would start running.

At 4pm, we checked into our AirBnB for the night. We are less than a block from Plaza del Castillo which means that we are right in the middle of the festival! Surprisingly, our room was relatively soundproof. By 5pm, we had taken a bus back towards the train station to collect our bags, and then we transferred them to our room. 

After showering, we napped for a few hours. I stayed in to talk to Palmer for a while as my siblings ventured out to find Doner kebabs and ended up walking around town in a neighborhood parade. I found my own kebab and joined them in a square.

We walked a bit out of town to see an 11pm fireworks show at the park. On our walk there, we accidentally joined another parade as they sang along to the marching band. Suddenly, everyone was running to one side of the street and pressing together, then running to the other side. I realized that the lyrics were “a la pared, a la pared, a la pared…” which means “to the wall, to the wall, to the wall…”. It was very entertaining and we were happy to participate.

The fireworks show was impressive and perhaps too loud from where we were sitting. We walked back to the Plaza del Castillo to see the midnight “dance party” but the music wasn’t very interesting to us. Magnolia and Alastair called it a night. Dagny and I went and found a bar full of people around our age. We met a group of Dutch guys and got some advice for our time in Holland later this summer. Asleep by 2am with an early morning tomorrow!

Adelaide

Sneaky Bites

​July 12

Our last day in San Sebastián was fairly relaxed. We all woke up in time for more Spanish tortilla, coffee, and cards at Antonio Blvd.

We walked to the beach on the other side of the old town peninsula to see if it was any different. It wasn’t quite sunny enough to swim by 1pm so we napped on the beach instead. On the walk back into town, Mags and I got gelato. Pistachio for me.

We had FOB for a while, and at some point, Alastair snuck out to take himself to Bodegon Alejandro to partake in their tasting menu and a bottle of wine. I hadn’t even realized that he was missing and I didn’t know what I was missing out on! 

Once Alastair was back, the four of us walked back to our normal beach for one last splash. It was plenty warm at this point and we got lots of sun.

The end of our night was relaxed. Us girls all had food from the grocery store for dinner and we all went to bed early in preparation for our crazy early travel morning tomorrow.

Adelaide