The Rain in Spain

My semester is nearly over, and I pack up to leave Berlin in under a week. I’ve used the last few weeks to explore Berlin, fit in some last-minute museum trips, and I took my final weekend trip. Last weekend, I met my friend Sierra in Barcelona for three days of anticipated sunshine and fun.

I arrived in Barcelona on Thursday night, and I checked into the hostel before Sierra. When she arrived around 10 p.m., we went out looking for dinner. Berlin is a city that never sleeps, and Barcelona is the same way. The restaurants were all packed, and we had to wait a half hour to get a table at 10:30 p.m. Sierra and I were so busy catching up and ordering tapas, that we didn’t leave until 1 a.m.

The next day, we woke up to a downpour instead of the Spanish sunshine I expected. Although my weather app projected rain for Friday, I hoped it had been a mistake. I packed lots of summer dresses and sandals for the trip, when I should have packed a raincoat and rainboots. The rain was a good test of how compatible Sierra and I are, since we both did not let the unpleasant weather deterrer us from going out to explore. Sierra had the foresight to pack an umbrella, and I bought a cheap umbrella for three euro at a corner store. Once we were both armed with our umbrellas, we walked all over the neighborhood we were staying in.

We found a bunch of cute stores, and since the weather was bad, we went to each one. Instead of just breezing past the local shops, the rain forced us to go inside and look. We went in one store that sold posters and prints, and as we were checking out, Sierra struck up a conversation with the store clerk. It blew my mind to watch my friend speak and crack jokes in another language with a stranger. Since we weren’t in a rush to get back outside, we were able to have longer and more meaningful interactions with the strangers we met.

As we continued walking, we stumbled across the Pablo Picasso Museum. We put away our umbrellas and bought tickets. The museum gave us a chance to dry off, and we wondered through the exhibit without feeling rushed. I loved seeing the evolution of Picasso’s artistic style and his use of colors in his paintings. It was one of my favorite museums I’ve been to during my travels this semester.

Sierra and I returned to our hostel Friday night with soaking wet sneakers, damp jean jackets and some of my favorite memories from this semester. We couldn’t control the weather, so we didn’t get upset when it was different than we hoped. Luckily, the sun decided to come out, and we spent the rest of our trip outside and on the beach. However, I’ll always remember my raining day in Barcelona.