Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Barcelona ’17, Day 1 – The Journey to Spain


Since I didn’t write many blogposts during these past months, I barely mentioned the event Omnia Vanitas, organised by Street Fashion Europe, in Barcelona. I think I only mentioned it in this particular post, but other than that not so much. Just in case you’ve missed it: last year, in May, I helped organising the event Under the Sea, taking place in Amsterdam. After that, I became an official member of Street Fashion Europe, which meant I would help organise the upcoming events as well!
On March 18th and 19th Omnia Vanitas took place in Barcelona, Spain and together with my friend Josine I went there to help and organise.
Unfortunately, my memory is not as great as it used to be, this event took place quite a while ago and I wasn’t feeling very well throughout it, so I won’t be able to write about this trip as extensively as I normally would, but please bear with me! ♥

On Thursday March 16th Josine and I gathered our last things. Josine had stayed over at my place, so we could travel to the airport together easily. We could both only bring a hand luggage suitcase, so we couldn’t bring too much with us.
Packing the last things before our trip.

My mom was kind enough to drive us to the train station, where we said goodbye. Then, our big Barcelona adventure began! Our train arrived on time luckily and before we knew it, we had already almost arrived at the airport.
On our way to the airport.

We arrived at the airport and went to find our flight on the screen. I am always surprised by how many planes are arriving and leaving. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that!
Can you find our flight?

Since we didn’t have anything else to do, we headed to customs. We had to stand in line for a while, but not for long. After getting checked from head to toe and me having to hand in my deodorant (haha) we entered the airport.
We headed towards our gate, which was quite a long walk away and after we finally found it (we first walked into a closed door, what? XD) we noticed a familiar face among the passengers: it was Nina aka Chokelate! We chatted for a bit until it was suddenly time to board.
Our plane, waiting for us to board.

We went to stand in line and when we showed our passports and such we suddenly heard we had to hand in our luggage since the plane was too full. I was quite annoyed by this, since the only upside of having hand luggage instead of full luggage was the fact we wouldn’t have to wait at the luggage belt for our suitcases once we arrived. The main reason we had chosen for hand luggage was money, not necessarily because we wanted to, and this was honestly the only positive thing about it. Oh well.
Before we knew it we sat down in our seats. I texted some people and then turned off my phone, when suddenly the plane already started moving! Soon we were up in the sky and would land in Barcelona after a bit over two hours.
After a short while we even received some food! I love airplane food, still after many flights! We got some wraps with cream cheese, very nice. ^^
Airplane food. ♥

The flight was a lot of fun! Of course I had Josine to chat with, but the weather was also really nice outside and one of my dreams came true: we flew over Paris! I could see the Arc de Triomphe and Jardin des Tuileries and after some searching even the Eiffeltower! It was so cool!
Naturally, this picture is incredibly zoomed in and not very good,
but you can see the Eiffeltower and Champs-de-Mars!

I know this may sound a little weird, but I had a real sense of maturity being on a trip with a friend. I can’t really explain it, but it was a really nice feeling. I was glad I could share this adventure with Josine. ♥
Airplane selfie~!

Not long after, the plane started its descend. We made a big turn over the sea and could see Barcelona outside our window.
Barcelona!

Our plane landed, we got out and went on the hunt for our luggage. We bumped into Nina again and not long after our suitcases appeared.
We went through the gates, where Isa was waiting for us. Isa is a fellow Street Fashion Europe organiser, from Spain, and our roommate for the trip! So a lot of hugs and kisses followed at our meeting.
Initially Josine and I thought Isa wanted to stay at the airport with us and wait for the guests, but instead we went downstairs to the airport bus and would continue our journey to our Airbnb. The bus ride was nice and we got to see some sights of Barcelona while tour guide Isa told us some things about them. XD
At the end of the ride we got out and followed Isa to our Airbnb; an apartment with an absolutely gorgeous entrance. Isa handed us the keys and headed back to the airport to pick up the event guests. Josine and I took the elevator up to the… something floor. I think the fifth or sixth? Anyway, it was a lovely apartment with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. And a view ladies and gentlemen! You know how in movies people always have a view upon the Eiffeltower when in Paris or on the Big Ben when in London. Well, we really had a view upon the Sagrada Familia!
I couldn’t believe our amazing view!

Josine and I spend our time exploring the apartment for a bit and waiting for Isa to return… which took a very long time. Isa had been quiet on our chat for a while and when Josine and I were starting to get worried, Isa called us to tell us she was fine. Pfew! XD She said she and the guests had just arrived at a restaurant and gave us the address. What followed was an hour of me and Josine searching for this particular restaurant that was just nowhere to be found! We encountered shop guys complimenting me on my hair (wtf), a scary-looking police officer who turned out to be really nice and finally we just called Isa to come and save us. It turned out we had been in every wrong direction pretty much possible! Great. x)
When we arrived at the restaurant everyone was pretty much done eating and hey, I also found myself in a panic attack! Fantastic. Our first night in Barcelona wasn’t completely what I imagined so to say. XD
Finally, the special guests offered us some of their food, which was really nice and we went to bed quite late. Josine and I stayed up to chat some more and finally we went to sleep, since we needed it. x)

Thank you for reading! ~☆~

6 comments:

  1. Oh I'm excited to read these posts! It sucks that you're first night was a bit stressful, but at least you had Josine with you.

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    1. I am glad to hear!
      I was so happy to have her with me, we really became so much closer thanks to this trip. XD

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  2. Aww, I really wanted to come, but between Brexit and needing my annual leave for something else, I couldn't make it. I don't know what is it about first days, but in my travels I often had a bad first day experience (usually, and thankfully, rescued before it ended), like getting lost on the way to my Couchsurfing hosts/hostel or not knowing anywhere decent to eat and ending up with a disappointing McDonald's or a convenience store sandwich (not that any of these are that terrible, but disappointing in the sense that I wanted to try new local food, but instead resorted to comforting myself with something I already know and that's quite easy to find anywhere). And I usually travel alone, so I'm glad you had a friend with you to keep you company - these things hit you more when you're on your own. Now that I think about it, it's probably because everything is so new and unfamiliar that it gets overwhelming, especially after you're tired from travelling (even short trips are tiring).
    I hope that in the next post you'll tell us that things have improved! :)

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    1. For some reason I completely missed this post and literally JUST had to approve it!? Talk about a late respond on my part AHEM!

      Anyway, I totally understand what you mean about wanting to try new things but resorting to the things you know. I always at some point during my trip end up at a McDonald's too and when I do try new things, I tend to stick to them when I return to the same place because it has become familiar. I've come to sort of accept this and told myself it's okay, as long as I ALSO try new things, haha!

      I hope you found my other posts that followed after this one more uplifting, haha. x)

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  3. Wow! That view really is gorgeous! I'm so excited to read these too! I really want to visit Spain :D
    ~Kieli♥
    rainbowstarcandyshine.blogspot.com

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    1. I still can't believe we had this view, haha!
      Ah I'm so happy you're excited! ^^

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