Head Down Power Through (Part 1)

Vick Nish (one of my best friends from CT) touched down in BCN Tuesday afternoon with a hot head and stories to tell. Was barely over international waters and homegirl was starting trouble. She had taken her computer out on the flight to work on a paper due for class, and the rude man sitting in front of her reclined his seat back too quickly, completely destroying her computer. The screen literally snapped in half, the whole thing is warped. I'll spare the details... but words were said. The plane company Iberia offered to pay for repairs, but Vicky claims Iberia will be named "Nishball" by the time she's done with them. I don't doubt it. Not one bit.

Anyways, despite that drama, Vicks stay has been relatively flawless. The first day we got some tapas, did some exploring (in the pouring rain) and eventually meandered into a bar by the end of the night. Wednesday and Thursday were just exploring days for the most part. Thursday night Vicky got to meet some of my main ladies at our favorite bar.. the one you get to pour your own drinks. We ended up getting in for free to a club down the street... where we basically just danced a lot. Clubs, you know how they go. Vicky and I did have a drinking contest with the bouncers though hahaha. It was actually really funny.

This weekend was absolutely ridiculous. Vicky and I went to Amsterdam to meet our friend Michael who is studying in Germany for the year. It was so nice to see TWO faces I know from the states. Our trip started off with mountains of stress though. Backtrack to last week when our laundry was being hung up to dry... it rained on our clothes about 4 times and Feli just let them re-dry... so when we got out stuff back they all smelled like mold. I didn't even notice until I put on the one pair of jeans I was planning on packing for the whole weekend and realized they smelled like moldy goat cheese (that specific). I thought it would go away but no perfume could cover it, so instead of going right from class to the airport I had to run home first and change... then these occupy wallstreet protests Spain-version were blocking our bus so we were late for our flight. I would say something about this but it would literally take up all the space I have to type... so I'll leave it at the basic facts. We almost missed our plane. I would've been so angry.

To vent our frustration about the bus situation, we developed a strong hatred for the guy in front of us in line at the airport. Everything he did was really rude... he cut us off for the bus first of all, and then DIDN'T pay for the bus, then cut us off in line to check it, made his girlfriend hold all of his stuff... there was a big list. That's the benefit of people not speaking your language. If he did hear us... I hope he did. Then we met the COOLEST guy next to us on the plane. He joked with us about this one poor kid trying to fit his luggage in the overhead, we joked about car names, tourists, everything. He was the man. People in Holland are A+. They are so nice. One guy at the airport in Amsterdam bought Vicky a train ticket (for 4 euros) because he saw her card wasn't working... and when we asked a security guard for help he led us right to our train and even let us sit first class. Nicest people ever!We even got a free taxi ride to our hotel... one because we had been looking for about an hour and couldn't find it and the driver felt bad, but also because even though we had been looking forever, the hostel was only about a minute down the road. Whatever. Free taxi! 

Seeing Mike was the best. He was asleep in the hostel when we got there... his flight came in at 8am and he had had a pretty rough travelling experience as well, but seeing us woke him right up! We went out to explore the city, got some dinner, and played around hopping from bar to bar all night. Amsterdam is such a crazy city. The people are so nice, the rules are pretty relaxed, obviously... it was just such a good time. Don't worry Mama and Papa, we did touristy things. We saw a lot of beautiful canals and architecture, and even did a Heineken Brewery tour. Not gonna lie, it was way cooler than the Guinness tour. Don't tell them! There was a virtual "Brew You" ride, where you get to see and feel like you're being brewed into beer. Awesome. Most of the rest of the weekend was spent wandering around the city, stumbling on little wonders. We managed to see the Red Light district... that was wild. All in all though it was a great trip... lots of bonding with Mike! Saturday night on the walk home we saw some guy punch through a taxi's window because he was having a dispute with the driver. It was hilarious... slash horrifying. What a city.

Anyways... I'm still exhausted and we even got some good sleep last night. Sadly I won't be on a plane until I fly home now... got all my trips out of the way :( But Vicky is still here for another week, and then the weekend after that Carlos comes to Barca for a visit! Less than a month til I'm home, America!