Viernes

Friday was kind of a crazy day. It started out by me missing the bus for the excursion by like 2 minutes. I got confused on the time we were meeting so I wasn't there until two minutes past the leaving time, and this was the excursion they decided not to make sure they had everyone...sigh. They probably weren't sure who all was going and who wasn't since half the group skipped out to go to Barcelona early...but, oh well. C'est la vie. I had plenty of time to relax and pack for my trip to Barcelona though. However, the steps leading down to the bus station were made of typical Spain rocks in concrete and were a bit uneven. I stepped wrong and twisted my ankle, and it immediately swelled up. Luckily, a random Spanish couple happened upon me and helped me out--God watching over me :) They got me a bag of ice and then helped me find my bus because it was leaving soon. Let me tell you, buses are not ideal for dealing with a twisted ankle cuz there's no space to prop it up. I made it okay though, thanks to some help from Aleve. The bus station in Madrid was connected to the metro, which I needed to take to the other bus station to catch my Barcelona bus. The metro was an interesting experience, because I've never been on a metro/subway before. The scenery is pretty boring cuz it's just tunnels. You see some interesting people though. There was one group with a kitty who wore one of those link bracelets as a collar, and a guy carrying around a bass drum pedal. The other bus station was kinda confusing, cuz they all have a zillion levels. But, I made it just fine and had plenty of time to eat and read a bit. Caught my bus, which apparently was not a direct trip because we stopped like a zillion times. Was not bad though, slept some. And by the time we got here and I woke up, my ankle was only swollen 1.5 times the size of my left ankle (the not hurt one)! The metro wasn't located in the same station this time, so I wandered around a bit because the area was under construction, but I eventually found it!! Then had no idea where I ended it up (though I did get off on the right stop at least), so wandered around some more and eventually found my hostel, yay!! They don't let you check in until 11 though which is when checkout is, so I'm resting and computering until the chaos settles a bit. Not sure how much of my original plan I'm going to do, but the hope is to at least see La Sagrada Familia and maybe the beach...don't think walking around and exploring is probably the best idea, but we'll see!