Spain is the last European country on semester at sea itinerary. It has indeed been a great exit port from the continent. The ship docked in Valencia, a small beautiful city that's not as packed as Barcelona, our second port. In Valencia, my friends and I visited Valencia Cathedral that I have never ever heard about in my life. I have no idea why?! It is absolutely magnificent and definitely one of the best cathedrals I have ever seen in my life, if not the best. Spanish art is not underrated but it doesn't get enough credit like the Italian one for example. Spanish art simply spoke to me!
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| Valencia Cathedral
No need to say that we had to try the churros with hot chocolate. A little bit oily but the hot chocolate was on point ;) We also had a drink called hotchota and it was very refreshing. And what to eat for lunch other than that sea food paella when you are in home of paella. It is a rice dish with shrimp and lobster cooked with delicious spices. It comes in a big tray and you share it with others. We thought its cost was 17 euros, but that was per person. So make sure you ask beforehand.
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| Hotchota |
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| Paella |
At the end of the night, Rachel and I needed some Wi-Fi since we are Wi-Fi deprived on the ship. We kept walking in areas close to the ship and ended up in a dead area where nothing could be heard. So we went back and luckily found some cafes that offer Wi-Fi. We sat in the bus stop and got some free Wi-Fi :D The following day, Noot and I visited the City of Arts and Sciences. We went to the aquarium. It is big with multiple buildings and beautiful sea creatures. However, it lacks audience and attention. The Red Sea show building for example had nothing inside but a screen with fish from the Red Sea. They start their shows pretty late. I then went to watch Jerusalem in the IMAX Cinema. A documentary worth your time. Jerusalem is definitely on the list now. The documentary shows the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in Jerusalem, how isolated each is from the other; yet, they all are exactly the same!
The ship then sailed to Barcelona, and the following morning we woke up there. My friends and I went to Park Guell. We bought 1 metro card for ten rides that costed ten euros, and we all shared it. One metro/bus ride is for 2.15, so a card seemed better. Park Guell is huge and nice, but we paid 8 euros entrance fees, and one of the places inside was closed, so we wasted the 8 euros :/ However, it is a good place to stay and relax at.
We came back to the ship and I was super duper exited because I was going to an FC Barcelona GAME. The metro was packed because of the many fans going to the game. We entered the stadium and could not believe that we would be seeing the game in few minutes. We drew on our faces, wandered around and then decided to get in.
At the gate, we presented our tickets, but OPPS we got the red light, and the guard said, "Sorry your tickets are not valid." I took a deep breath and asked about what we could do. We went to the ticket office, and they told us they couldn't help us because we did not buy them through the official website. Hongyu and I ran outside to find Wi-Fi and contact the agency. We found a restaurant with a Chinese waitress who offered us free Wi-Fi. Of course the agency did not reply until two days later. Anyway, we went back to try again. It is 9 pm and the game started at 8:30. We tried showing the tickets through our phones, but they did not work either.
We met two Canadians who had the same problem. Their tickets through the same agency could not work. We asked the guards' boss to help us. He took pictures of the tickets and Whatsapped some random person and after 10 minutes told us that our seats were already occupied. Meaning our tickets were sold twice through the agency. What on Earth!! Can you please ask them to come out and show you the tickets? This is so unfair. They did not want to ask them to show their tickets and did not help anymore. At that point, the first half was almost over and it felt like a nightmare. Did I lose my money? Am I not going to enter the stadium? WHAT?!!!
We went outside, and found some people selling the game tickets. We hoped they would be cheap, and the guy said they were for 150 euros. We said that we just got scammed and we would not pay 150 to enter one half of a match. They started speaking in Arabic, and I realized they were from Morocco. I spoke to them in Arabic and started tearing, so they felt sorry for me and agreed to sell the tickets for 30 euros each. What a deal!! We took the tickets and ran to the stadium, Green light, WOHOO tickets worked. We had GREAT seats and oh my God!! We are inside the stadium. What a magical feeling. I felt weird and in denial. But Neymar scored his third goal at that point, and soon I was into the game. FC Barcelona won by five goals, and three of them were scored during the 2nd half, so we witnessed that. Messi was among the crowd and the game was on. What a night!
Last day, I had a field lab with my philosophy of religion class. We saw the South Korean navy in the morning on our way out off the port, then head to Montserrat, Barcelona Cathedral and a Jewish Synagogue. It was interesting to see different spiritual/holy places in Barcelona. The sad part though was how those places made for spiritual purposes for one to connect with God became touristy and means of getting money :/
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| Karla at the Monsterrat |
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| Barcelona Cathedral |
P.S. Spain is absolutely my 2nd favorite port so far after Paris on this trip. It has something special. Also, the agency we bought the tickets from is called Ticketbis. Never ever trust them!
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