BARKelona
Barcelona, 05/13 - 05/15
Jake and I checked into the Hotel Oasis and then went to the Barcelona Aquarium (Jake is such a kid & was literally begging to go lol) He literally spent over €100, I hate him lol. We walked up Via Laietana, a popular avenue that has a bunch of restaurants and street activities, and then checked out the Casa Milà, a building designed by Antoni Gaudi. We stopped at this cafe where we got these huge, but disgusting mojitos. It was literally all sugar. We guzzled them down and then walked around. We made our way to the Barcelona Pavilion, an architectural masterpiece designed by Mies van der Rohe that emphasized elements of modern architecture. TURNS OUT IT WAS CLOSED, and I literally freaked out a the ticket stand person. I’ve waited my entire architectural career to see the building and it was literally closed for a special event. Lol. We ended up going the following morning. We walked around Parc de Montjuic and then headed back to the hotel. By the time we were finished getting ready, it was already 11 pm, and we couldn’t find anywhere good to eat. Literally everything was closed (idk why it was so weird), so we ended up going to this shitty restaurant called Gloria’s. It was disgusting to say the least lol. At this point we were so pissed, so we got trashed that night. We went to this popular club on the beach called Opium where we met people from my university back in the States, TempleU!! Super random.
We were out until 5am and had to be at the Barcelona Pavilion by 2pm in order to miss another event that was happening. I made Jake get up early because I was not missing this lol. We were so hungover. We had tapas and then took the metro to Park Güel where we found out that we needed to buy tickets in advance to get in!! We walked around the free area and then walked to the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, a true masterpiece :) We spent spent a couple hours and then devoured a Five Guys burger (as a snack, the real meal was coming later. We went to dinner where I got cuddle fish risotto, literally to die for. Afterwards, we headed to the beach and downed a bottle of wine. I was supposed to leave for Tortosa to work on a dog shelter the following morning, but Jake convinced me to take the later bus lol. We grabbed lunch on the boardwalk and then Jake forced me to go to the Barcelona Zoo (again, such a kid). We chilled by the pool, ordered a couple drinks, and then I left for the train station and Jake left for the airport to head back to the States.
Tortosa, 05/15 - 05/21
The next week I volunteered at a dog shelter, Arca Tortosa. I made an account on WorkAway, a volunteer/host platform (if you’re traveling for a couple months I highly recommend making an account! The account costs around €30 for a year membership, but most hosts guarantee free housing and food in exchange for around 5 hours of work per day. It’s a cheap and easy way to create connections and memories.) Arca takes in abandoned and stray dogs that the police or other people find in the surrounding communities. The non-profit organization began eighteen years ago and has reduced over 5000 dogs. The dog abuse in this area is horrible. The shelter had at least 100 dogs, some of which were in horrible condition. My work for the week was to clean the dog pens, feed the dogs, change water buckets, and socialize with them. I ended up also pouring concrete and building a rock wall for the shelter.
The shelter was completely off-grid. The only electricity was supplied to the main building by solar, and water had to be brought in through tanks or bottled from a nearby spring. There was no wifi and barely any service. I had to sleep onsite in a caravan and had to wear earplugs when I slept, otherwise the dogs would have woken me up. Electricity and water was limited, so I only showered once. The shelter actually ended up running out of water and we had to make an emergency drive to the spring. It was actually kinda scary. It never rains in the region, so everything was super dry.
I met three other WorkAway volunteers when I arrived, Christa, Joy, & Ellie. Christa was from Iowa and backpacking around Europe after studying in Spain, similar to my circumstances. She was minoring in Spanish and was literally our translator between the Spanish speaking hosts and the English speakers. Ellie and Joy came separately, but were both from Germany. Thankfully, they also spoke English!! Carmen was the main person of the shelter, such a hardworking and kind person. She spoke some English, but mainly Spanish. There was a married older couple, Albert and Carmen 2. I couldn’t figure out their relationship to the other Carmen, but it seems as though they were family. They came everyday and helped out on anything that needed to be done. Carmen’s brother also came every night and made small repairs. There were a couple other local volunteers that came every other day and helped out.
Jacquie was the main coordinator between WorkAway and the shelter. Jacquie and her husband lived 20 minutes down the road and also had a small shelter of about 20 dogs. During the week, they drove Christa, Joy, Ellie, and I to the top of a mountain in Parc Natural dels Ports that overlooked the entire valley. Our plan was to have a picnic outside, but it began to hail!!! LOL. We had lunch in the car. We saw goats and they showed us these deadly caterpillars that swarm the countryside in the fall. Afterwards, they dropped us off and we hiked for a couple hours. We went swimming in a waterfall (my first “shower” in days.)
Every afternoon at 3pm, everyone at the shelter got together and had lunch. Christa told me that it is typical for Spanish people to have such a late lunch, but it was literally killing us lol. We were starving the entire morning. Let me tell you, they know how to cook. Every meal was KILLER. So good. We had traditional Spanish meals like Paella, Calabaza Soup, and squid.
Friday and Saturday night, there was a festival in the nearby town of Tortosa called Nomad. There was live music, a bunch of food trucks, and booze!!! On Saturday, we pregamed and brought our own alcohol to the festival in order to save money lol. Christa and I showed Ellie and Joy how to shotgun a beer and play the drinking game Circle of Death. Spanish moms know how to dance!! Carmen was dropping it, everyone was having such a great time.
One day we took the car to the beach and a small town called Amposta where we grabbed drinks and tapas. I brought shampoo and washed my hair in the ocean. The night I was leaving, the WorkAway volunteers drove me into town, and we had beers in the park. Apple Maps took me to the wrong station and I LITERALLY had to sprint 15 minutes to the next station. Everyone was running with me and made it with 3 minutes to spare LOL (I would have missed my flight out of Barcelona if I didn’t make the bus.)
I said my goodbyes and then slept over in the airport and waited for my 10am flight to Dublin the next morning. Please check out Arca!! So many cute dogs, I miss them already. Give them a home!!