Day 9 – Part 2 – life lessons never come easy

October 3rd – Day 9 – Part 2

I sat in the the lobby of the Barcelona Franca rail way station for close to 45 minutes. Updating my journal on the trip so far was the only thing I could think of to take my mind off of my current predicament. Once that was over with, I went through an accelerated version of the five stages of grief.

It’s been a few months, but I remember the emotions tied to this moment of my life very clearly. I was nearly out of money in a train station in Barcelona with no place to stay, little food, and I had about 30 hours before I could leave the city thanks to some confusion with the train times. A laundry list of problems and solutions were shooting through my head, and I pondered everything for more than a few minutes.

Eventually, I realized that the only way I could truly hurt myself in the situation, was to stand still. I had two choices, sit and pout about my bad luck, or try to actively find a solution to my problem, so I stood up and walked.

I wasn’t sure exactly where I was heading, but I figured my number one and two priorities at the moment were to cancel my Firenze hostel booking, and find a place to stay in Barcelona for the night. Everything else was an afterthought.

I happened across an internet cafe while wandering through some back alleys near the train station. I had enough pocket change strewn throughout my backpack and pockets to pay for an hour, so I got to work.

Canceling my Firenze hostel was a painless process, and a received a confirmation e-mail and a complete refund within minutes of logging in to the computer. Unfortunately, booking a hostel for the night wasn’t so easy.

After looking through the main hosteling web sites and cold calling all of the Barcelona hostels in my travel guide, I found that every room that I could afford was booked for the night. I’d heard good things about couchsurfing.org, a web site designed to help travelers find free housing, but with my recently created account, no feedback, and the extremely short notice of my visit I couldn’t find anyone willing to house me for the night.

With my hour up, I left the internet cafe without a place to stay. I relegated the dream of sleeping indoors as a pipe dream, and decided to spend a few of my last Euro on food. Homeless or not, at least I wouldn’t go hungry.

In a small bit of good news I found a corner market that sold cheap produce so I was able to buy a loaf of bread, some apples, some Nutella, and a few bananas for only 3 or 4 Euro. After stocking my backpack with the kings bounty, I checked my map for any buildings of note. The Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral was within a few blocks of my current location, so I headed in that direction.

I was looking to clear my head, and take my mind off of the previously mentioned problems so I entered the cathedral.

The cathedral was massive and awe inspiring, especially considering the building was built almost a millennium ago.

A wedding was in progress so I sat at a pew near the back and quietly watched the ceremony. The vows were in Spanish, but it was still touching to see. I knelt on my knees on the far edge of the pew near the isle and said a prayer asking God to protect me, and help me find safety for the remainder of my time in Barcelona.

I consider myself to be a religious person, and I regularly stopped in cathedrals and chapels to say a prayer and light a candle over the course of the journey. Most of my prayers were aimed toward my friends, family, and the health of the world in general. I hate to inconvenience the omnipotent super being who created the universe, so I try not to mention myself when speaking to him.

Drastic times call for drastic measures, so I emotionally unloaded, quietly explaining my fears to the big guy.

Still kneeling on the ground with a tear welling up in my eye I turned around to find a 10 Euro note on the ground behind me. I picked it up, examined it, and made sure it didn’t fall out of my pocket. My money was where I left it, so I stood up and tried to find the owner.

No one was directly behind me, and I didn’t see anyone visibly looking for dropped money so I figured the honest thing to do would be to donate it to the cathedral.

As I approached the collection box, a light bulb went off in my head. My inner voice screamed “this money can be used to help you out of your current problem!”

I paused with the note half in the box, contemplated the dishonesty of spending found money. After about 30 seconds I put the bill in my pocket.

A sign I found near the collection box.

The total of 20 Euro I now had in my possession was enough to pay for a cheap room, but with my inability to find a single affordable free bed in Barcelona, I wandered the streets in deep thought.

After only about 2 blocks of walking I found Pension Marmo located above a bar. I pressed the doorbell hoping for an answer.

The person running the desk of the hostel spoke little English, so I did my best to explain my current predicament. After trying to pantomime “do you have a free room for the night?” and putting the last bit of money I had on her desk she paused, nodded, took the 20 Euro, and handed me a key.

The building was old, and the bed and fixtures looked like they hadn’t been replaced in a while, but it was clean, safe, and there wasn’t a bed bug in sight, so I literally jumped for joy after the desk worker left me alone in my room.

After getting situated, I spread my feast out on the bedside table.

While it was still early in the day (about 5pm), I decided I had experienced enough excitement to keep me satiated and exhausted so I ate a meal of bread, Nutella, water, and a banana, wrote in my journal, and called it an early night.

Thank God for faith.

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Check the previous entries section for a complete look at my backpacking adventure

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