The unplanned solo trip to spain🇪🇸
A quick back story, I visited Spain a month ago. It was an unplanned trip, but God would have it;
It translates to an opportunity to see the beautiful city of Barcelona, learning several cultural patterns far from mine.
The feeling was ecstatic as I’ve always imagined what it was like living in a country where I certainly must need to learn a few Spanish lingoes;
You are barely lost if you don’t understand Spanish, to say less than I got missing on my first day in the country because of the similar building structure. sign language was a life saver on this day as i began to approach people of different colors where comrade’s hotel is. (I found me way back btw)
The first hand experience was at the airport, with diverse people heading to different locations. It ultimately gave me a goose of how significant it feels having such an opportunity to see the world through such a tiny lens. I made a reservation at the said hotel (Chic & Basic) as it was affordable. Yes, In Barcelona, I needed a place that’s easily accessible to Scenery or common places to visit, Camp Nou as one of them.
I wasn’t ready for this Cold.
Winter was just wrapping up, and as someone who has lived in Nigeria my whole life, I was sure not ready for the cold; Man was literally on a hoodie the entire time and every day,
I bragged severally about how I would wear my killer boots and some supermodel dresses and take nice pictures.
(I indeed laughed in Spanish here); you can guess what I wore all through my stay. Hooooodieeeeee
I had the Nigerian spice experience.
If you know Nigerians well enough, you can tell we don’t joke with our Spice, and It dawned on me that I’m presently in a country where Spice was not a thing. I had visited a restaurant where they had the copy written on a menu “Smoke & hot spice spaghetti,” and it tasted like pepper was divorced at will. So to save the global problem of Spice, I thought I had experienced it all until I visited a store to get pepper;
I just knew the language had pimienta of some sort, only for me to sprinkle this thing called curry on my food.
Always go with your Spice anywhere you may travel to on the earth’s surface, again, (Certainly laughed in Spanish here)
Thanks to the Glovo app, It was game on as I realized I could literally make an order; my first instinct was to scout for Nigerian related meals or anything close at least; sadly, nothing looked close, but I was willing to try some of the tasty meals,
La marimba was one enjoyable meal, Pasta and Shrimp with a few mixes that I couldn’t comprehend, but it tasted good.
Some excited things i did.
As an ambivert, there is a war with deciding which of your character traits precedes you when you go out, But my introverted traits take the lead most of the time.
- Visited the stadium; I got the premium ticket because it had cool extras, like the VR experience which was rather awesome, the press room, the stadium has a place of worship (catholic i presume).
One of my favorite spot at the stadium was the trophy library, The view is unmatched, It tells the story of how progressive they are in sport, Trophies from the early days of the Camp Nou, It’s an amazing sight to behold as this history is well preserved and documented properly.
History is the study and the documentation of the past
- Did a bus tour; though the weather was not friendly, so I bailed out.
- Tried several meals/restaurants
- Made a friend (I met this friend on the final day of the visit)
A little travel guide.
- Do a research about the country and places to visit (This in fact is if you don’t have a tour guide)
- Learn a few lingoes, this way you can interact a bit more.
- Be friendly and ask people nicely when you need them to take your picture.
- Use your instinct when looking out for who to ask questions.
I learnt a pretty good lesson. Although I have always fantasized about travelling a long hour flight or seeing what the world looks like outside Nigeria,
I can say that travelling opens up a reality that can’t be bought or exchanged with money.
This is my first article on medium and not going to be the last, but I’m putting this out to embrace my writing skills and to share a piece of me with the outside world.
