I Picked the Wrong Day to go to Barcelona

So apparently Spain picked September 29th to protest and go on strike. I found this out as we landed. When we got to the airport at a little after midnight there was absolutely no transportation to leave, no trains, no buses, no taxis. So I, along with everyone else that landed that night, we stuck to sleep on the floor of the airport and wait.

There were a few taxis that attempted to come though, but the protesters prevented them from leaving with anyone. They were blowing horns and shouting outside, and then continued to do so inside while tagging the walls and windows. There was nothing anyone could do but stay out of their way. So six hours later the first train began to run. Luckily the city transportation ran at all, they did so intermittently, but not at all between 9 and 5. But I finally made it to the hostel at around 8:00 in the morning. Just in time for breakfast, so I ate then i crashed.

Getting to sleep so late really messed up my day. I forgot to get coffee when I woke up around 1, so I had a headache all day. After showering and getting ready, the protests were still going on, so not much was open. I asked the front desk for where i could find food, and they wished me luck, lol. So I walked around the city a bit. At first I avoided the main street were the riots were. I headed down to the marina and grabbed a hotdog. The marina was really pretty, I took some pictures of the boats and the area. But then I got bored so I headed back towards the hostel but I ventured onto the tourist street were the riots were previously.

Throughout the day I didn’t see anything to bad. There was a lot of graffiti, but I couldn’t tell how much of it was new, and some trash on the street, and I saw quite a few police cars, but they weren’t too busy were I was. But walking down the main street, La Rambla, I could tell what went down earlier. There was trash all over the place, obviously new graffiti, a lot of things broken like trash cans, phone booths, glass and random stuff. Then I got down to the end of the street, and that’s where all the cops were. They had the whole street blocked off, they were ready with their shields, guns, and batons. I looked around a bit, took some pictures, and went back. Luckily the place next to the hostel was open, so I could grab a beer and a sandwich. Everyone is pretty much staying close to the hostel, not like we have much of a choice. It’s interesting to hear people’s experiences from the day, a lot of people saw more of the protesters than I did. One guy actually found a bullet and kept it. It’s pretty big, I am hoping it was just shot in the air but not at anyone, yikes. Well I’m glad today is over, I hope things are open tomorrow, not that it could be back to normal, but at least open for business. I would like to enjoy the city as much as possible for the next two days.