new faces

First of all I will apologise if the fact that I am not using any contractions. Everything will be spelt out (I am, I could not etc) because of this stupid Spanish keyboard. To disappoint all of you who feel I should be out partying it up, I am actually having an early night. In fact, I even had a nanna nap in my hostel today.  Last night, the fun guys from Quebec who were having a quiet one, were not so quiet when they came into the room about 4am, so that was a little disturbing. I also had to get up early to change hostels. I am close to where I was before, just a little closer to the station that I need on Wednesday afternoon.
When I was leaving my luggage here this morning I got talking to a girl from Israel, Shirly. Sort of a `I am alone in Barcelona, you are alone in Barcelona, why not be alone together?`
Shirly, who arrived today, needed a backpack for her hike in the alps in a few weeks so that was our first mission. We also had to kill a few hours before we could get into the hostel so after we got the backpack we went to la boqueria, a market near La Rambla. The market sells fruit, vegies, meat, seafood, spices, nuts - well everything. We bought some stuff for lunch and dinner and caught the subway back to the hostel.

la boqueria

We both wanted a bit of time to relax so we made lunch and hung out for a bit before deciding to go to Sagrada familiar. Shirly had not seen it yet and I wanted to go inside. Unfortunately the line was huge and it was so hot so we gave it a miss and headed to La Pedrera, which I went to yesterday.

Two kids cool off in a fountain near Sagrada Familia

My guide yesterday told me about an exhibition there which means you can see part of the building for free, so we decided to check that out. The exhibition, by Catalan photographer Francesc Catalá-Roca, had great photos of people and places all around Spain in the 1950s and 60s. It was really interesting to see actually - a surprise treat given I only wanted to see inside the building for free.
There was a documentary showing at the end so we sat down and watched that. I felt my eyelids getting very heaving (not because it was boring, but because I was exhausted). As we left Shirly admitted she was having the same trouble so we came back to the hostel and had a little nap.
I woke up at 8pm and decided to cook dinner. Just some sort-of roasted vegies with balsamic. The best thing about the hostels is they attract so many solo travellers. Over dinner I met Alex, from the US. He has been working in hostels in southern Spain for a month or so. We ended up talking for most of the evening. It is really nice to hear about the adventures other people have had. Even if I am not learning about the place I am visiting, I am still learning about a lot of places I would like to visit.