I’m a little backlogged on blogging about my travels, but I suppose better late than never. After my journey to Siracusa with Iman, I flew up to Barcelona to meet a group of college friends: Mimi, Ryan, Joe, and Steve. My journey to Barcelona was a bit of a hot mess because I had a connection through Rome, and a few weeks earlier, Rome Fiumicino airport had an electric fire in one of its terminals, creating chaos and frustration as they tried to land and fly out far more flights than they were capable of currently handling.
But I finally arrived in Barcelona, took a train into the city from the airport, and climbed up what could only have been a small mountain to get to my hostel. Okay, it was just an inclined street, but after a long day of travelling, it was basically Mt. Everest. Upon arriving at the hostel, I learned that I had been placed in a totally different dorm from all of my friends, who were all in the same room, despite my careful orchestration and prior assurances that we would all be in the same room. It was a “classic Gargi” moment, but from experiencing the combo of emotions from finishing teaching, finally seeing some of my best friends, and getting ready for the journey of a lifetime, I almost cried right then and there in front of the hostel receptionist.
But I managed to pull myself together with my main motivation in life: food. With the group that was currently there, I went out to a nice tapas dinner with sangria on a busy restaurant street near our hotel. Each hot, spicy, flavorful bite of Spanish food was absolute bliss after 9 months of Italian food, which has its merits, but can get pretty old for me.
The next morning, Steve arrived, making our whole crew complete. We went to Park Guell that day after printing our tickets online. Park Guell is one of Gaudi’s many architectural wonders. Part of the park is open and free and part of it is an architectural smorgasbord, full of whimsical structures and designs. The sun was relentless, however, and we were all a little short on sleep. Other than walking around and exploring the city a little more, the main events of that day occurred later in the evening. First, we went to a tapas bar where each plate cost 1-euro, and you served yourself by taking said plates from the bar. We all ate an absurd amount, tasting the many varieties of Spanish food, like croquettes, chorizo, and small paella dishes. And later that night, we went out to a club in true Barcelona fashion. Joe was the experienced Barcelona traveler, so he picked the club. But that night also coincided with the championship UEFA soccer game, which FC Barcelona won. So the streets were packed with soccer fans. People were honking everywhere and chanting team slogans. Traffic was ridiculous, and it took our taxis forever to get to the club. It turned out not to matter anyway, because we were still among the earliest people at the place, as to be expected in Spain. It was one of those ideal dancing nights: not too crowded, but not too empty, our whole group was fun together, and things went relatively smoothly. Spain has consistently been one of my favorite countries to go out in.
The next morning, some of us decided to go to Barcelonetta, the beach area of Barcelona because it was Joe’s birthday and he had been wanting to go to the beach for a while. It turned out to be a comedy of errors. First of all, the trip had already been postponed to Sunday morning. Then, we were running a little late. We finally got to the beach, took our shoes off, set our toes on the sand, and realized it was scorching hot and we forgot to bring a towel. So we hurriedly set off to buy a towel from one of the nearby stores, and then the 4 of us that had gone carefully squeezed together on one towel, trying to avoid touching the white hot sand around us. The beach was comically overcrowded, but still a fun time with friends.
Afterwards, Steve and I went to the Sagrada Familia which was the definite highlight of my time in Barcelona. Another one of Gaudi’s creations that has been under construction on and off for a hundred years now, the Sagrada is unlike any other cathedral I’ve ever been to. Unlike the ornate structures of the approximately 1 million European churches I had seen up to that point, the Sagrada’s aesthetics were clean, neat, based on light and color, and remarkably futuristic. The exterior, which looks a bit like a melting, wonky Gothic cathedral, impressive in and of itself, is nothing compared to the light and spiritual serenity inside. It’s truly something to see, and one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen in my life.
The next day, Steve and I flew over to Rome, where we were going to meet 2 more very good friends from college, Gillian and Sophia. It was a joyous reunion with some of my favorite people in the whole world. Mimi and Ryan were also in Rome, along with one of Steve’s friends and her boyfriend, so the whole crew of us went out to dinner in Rome. It was actually quite emotional for me to be sitting at a table full of my American peers and friends after spending many dinners eating by myself in restaurants. Later that night, some of us grabbed some bottles of wine and sat on the bridge by Castel San’Angelo, listening to a street performer and admiring the gorgeous views of the Vatican’s splendors. It was a veritable Roman holiday.
My time in Rome was very laid back. Steve and I spent a lot of time wandering and enjoying the city without feeling like we had to run to all the tourist spots because the two of us had already seen them all. We did go back for round 2 at St. Peter’s Basilica because that’s always a marvel.
Our last night in Rome, Steve, Gillian, Sophia, and I decided to stop by this Irish pub that’s always intrigued me, particularly because it was karaoke night. Unfortunately, about 100 other American college-age kids also had the same idea. The bar was overrun by what looked like southern frats and sororities, and for a moment, I forgot I was in Italy and thought I had magically transported myself back to Texas.
The next day, we began our long journey to Lauterbrunnen, a small village town in Switzerland. One of our crew was unfortunately quite sick that day, and Fiumicino airport was still rather chaotic. After a delay on our flight to Zurich, we landed and tried to decipher the Swiss rail system. Lots of decisions were made, hands were wrung, and finally we managed to hop on the train. The train journey to Lauterbrunnen is simple to the experienced, but intimidating and cruelly long for us weary travellers: first, to Bern, then to Interlaken, then to Lauterbrunnen.
That very day, the reliable and trustworthy Swiss rail system–known for being one of the best in the world–had a disruption on the exact line we were trying to take from Bern to Interlaken. We were also surrounded by a group of hundreds of rather intense music fans who were going to a rock music festival in Interlaken. We had to take an alternate route to Interlaken, and after many rowdy rounds of “Wonderwall,” we separated from our music festival friends and managed to catch one of the last trains to Lauterbrunnen. We arrived in Lauterbrunnen at almost 11, and despite limited visibility, were immediately captivated by the quasi-magical atmosphere around us. There was a waterfall in the distance, civilization was far behind us, and suddenly we were surrounded by the tranquility of a quiet, rural town.
I chose Lauterbrunnen because supposedly this is the location that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien when he created Rivendell in Lord of the Rings. I received (perhaps, rightfully) many jokes because of this (“Look! There’s an elf, Gargi!”), but I think all of us who were there would admit that it’s an undeniably magical place. On our first day, we went on a hike through the mountains near us, and for every single second of the walk, we were immersed in a kind of natural beauty I’ve never seen before. I can’t imagine ever getting tired of those views. On our walk, we eventually stumbled into a town called Murren and then into an even smaller town where we had one of the most delicious and refreshing lunches I’ve ever had in a tiny beer garden. We also found a store called “The Honesty Shop” that has no attendant; you take what you want and leave the appropriate amount of money in an envelope. There, Gillian and I began our love affair with Ovomaltine, our new favorite Swiss chocolate. It truly felt like walking through a Disney movie.
Our other friend Michael joined us in Lauterbrunnen, making it a Veritones alumni retreat of sorts. There was lots of excellent conversation and cuddling. We promised to come back in 5 years for a Lauterbreunion (see what I did there?). For one of our days in Switzerland, Gillian and I made use of our rail pass by accompanying Steve and Michael on their journeys back. First, we stopped in Interlaken, a village quite literally between 2 lakes. We walked around one of the lakes and then had another excellent lunch at a restaurant nearby. I had a life-changing strawberry and brie risotto.
After separating from Michael, the 3 of us went on to Bern, where we spent the rest of the day. We walked around the Einstein museum, an in-depth look at his life and his work which I found very interesting. The city of Bern, which is actually the capital of Switzerland, was very sweet and cute-looking. It seemed to not have changed much since when it was built hundreds of years ago. After exploring Bern, we said goodbye to Steve, who was headed back to Zurich, and then America. Gillian and I went back to Lauterbrunnen, where the 3 of us ladies began our first of many nights together with just us.
Lauterbrunnen, beyond being unbelievably beautiful, was a very important break from city-hopping for us. The next day, however, we were back at it, as we headed back to Zurich for our flight to Prague.
No Beef Please 