9:50am — Wake up and realize I’m supposed to be dressed for a 10am walking tour of Barcelona and an afternoon on the beach.
Clearly, that didn’t happen. By day 23, my body could not handle another tour of cathedrals and official city buildings. I’m in Barcelona with gorgeous, warm weather…I’m going to the beach! Despite leaving most of the group, it turned out to be one of my favorite days overall.
Gomes and I caught the hotel breakfast a half hour before it closed, and we still got it for free. LUCKY THING OF THE DAY #1. Then, the day got even better because we randomly sat down at Table #23 on Day 23 of the trip! LUCKY THING #2 (If you haven’t caught on, 23 is my lucky number and birthday).
We had such a great convo over breakfast: Laughing about the past, pondering deeply about the world and all of its issues. What a treat it was to talk about real life things while slowly enjoying a delicious breakfast with great company.
Photo Credit: Nick Scafura
Afterwards, we found Drew and headed to the beach. We decided to wing it by walking instead of taking the metro. Although that decision took us through the ghetto, it was so nice to casually walk at our own pace without millions of tourists around us! I was in my element.
We ran out of sunscreen after only 2 minutes, but said “forget it, we’re living it up anyway.” I was loving life in the warm sun, (salt) water, waves, friends and TANNING.
We took a break for lunch at an outdoor Italian restaurant that Gomes knew and loved. The food was surprisingly better than in Italy! We split bruschetta and burrata cheese— NOM NOM NOM. Burrata is like mozzarella but more gooey on the inside. OMG.
For dinner, I had tapas and watched an Olympic soccer game with Cara at the hotel restaurant. We both got the same exact meal: chicken caesar salad, chicken croquettes (obsession) and a beer. LUCKY THING #3!
Photo Credit: Kristin Fretz
That night, our crew of 12 people got in line for Opium (nightclub) with 12 free passes —which surprisingly worked! We got inside one of the best night clubs in the world for FREE on a Sunday night. LUCKY THING #4.
OPIUM WAS INCREDIBLE!! There were so many different lounge rooms and bars to choose from. Meg and I sat outside just chatting on the beach front in the comfiest chairs as people were hustling into the club. Around 2 am, Opium was BUMPING!
We found an open area right next to the DJ booth and stayed there all night. The music was amaaazing house and techno—much more American-sounding than Fabric's music in London —which was great! ‘Feel So Close’ by Calvin Harris came on, and being one of the song anthems of the trip, we all hugged each other in a circle and swayed back and forth before the beat dropped. It was too precious.
Then, all of a sudden a SAXOPHONIST got on stage and was improving off the house songs! For 20 minutes at a time, he was JAMMIN! I’ve never seen anything like it. LUCKY THING #5.
4:30am - We left the club.
5:00am - Ate sandwich next door to hotel.
5:30am - FaceTimed our friend Lauren in New York!
6:00am - I’m passed out with Ca, Lex, Nicole, and Nick all in my room.