Boo BCN Loft

We arrived back in Paris this morning after a long weekend in Barcelona. Our experience at BCN Loft was not one we would like to remember. We left on an overnight train to Barcelona on Thursday night. We walked into our sleeper cabin not really knowing what to expect. Two nice looking guys joined us, Sebastian from Columbia and Thomas from Germany and they both spoke English. The conductor came by and asked for each of our tickets. She said someone was in the wrong cabin. Apparently girls and guys are not supposed to be in the same cabin, but somehow the 4 of us were put together. She asked if we minded sleeping in the same room and we didn't really care so she said that she'd keep a close eye on the guys and told them to be on their best behavior. Thomas is 25 and was going to hike the Pyrenees by himself. He taught us some very helpful German phrases and we are thankful for him. Sebastian is 23 and is looking for a culinary school to attend in Barcelona. We had a great first train experience.

(Our friend Thomas from Germany)

We got to Barcelona at 8 am on the 25th and gave the address of our hostel to a very nice taxi driver. He plugged the address into his GPS and we were on our way. After about 15 minutes of driving he dropped us off in a small, quiet alley. The office didn't open until 10 am and it was 9:30 so we just thought we'd wait. We went up to the door and didn't see anything that said BCN Loft. We saw a lady walking past and asked her if she spoke English and if we were at the correct address. She sighed and said no and proceeded to tell us where we needed to go. Our taxi cab driver came back and asked if this was it. We said no, and our new friend told him how to get to the correct address. Apparently there are 2 streets with the same name and he took us to the wrong one. He was very apologetic and didn't charge us again. We were so thankful for the lady that the Lord provided for us. One of the main things we have been taught on this trip is that the Lord is in control and he constantly provides.

We got to the office of our hostel and had to wait a little while because our room was not clean yet. We went to a local market and got some fresh squeezed strawberry coconut juice and ate a Dunkin' Donut - the best donut we've ever had. We went back to the office and walked with a representative from BCN Loft about 15 minutes down Las Ramblas, a pretty popular street in Barcelona, and found our loft. We walked into a dirty room - trash, dirt, and unclean sheets. She said the maid would come soon. We were tired and decided to go to the beach to relax. We went to the beach for a couple of hours for some much needed sun and rest. It was so great and we are thankful for the opportunity to go the beach - the Texas coast has nothing on Barcelona.


We went back to our hostel, showered, and Jessica and Anna, two of our classmates, finally arrived. They showered and got dressed and we all had tapas for dinner. The 4 of us walked the rest of the night up and down Las Ramblas and bought some cute dresses at a popular Spanish store.

Day 2 in Barcelona: We woke up around 10:30 and got dressed to go to the beach, but first went to the train station to reserve our seats back to Paris. The four of us met at the beach and laid out and swam for about 5 hours. There were a lot of topless women and even the old ladies were showing off their bodies. Yikes. We opted out of that one and kept our tan lines. We left the beach and had "paella" (rice and seafood mixture) at a little restaurant. We came home, showererd, got dressed, and headed out to find a club or something to do. We wandered around for a while and found a small outdoor cafe to hang out at. We had dessert and just talked and it was great.

Day 3 - Last day in Barcelona: We woke up around 10:30 this morning and the handsome Italian boys in the loft next to us left us a little present on our door. Brittany woke up first and discovered some pink fuzzy handcuffs on the door knob with a note attached that said "I love America!" with 2 phone numbers on it. It was hilarious. They spoke very little English, but were nice and we might try to meet up with them when we visit Rome next week. We checked out of our hostel this morning and left our bags at the office while we walked around. Apparently a lot of shops are closed on Sundays so we walked to an old cathedral. Construction started in the 1880's and it still isn't finished. Our travel book said that it should be done by 2030. Yikes. It was beautiful and the detail was amazing. After this, we walked to sit on a bench in front of a cafe. There was a crazy waiter named Xavier who talked us into staying and having some nachos. He was high on life, not drugs. We sat down and met a guy named Mike who is 23 and is from Connecticut. He has been stduying in Barcelona with 60 other studends all summer. We got to tell him about some fun things to do in Paris because he'll go in a couple of weeks.




(Our friend Xavier)


(Our friend Mike)

We picked up our bags and left for the train station while the other two girls continued shopping because their flight didn't leave Barcelona until this morning. We killed some time by playing cards, a favorite past time of ours. We met 3 guys from A&M tonight on the train - Keith, Jordan (from Arlington), and Eduardo. This is their first time in Paris so we are all going to meet up together this afternoon to see Montmarte and Sacre Coure. It should be fun!

We travel to Germany tomorrow morning so next time you hear from us, we'll be in Munich. Miss y'all and will update again as soon as we can.