MY FIRST DAY IN BARCELONA

I did it! I made it to Barcelona! I left from a cold, rainy and cloudy Holland and arrived at night in Spain, where it was still about 22 degrees. I finally saw Chris again after 1,5 months; we carried my suitcases (exactly 41,9 kilos from the 42 kilos I was allowed to bring) to the apartment where we are currently staying. Read here about my first day (not as a tourist) in Barcelona!

Chris and I got up early in the morning and we took the bus that Chris takes to work every day. The sun was just coming up and we passed by the beach, beautiful! He told me about some of the regulars on the bus, including a group of loudly speaking Spanish ladies and  the “psycho”, who was actually in the bus with us that day. Besides speaking to himself from time to time, he actually screamed “Open!” to the bus door once we arrived at his stop, as if it were the magic word to unlock the doors. Apparently he does this every single day. 

I got out a few stops later, as I was supposed to go and get my NIE (foreigners who want to live and work in Spain have to register for this). I was told several times you could just go there and wait for +/- 3 hours, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be that easy – we’re still talking about Spain here. And of course, after talking to some people I got a little piece of paper that directed me to a website where I can make an appointment, apparently it is not possible without one. I found out at home that the first appointment wasn’t possible until more than a month later… and without a NIE you basically can’t sign up for anything (or receive a salary, for example). Long story short, I did not feel like staying home and feeling sad about it, it was like 25 degrees and I had to go outside and enjoy it! 

So after a well-deserved homemade sandwich, I took my camera and walked down Paral-lel to Mare Magnum.

It was pretty hot at some point, I wished I wore shorts or a dress… in middle October!

I walked around in the shopping mall, I discovered some nice stores and brands (Stradivarius! Kiko! NYX! Sleek!!!) and bought some things. But of course, after the first store the alarm kept going off in other stores, so I went back and I tried in Spanish if she could “quitar la alarma” from the stuff I bought, haha. 

After a long walk home, I went to the fridge and just couldn’t resist…

After Chris got home from work, we went to a dinner with his colleagues. On the way there, we saw these people that looked famous from far away (a lot of people were taking pictures) but looked kind of creepy from up close, pretending to be the Spanish royal family or something: 

My first day in Barcelona ended with a very lovely group dinner at Moritz, where we had all kinds of types of tapas and unlimited beer. A great way to get to know some of Chris’ colleagues he always talks about.

On our way home, we came across a strange butcher’s window filled with meat and black and white pictures of Hollywood movie stars…

So this was my first day here in Barcelona! I have to say that it is a really strange feeling being here. I have absolutely no clue what’s going to happen the next weeks, where we will live, where I will eventually work. I will have to learn Spanish, figure out how a lot of things work here, meet people, find my way in the city… A little scary but exciting!