Madrid and Barcelona

I haven't updated in a while, so you guys are about to get several posts. First let me update you on travels from Ireland to Spain. Small delay in Dublin, which they tried to make up for in flight... by shooting us down like rocket into Madrid. My hostel in Madrid, Cat Hostel, was very... hostel-y. It was built into an old palace which from the architecture looked Middle Eastern in nature. It was really nice. Stayed in a dorm. Smelly rooms, cold showers. A hostel. Had dinner with some guy from Florida I met named Hugo, nice guy. He just finished his trip to Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid.

Next was Barcelona. It was supposed to give me a better jumping off point to get into France. More on that later. The train ride to Barcelona was gorgeous. Sunbaked plains, always w/ mountains in the distance. Very Spanish. Brand new high speed trains too. My hostel in Barcelona, Agora BCN, was a dorm from a university that was changed into a hotel/hostel for the summer. It was really, really nice for the price. It was on the mountains overlooking the city. Had laundry so I got some detergent, shampoo, and soap and finally gave myself and clothes some proper cleaning. I went down to Barceloneta, the famous beach in Barcelona. I forgot that it was the weekend, and boy was it packed. Definitely worth the spectacle of it all. Not sure I would want to join in though.