BARCELONA!

Traveling was the easy part. There were a lot of people checking in with EasyJet, but I managed to find a line that wasn't so long. I bought a sandwich and waited for the security check point to open so I could go to the gate. Got on the plane, sat in the EXIT isle and the middle seat was unoccupied, so there was plenty of room to crawl up and cross my legs. The flight was quick, a little turbulence, but otherwise uneventful. Once I was on the ground, I texted Veronica, my Swedish Barcelona hostess and she said she would meet me at Plaça Catalunya, where the bus would let me off. I got my baggage and, after walking in the wrong direction, found the bus. I got on, paid the 4.something €, parked my bag by the door and sat down next to a girl with black hair, who was having a vehement conversation on the phone in English. She was telling the person on the other line about how she had missed her flight and that she was just gonna stay for a while and please wire me some money... she said something about not knowing the date and I told her it was the 22nd. Once she got off the phone, we looked at each other, laughed and introduced ourselves. Tienne, who's also from NY, chatted the whole way in to the city. We managed to exchange information before parting ways at the bus stop. I met Veronica outside the Hard Rock Café and we walked back to her apartment talking about Sweden, NY, Barcelona, her life, my life, everything you could possibly talk about when you meet someone for the first time, feeling you already know them.

The apartment is really nice. And so is her roommate, Lina (also Swedish). We sat at the kitchen table, drinking some Cava (Spanish champagne), and talked until some time after midnight. I gave them the bottle of Rosé I had with me from Paris and as they headed off to bed, I took a shower and made myself comfortable on the couch.