Week Eight: Trip of Miracles Part 2 - Barcelona

Our time in Barcelona was fairly smooth, and I bought some of my first gifts there, and was even able to watch the Real Madrid – Barcelona game in a travel bar. Though I’m partial to Lionel Messi, I really wanted Real Madrid to win, but I value my life too much to have cheered for Real Madrid aloud during the game. Ultimately, the game was a clash of the titans, with Messi (FCB) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) each scoring two goals for the game to end in a tie. We were also able to have the best gelato of any of our lives. We went back to the same little stand three times because nothing we had ever had could compare. They had delicious strawberry, nutella, and other flavors, but their chocolate was what got me hooked. I am a self-proclaimed chocolate ice cream addict, but all of my friends and family know it's true. The way to win me over, chocolate ice cream. I can almost always be counted on to order a simple chocolate ice cream, either plain or with chocolate sprinkles, over a fancier dessert. I'm usually up for trying new things, but sometimes, I just know that chocolate ice cream is the only thing that will do. Luckily, we made it to the stand before it closed both times we went at night (we weren't sure what time it closed so we had to just hope we would make it in time). We may have (definitely) run down the streets of Barcelona to make sure we got there in time, but it was well worth it. That is some chocolate gelato I am going to remember for a very long time.  Our last “trip of miracles” encounter happened on our way to the Barcelona airport. We were flying out of an airport outside the city because it cost dramatically less, and so we nicknamed the airport “Cheap Barcelona.” To get to Cheap Barcelona, however, we had to take a bus from the city, and since our flight was so early, this was a 4:00 am bus. We got there and encountered a mob scene. There were tons of people waiting for the same bus we were hoping to take. And we didn’t even have tickets yet. So we sent Claire and Casey up to get tickets, and we prepared to fight our way onto the bus. Molly and I brought out our inner Jersey-girl and secured us all seats as soon as the doors to the bus opened. Normally I am opposed to that type of Black Friday-esque insanity, but this was the trip of miracles, and we had to get on that bus. Once settled in at the airport, we let ourselves experience the delirium we had been trying to hold together before we knew we were going to get on our flight, and we made it home without a hitch, successfully completing our first trip outside Ireland, and (hopefully) our only trip that can be deemed “a trip of miracles.”