Spending time in Bilbao and Barcelona, Spain.

I have not had any time to write anything since I left Lithuania, as I have been busy walking all around Spain.

I arrived in Bilbao two days ago and am now in Barcelona.

When I arrived in Blibao, I had a bit of a horrendous time finding a hostel. As it wasn't peak season, I didn't bother booking anything in advance. I decided to take a taxi in to the town, as I thought it would be cheap, it was 30 Euros for a short ride to the town Centre and the taxi driver didn't know of any hostels, so I will now avoid taxis!

Bilbao, as it turns out, is known for raining all the time. I didn't have any we weather gear, and after trudging all my stuff, exhausted from my early flight, through the rain, I finally found a hostel that had no availability. It turns out, it was winter break for European students, and Valentines day, and it was a Saturday, oops.

So I got advised to follow the river to a nearby hostel. I followed the river till the end and found nothing, so I walked all the way back to the other hostel to tell them that. The guy at the first hostel, called the other place, and they didn't even have anything available. I think the guy at the first hostel felt a bit sorry for me, and said that something had became available in his hostel. I asked if someone had made a cancellation, and he said 'something like that.'

Bilbao, Spain.

I will now always book my hostels in advance!

It  has been an adjustment going back in to a shared dormitory, smacking my head on the 3 person bunk bed and getting woken up by drunkies all the time. But saying that, I think staying in hostels is way better in being able to meet people as a solo traveller.

In Bilbao, I was sitting in the hostel open area, by myself, exhausted and a bit fed up, and then two Italian guys approached me and asked if I wanted to go out.

I am so happy that we did, as I only found out after that it was Carnaval, and it was amazing. Unfortunately I took a heap of photos, without realising that I had no SD card in there, so I have  been cheeky and ripped some photos off the internet of Bilbao.

The street was full of people dancng, singing, and celebrating in every kind of costume that you can imagine: men dressed as naughty nurses, characters from Mary Poppins, zombies and giant strawberries. I had a man dressed in drag, pouring me a rum and coke in the street, and a waitress dressed as Charlie Chaplin, pouring us cider. I cannot describe the energy that I felt in the street, I was just in awe of it all.

Carnaval in Bilbao.

The next day I headed to The Guggenhein Museum of Contemporary Art. The building itself is amazing, and I ended up spending hours in their with Christian, my Italian friend. One or two of the art exhibitions were so damn arty and perhaps pretentious that I couldn't help but smile, but such is the way with art.

The Guggenhein Museum, Bilbao.

I was finding the Spanish in Bilbao hard to understand, and was finding my Spanish to not always be well understood. It was a relief when I spoke with Christian and Eduardo, my Italian friends, and they told me that in Bilbao, they speak Basque, not Spanish. They showed me a Basque sign at a nearby shop, and the language is nothing like Spanish!

I hopped on the train yesterday from Bilbao  and seven hours later I had arrived in Barcelona.

All of the people I know who have been to Barcelona, have raved about how much they love the place. And just like a movie, that a person has raved on about, you almost wonder if it can meet your high expectations.

I have fallen in love with Barcelona. I love the architecture, the people, the way of life, the food, the night life, the beach, the parks; everything.

Out of everything in my life, I can boast that I am very good at drinking Porron in the traditional way!

I have been on a tappas tour, and two walking tours of the city.I have made some more friends (French Canadian girls) at the hostel, and we have spent time at the beach together, and also went to the Juan Miro art exhibition near the Olympic park.

When the boys decided to buy us flowers #underpressure #Barcelona #greatmoment — with Rasa Kabaila and James Forward at La Rambla, Barcelone.

Being away traveling, has given me a lot of time to reflect on things back home. I've realised that at home, a lot of things have not gone to plan in how I thought they would, which has left me feeling a bit lost about where things are going in my life. But is has been really great for me to meet so many other people who are also sharing their life journeys and perspectives with me. It makes me realise that I am not alone. I have also decided that I will not make any predictions now, about how I will feel when I return home, so that I can stay in the moment.

I'm off to dinner shortly with some friends and tomorrow I head to Valencia.

Hasta pronto,

Xo

Rasa