My second week in Spain was MAGICAL.
My friends and I decided to take a taxi to Montjuรฏc, a mountain in Barcelona that is filled with castles, museums, and arguably the best view of Barcelona.
Our taxi ride there was chaotic to say the least. The traffic to the mountain was terrible, so much so that our taxi driver started mumbling profanities to himself. He turned around and said to us, “is there an event you’re going to?” Confused and sheepishly we replied, “no, is there something going on today?” Our taxi driver explained that there was never traffic near the mountain, and that we were headed to a huge event that had shut down various roads.
When he dropped us off we walked towards a sea of people, but we still couldn’t figure out just why there was so many people. As I looked around, I saw teenage girls with Ed Sheeran shirts. And then a beautiful melody hit my ears, it was the sound of Ed Sheeran’s voice echoing from the arena next to us. We had walked straight into an Ed Sheeran concert. We sang along to Thinking Out Loud as Ed Sheeran performed inside the arena and continued walking towards the cable cars that would take us to the top of the mountain.
The view from the cable cars was beautiful. I couldn’t tell the difference between the ocean and the sky. In that moment, I was happy that I wasn’t in the buzzing crowd of Ed Sheeran fans. When we got to the top of the mountain, Montjuรฏc Castle was waiting for us. And then, another sign of luck: the museum employee let us go in for free. We climbed to the top of the castle to get a panoramic look of Barcelona during the sunset.
The beautiful thing about Barcelona is that it has mountains and oceans all in one. On one corner you would see the bright blue ocean and on the other you could see the luscious green mountain. In the middle of these two natural bodies was the city of Barcelona. My friends and I sat on a bench and looked out to the city of Barcelona. We kept reminding ourselves that this would be one of the last times we ever got to see a sunset, in Barcelona, on top of a castle.
From Ed Sheeran to the Spanish sunset, the day felt like a dream. Once the sun set we walked back down the mountain, found a grassy hill and listened to the concert from the outside of the arena. We were more than happy to listen to the sound of Ed Sheeran’s voice humming in the background. We talked for what felt hours and promised to come back to this castle before we left. Luck was really on our side today, or maybe Barcelona just sprinkled a bit of its magic. I guess I’ll find out the next time I come back.