For our last day in Barcelona, we decided we were going to eat cheaper. Barcelona is pretty expensive for food. So, what did we eat? La comida turca! We had Kebap (Kebab). We didn’t have any recommendations, so we just headed in the direction we intended on going anyways, and stopped at the first kebap place we found. It was alright. It had some weird toppings. For example, I’ve never seen corn, bell peppers, or olives stuffed into a kebap sandwich. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I remembered. And it wasn’t, great.
We then headed off to the port in search of the aquarium. Seth really likes aquariums, and had read that the one in Barcelona is one of the biggest in Europe. It turns out that Europe doesn’t have very big, or exciting aquariums. So, that was a bit of an anticlimactic, turn. It looked like it was going to be big, because the building was really big, but it turns out that the size was for the IMAX they had inside. Oh well.
We, then, set off walking in search of the beach. I don’t think I’d ever been to the beach in Barcelona. It was pretty, but overrun with people. We walked along the beach for a bit, before heading to a park. The park was pretty neat. There was this really big fountain, with cool statues. It was nice to have some space that wasn’t packed with people.
We thought of going to the Picasso museum, but when we got there the line was enormous. I hope we’re not missing out on a lot of things because of the huge lines. But, I can’t justify waiting in line, in intense heat, when there are so many beautiful architectural gems surrounding me. Picasso is going to have to wait for another day.
By this time, our legs were in a world of hurt. We’d been walking so much for the past week, that our legs felt as if they were going to crap out. Wonderful terminology, but that’s how it was. We remembered seeing a cheap massage place directly around the corner from our hotel, so we walked right in! They led us back a long hallway with doors on either side. We were placed in this little curtained room where we could see down the hallway. Luckily Seth and I were together, because immediately after we sat down we both started to notice something was a little off. Just as we sat, we noticed a young guy being led down the hallway by one of the women, and as he’s walking down the hall he begins to unzip his pants. The Lady stops him and ushers him into a room. A few minutes later an older gentleman is led from a room, in only a towel, past us to take a shower, then is led back to the room. This happens multiple times. We were in a happy endings massage parlor. Oh man, I never expected to find myself in one of those. And, I didn’t even catch on. Seth had to put two and two together for me. Anyways, we were there for their legitimate business, so we soaked our feet and received massages. Both of our ‘masseurs’ had a quirk. I had the girl with nine and a half fingers who kept answering her cell phone, and at one point left for a few minutes to run outside, while Seth had the woman who sat open legged wearing short shorts and no underwear. As we sat, we watched middle aged and older men file in to this massage parlor. Wow.
We were a little hungry so we went to kebap place number two. This one was much better. We both ordered doner plates with fries, some kind of slaw, and a ‘salad’ consisting of shredded lettuce some olives and a slice of tomato. They gave us a ‘spicy’ (for Spain) sauce, and a white sauce that was reminiscent of ranch dressing. Delish! And our meals for the day cost at least half the price, probably more than half, than the rest.
The next morning we left for the airport to meet Sloane. Our cabbie got us there in record time, not without putting our lives in peril every other block and a half. We found Sloane wandering around a duty free shop with ear buds plugged into her head. YAY!! It was so nice to see her after a whole year! Commence catching up process!
The Ryan Air flight was hilarious. The entire time we sat in the airplane they were trying to sell us something. They didn’t stop at food, they got creative. Perfumes, jewelry, lottery tickets! It was one after the next of, “please buy our crap!” Maybe that’s why you have to pay for luggage and are only allowed one small carry on (a small purse is included in that one item), the plane is so heavy from all the crap they are trying to sell you! Either way, the flight was easy and we had more leg room than some of our other flights so far.
We made it to Venice without event. We ended up being the only people on the bus heading into Maestre. This is probably because most people like to stay in the Venice city center, and not the mainland, when they visit Venice. There are no gondolas in Maestre. But, then again, there are no canals there either, so why would there be gondolas? Ok, I messed up. In all the confusion of finding a place that worked for the three of us, I booked us a hostel in the wrong area. But the room was sufficient and we got our own bathroom. Speaking of the bathroom, it appeared as if the entire room was the shower, toilet and all. Eventually, we let Sloane be the pioneer of that adventure. Anyhow, we checked in, alerted the proprietor that we would only be spending one night at her establishment, and found the bus into ‘the real Venice’.
Holy tourist trap Batman, I think we’re in expensiveville! And I didn’t know it was so hot in expensiveville. There was a point where we were in the shade, standing still, and I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. Let me put it out there, that I’m not a sweaty person. I don’t drip sweat (my trainer can vouch for me on that one). But, It was pouring from my body. I have never sweat so much, without doing any physical exertion. I was quite impressed. So, we headed off, down some random street, alley, I don’t know what they call them, sidewalk? After much shopping around for the best price for a pizza, we sat down and sucked it up when we could walk no longer. Two coffees and some crackers didn’t last long. The pizza was ok, but the beer was wonderful. And it made for a tipsy Berkley. Think about it, coffee for breakfast, tons of walking in intense heat, and sweating buckets, of course I was effected by a beer. Fun times. But I sweat that out quickly and was no longer tipsy.
We wandered around the city, feeling like rats in a maze, simply following obscure signs to reach an old building, bridge, or cathedral. Turn after turn of designer stores and stores filled with Venice chachkies and memorabilia, packed with hoards of slippery, slimy, smelly tourists. Our next decision was an easy one, we had to get out of cities.
After seeing integral points of interest, like the Rialto Bridge and San Marco Plaza, we ended up ducking into a little bar that had wifi to check out some details for the upcoming days. The guys who worked at the restaurant were friendly and spoke English. We took advantage of that. Don’t worry, they took advantage of us, too! Eighteen euros for three beers! Wow. In Madrid, and apparently Huesca, you get a beer for one euro and they bring you something to eat as well. Man, oh man.
Since we had decided that we wouldn’t be in Venice long, we decided we needed to have one italian meal. We wandered around looking for a place that looked good, but wouldn’t kill our wallets completely. We ended up accidentially finding one of the places I had written down from some guide book. We tried one of the local traditional dishes called sarde di saor, marinated sardines, fried, with some sort of citric sauce on top. It was pretty good. Sloane and I both ordered a pasta, and Seth ordered the cuttlefish in ink. The unanimous decision was that Sloane’s pasta carbonara was the winner.
After a very long and winding walk to the bus station we decided to get lost. Well, not really, but we did get a little turned around. When we couldn’t wander any longer, we stopped to ask some outdoor dining patrons if they knew where we were supposed to be going. They were more than happy to help us, which would have been great if we spoke Italian. Though Sloane and I can mostly understand the language, when they use so many words and utilize so many hand gestures, it becomes confusing and its easy to get distracted. I got some directions and was ready to head off, when I walked up to Sloane, deep in directional conversation with another man. He finished talking and drawing little maps on his hand, and we paused before smiling, thanking the man, and beginning to walk away. Then we realize this man is following us. He’s walking us to our hostel! He insisted, so we walked with a wonderfully helpful man to our hostel with fairly little words, because we couldn’t say anything. But, we thanked him profusely when we turned the corner onto our street. So nice!