University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Spain Day Two: But really…Day One
8/9/2013 4:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Spain Trip Central
Day 2: August 9, 2013 - Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain – Wow this has been the longest day ever. Finally seeing Spain was amazing. For some of us it was the pinch in the dream that let us know, 'Yes, you're really in Spain'. A very eventful first day after little-to-no sleep on the plane makes for what feels like the day that never ends.
After landing in Barcelona at 9:30 am local time, a slight delay at baggage claims allowed our tour guide, Allie, to catch up with us after her flight from the U.K. Due to the lack of hotel rooms ready, we went straight to Plaça de Catalunya, or the Catalonia Square for lunch on our own.
We went and exchanged money before getting lunch, and like typical American's, a group of us found the most American restaurant possible for our first meal in Spain, Happy Bar & Grill, fully equipped with The Fonz painted on the front. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. (see what I did there?)
Even after an hour-long lunch break, some of the hotel rooms were still not ready, so with heavy eyes and nodding heads, we waited in the lobby, excited to finally get to access internet on our phones.
With two hours before our next scheduled function a majority of the team went to finally sleep, while a few of us made our way to the pool, because it's Spain and you're only here for a brief time.
Our first scheduled event was a tour of the town, with a few stops at a few parks. Our first park was Park Güell. Güell is named after Antoni Güell, an architect that designed the whole thing with the idea of a public garden.
The guys enjoyed walking around the park, using their newly acquired Spanish phrases, mainly just Hola, on many groups of people.
Our tour guide explained to us before the stop that we should not purchase anything from any vendor selling from the ground. She mentioned that it was illegal to sell there without a license and that you could get in trouble for even buying. Sure enough within minutes the Policia started to walk towards them, and they were gone in a flash.
After leaving Park Güell, we continued to drive around Barcelona, past many sculptures, fountains and the Olympic Village, the site of the 1992 Summer Games. That was when the guys got their first glimpse of the very close by beach.
After the tour we went to dinner at La Fonda Del Port Olympic. To call what we had 'dinner' is disrespectful to the absolute feast we had, which Allie said was a very typical night of Spanish eating.
Since they were waiting our arrival, we were served immediately. The first starter, or known in Spain as 'Tapas' was a seafood salad. That was followed up by calamari rings, fried baby squid, bruschetta and bread with a tomato vinegar on top, and mussels.
The meal's entree was a delicacy for those who did not have any of the Tapas, and for those who did. The waiters brought about a succulent cut of T-bone steak and let us go to town. The meal was concluded by a slice of chocolate mousse cake.
That was it for the first full day…a long day on not much sleep. There are no scheduled games in Barcelona, so it will be primarily sight-seeing and team bonding until Valencia on Sunday.
Until tomorrow,
Nick Ross
