December 4th, 2019
Eytan made breakfast for me and drove me to the train station so I could get to the airport in time for my flight to Barcelona. While in Israel Eytan and his family have been so amazing it was bittersweet to say goodbye. Being around his family made me eager and excited to see my own. I am really looking forward to Spain and ending my journey in a Spanish speaking country where I can practice the language a little more.
Israel has the most heightened security of anywhere we have been and there are always a lot of questions going in and out of the country. I got through security fine and the flight to Barcelona was uneventful. I only have 10 days in Spain so my tentative plan is to stay in the North East Catalonia region. I figured I would start in towns outside of the city and spend my last few days exploring the city of Barcelona itself. I had not booked any room in advance because I wanted to try to get to the town of Girona but didn’t know if that would be completely possible. There is always a bit of an unknown using public transportation in a foreign country. I didn’t want to have a reservation in case I was not able to get to Girona that night.
I looked online and found Girona to be a place I wanted to check out as it is known for being a medieval city on a river with colorful buildings and a lot of history. Once I landed in Barcelona I waited for a free shuttle to take me to the subway station that was right by the airport. It was freezing and rainy. Aside from trekking in the Himalayas and Patagonia, we have mostly been in hot climates so the freezing cold rain was a shock. I was super thankful to have my Himalayan puffy jacket. I arrived at the subway station and got a ticket to Barcelona’s central station. From there I caught a train to the town of Girona which took about two hours. Once I was on the train and knew I would be getting to Girona, I looked online and booked a hostel that supposedly had people at the front desk until midnight.
When the train arrived in Girona, I went outside to do the 10-minute walk to the hostel but it was absolutely pouring rain! None of my bags were water proofed and I had gotten rid of my poncho in Israel to save space. I knew everything would get soaked so I flagged down a taxi to take me to the hostel. The short ride ended up costing about $15 which I thought was ridiculous, but I’m in Europe now without a lot of options in this current weather. The taxi dropped me off at the entrance to the hostel which was in a small alley without any awnings or place to get out of the rain. In my broken Spanish I asked the driver to wait just a moment to make sure I could get into the hostel since the door was locked and I needed someone to buzz me in. Of course, he didn’t wait and drove away immediately. I was left in the downpour, buzzing and buzzing the door hoping someone would indeed be there to let me in… like it said on the website. I have run into this several times before at places that say they have 24-hour reception or extended hours but actually don’t. After about five minutes of no answer I got on my phone (trying not to let it get soaked in the rain) to try to find the next closest hotel or hostel. The best one I could find was a ten-minute walk. A bit dismayed that I just paid $15 for a taxi to avoid a ten-minute walk in the dark and rain I started on my way. As soon as I turned away from the door I heard footsteps and to my great relief someone came and opened the door! I was let into the hostel and given a bed. The hostel was small and felt pretty empty but it did have a beautiful fire going in the dining area. By then it was about 10pm so I changed into some dry clothes and went to bed.