A few weeks ago I read that one of my favorite bands of all time, Elbow, was playing and I knew then that I really couldn't miss it - at least Saturday. Tickets were sold out and accommodations were totally booked. Fast forward to Saturday morning, where I left for the train station hoping for the best but really not having a clue what I was getting into...4 hours later (I was just thankful I got on the right train) I showed up in Benicassim and started walking toward where I thought the festival was (still pretty clueless though). Ended up at the festival and asked if they were selling any tickets (I was planning/hoping to scalp a ticket) and, go figure - they were. So, 2 hours later after waiting in a loooong line, I got a ticket - SCORE!
A few hours later, the music started and I was a happy little chica rockin out. At 11pm Elbow came up and I managed to be right up front in a sea of thousands of INSANE festival goers. (I will spare you the details of the insanity but I will say that I felt way too old - and sober - to endure the insanity). BUT, when Elbow came on, I felt like it was one of the happiest moments of my loooong concert-going "career" - truly in the top 5 of any concert I've ever seen. I was nearly in tears and moved to my core by their amazing set, especially the finale which is a very special song to me...
Following their set, it was getting late and I was exhausted. Franz Ferdinand was next which I also love so I rallied through but midway through the set was at my wits end. I was surrounded by thousands of wasted Brits (most of the concertgoers were British), getting doused with beer and other random liquids (don't even want to know) and was wondering how the heck I was going to survive the next 10+ hours until I could catch a train back to Barcelona. Then, I sit down in a patch of grass to eat some food and out of nowhere a British girl sitting next to me starts talking to me. Within 5 minutes, Georgie was my new best friend and had invited me to stay at her apartment about 1o minutes away with her friends. SERIOUSLY?!?!? I felt like Georgie was my little angel and 2 days later I am still in total shock as to how it all worked out. But, it did...Serendipity? God? Peg? I don't know but I will never forget their generosity and will most certainly play it forward the next chance that I can!!!
I couldn't get a train out of town until about 6 last night so I was "stuck" at the beach for the day (it was very pretty!) and got home around 10:30, exhausted and ready for the best shower of my entire life. I wouldn't trade a minute of it for the memories and am so very glad that I took a chance and somehow had the faith that it would work out. That being said, the experience definitely made me appreciate my typical anal planning skills where I actually feel 33 instead of 18...
Now, I'm getting ready for my two best friends from high school to arrive this week. Erin gets here tomorrow and then Kristen on Wednesday. I cannot wait! Now that I feel like I know this city I am SO excited to share it with close friends and know that we are going to have a blast. AND, I will finally be able to take some pictures with people in them - haaaa!
But, speaking of pictures - I think I missed a post from Friday before I left when I toured the FC Barcelona stadium. I can't really even describe the experience. The stadium was pretty cool in and of itself BUT, even more amazing - the number of people there to tour it! I'm not kidding there were probably 150 - 200 people there every 30 minutes to take a tour. Of course I knew that "futbol" was huge here in Europe but holy cow. Very glad I experienced it and, for my fellow futbol fans, here are some pictures - enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/cricketBBC08/FCBarcelonaCampNou?feat=directlink
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