My first night in Barcelona was full of surprises.

After saying goodbye to my newly found friends (click here for story) I took an Uber to my hippie hostel on the hill. For those of you who are not familiar with Barcelona, the city spreads from the tide to the mountain top and I unknowingly reserved a room in the farthest sector overlooking the city below.

The bright side? I had a wonderful view from my bedroom window. But, as a downfall, it was a 30 minute bus ride to the center and I was as ignorant as they come about public transportation.

The people in my hostel were a mixture of bare feet, dreadlocks and a lingering scent of marijuana which was acceptable considering there was a huge music festival in town, however I did not exactly feel in my element. So, after check-in I decided to take the bus back to the park with the pigeons, the only thing that seemed familiar, and the sun never sets in Spain so the night was still young.

To my surprise, the public transportation was very nice. It was the complete opposite of everything I had experienced previously in Italy. The streets were clean and smooth, everyone seemed to follow their social cues and everything seem well maintained and organized. At least one thing was working out for me.

When I arrived at the park, I knew I needed to find food. I decided to eat at a McDonald’s (which is a big ‘no no’ for me while traveling) because it was convenient and it had wifi. As I was standing in line for food, there was tall, young man standing next to me. Unaware of the social etiquette of Spain, I told him that I already ordered and he could go ahead of me. He then informed me that he thought I looked like Margot Robbie (wow) and that he was from Argentina (double wow).

Yep. You guessed it. New friend.

We shared our travel stories over Chicken Nuggets which turned into beers at a local pub. To my luck, he was a comedian so it was a night full of laughter and me teasing him on his Argentinian accent. After the pub, I taxied back “home” to the hippies. My first night went very well as I soaked in all the city’s noises, odors and lights, although I did have to brush my teeth next to barefoot and bearded men.

I should’ve done more research but sometimes “winging it” keeps things exciting.

I was very thankful for a good night’s rest because the day that followed was one of the best days of my life.