Day 4

Wednesday, December 30th

I'm going to Dali today, and nothing was going to stop me. Andrew had woke up at 4 a.m. very sick and told me he was not in any shape to make the 2 hour train ride with me. Quickly, Alex volunteered to stay with Andrew for the day, but Kyle surprised me and said he wanted to go and was excited to get out of the city and see something different. Different is an understatement when it comes to Salvador Dali. Leaving the 2 guys behind, Kyle and I had breakfast and got the exact info on how to get to this town of Dali's. We left a little later then we really wanted to, but we were at the train station at 11 a.m., promptly got in the wrong line, then found the correct one and we were on a train by 11:16. The train was more like riding light rail in denver, very stiff seats with no head rest, but, 2 1/2 hours later, we were in Figueres; it was a really nice, cute town. We found our way to the museum, via a 10 minute walk, following the directional signes to the Theatre Museu Dali. The line was a little long, but I was super excited to see that I could take pictures, most museums you can't. It took us another 2 hours to wind our way through the 5 levels and little crevases of this magnificent display; I was in heaven. I took around 80 pictures, I'm sure I could have taken a lot more, but I just couldn't stop at everything I wanted a picture of and still be able to get back to the train before dark. Kyle was very inpressed by the warped mind of Dali and we really had a good time hanging out. When we finished, we ate "lunch", at 4 p.m., in a little cafe in the plaza at the entrace to the museum, Tapas and Vino Blanco (white wine), then headed back to the train. When we go to the train station, one of the express trains was stopped on the platform and we decided we were just going to hop on that one instead of the regional train we had a ticket for. Once the train started down the tracks, the ticket guy came buy and in very broken English (actually not any English at all), told us that we had to pay 5.60 euros more the ride that train, well we were already on it and it was going to get us home faster, so we gladly paid. Plus we were sitting in 1st class and just having a seat that reclined was worth the price as well, especially after the ride on the way here.

I convinced Kyle that since we were heading into Barcelona, that I needed to stop by Hard Rock Cafe again and pick up the t-shirt, shot glasses and lapel pin that I always get when I go to an HRC. He agreed and I completed the 2009 tour!!! We also decided that we would walk back to the hostel from here, probably 10 blocks or so and we would check out the market on La Rambla. I'm really glad we did, because I needed to buy some cheese for a friend back home, and I was able to see what they had before making a decision. It also woke us up from the long train rides and we got our 2nd winds.

When we got back to the hostel, Andrew was feeling a little better and was starting to think we got lost or something, since we were gone for around 10 hours, haha. I guess they were waiting for us for dinner plans, so we all headed out to eat and talk about out day. I was really surprised that Andrew and Alex didn't go see Avatar at the IMAX theatre, since they were trying to convince me to go with them. We went to another close little place and I ate Paella for the 1st time, I really enjoyed it; now I can understand a little better what they are making on the show "Top Chef" when I watch it on Bravo. After dinner, I really wanted to make a call home to my friend Tim, since we had only chatted once via Skype and had sent several e-mails back and forth. I found out that there was an internet cafe, very close to the hostel and only charged 10 cents per minute to call the States... whoo hoo! So I made my call and the boys hung out and made sure I wasn't alone to walk back. Andrew and Alex had met 2 girls from Argentine earlier in the night and when we got back, we all sat at the bar and drank some Sangria. After about an hour, it was after midnight and Kyle and I retired to our room and left the 2 guys to hang out with the girls. We all decided to take the guided tour of Mountserrat tomorrow, so I need some sleep.