Due to international readership ( ;-) ) I'm gonna switch over to English. Yeah, my relatives really gonna like that. ;-)

Day 17, Sunday: Barcelona Pt. I

So, the bus came eventually and the trip from Lleida to Barcelona was unspectacular. I just really had to fight the tireness. But since spanish busdrivers are quite uncommunicative (!No hablar con el conductor!), I prefered to stay awake so I won't miss my stop.
So, after a few hours I finally sat in the metro on my way to the youth hostel - I must say, the Barcelonian metro system is really well organized and easily comparable to the one in London.
It turned out the hostel was indeed as well positioned as it claimed. The metro stopped at the beginning of La Rambla and the hostel was practically at the next side street. But (and of course there had to be a "but") the outside look of it was really disillusioning: It was just what seemed to be a closed down shop with graffiti all over the blinds. The door sign was missing at all, but it had a bell that said "Hostel" in handwritting. So, with a slightly odd feeling, a rang the bell and a voice appeared over the intercom: "?Si?" - "Tengo una reservacion?!" BZZZZZZT.

So the door sprung open and I saw this:


So I walked up the ridiculously narrow stairs, starting to wonder if this really has been a good idea at all. After what felt like 100 stairs I finally arrived at a not locked door reading "youth hostel". So I went in and followed the voice calling me. I'm not really sure this was ever planned to be a hostel. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was just a big private flat with beds in very room - but the guy at the reception was really nice and after he found out I was german he greeted me with the very german phrases he knew: "Mein Freund" und "Verpiss dich". Eventough I'm not sure he knew what the last one meant...
When he showed me the room it made quite a decent impression. It was clean and bright, totally ok for 15 EUR a night. And best of all: All beds were still free. So with a bit of luck I wouldn't have to share the room with 5 strangers. After a quick shower (the bathing room couldn't really keep up with the quality of the rooms, but I guess they are always the weak spot in every hostel...) I learned that I wasn't the only guest at my room and got to know my new roomies: two really nice girls from Greece, who were also on a touristic visit in Barcelona. More on them in Pt. II. ;-)

So after a quick chat I finally started exploring Barcelona - and I really gotta say: It's an amazing city with many many things and corners to explore. Especially the Rambla is full of artists, magicians and things to see (and sometimes quite agressive vendors, unfortunately). I visited La Sagrada Familia, the big church that has become the emblem of the city and - as Thomas B. pointed out - always looks like Davy Jones would play the organ in there and finally started writing post cards to all you guys at home. I guess they will arrive dependably in four to six weeks...
Two german girls asked me (in english) to take a picture of them in front of La Sagrada, but when I answered them in german they were so puzzled that they could not compute what I just said.

After I spent the rest of the evening walking down La Rambla and watching a stunning graffiti artist (see pictures from earlier post) it was finally time for my bed. Eventough the mattress was very thin and it was in turns either too hot or too loud, I was glad that it remained with the three of us and no dubious characters to share the room with.

So, that's it for now. And never forget: Don't follow leaders, watch the parkin' meters.

Read next: Where is all my stuff? What does "theft" mean in spanish? And what cruel irony is it that I - a german - had to share the room for the next night with two polish people and two french men whose grandfathers fought in La Resistance?!