Solo Adventures in Tarragona and London

One hot, sunny Wednesday morning early last August off only a few hours of sleep, I peculiarly found myself in the busy Barcelona-El Prat airport. Now the reason I was there, particularly why I was there by myself, is a long story, and juicy enough for an entire future blog post, so for now we’ll just look into this story phenomenologically, or for what it is with no extra fluff.

Barcelona

After saying goodbye to the 8-year-old Catalan boy who I befriended on our short flight and taught to play the finger game chopsticks with my broken gringo Spanish, and who in return told me about his adventures in the north of Spain, I navigated my way through the AC-less labyrinth of the Barcelona metro system to get to the main train station — where I was planning on spending the next six hours before my train to the quieter Tarragona, a once-Roman beach town just about a hundred kilometers away.

Now as a lifelong soccer fan, when you find yourself in Barcelona, you feel like you’re making the pilgrimage. I had to see Camp Nou (FC Barcelona’s home stadium, aka one of the most glorious sites in the soccer world). Unfortunately for me, only after 10 minutes of lugging my fat suitcase along the cobblestone sidewalks, sticking out like a big American sore thumb, did I remember that I was unlucky enough to be there during the first time in more than six decades that the Camp Nou was closed, and actually in the process of being demolished and rebuilt. I took to a typical Mediterranean coffee shop for a much-need café con leche to pick me up from this heartbreaking revelation.

I was slightly disappointed with the rest of my short time in Barcelona. After the rejuvenating café pit stop, I decided to check out the park that was adjacent to the train station, turns out the statue of Poseidon in the pond wasn’t doing a great job of maintaining the green and smelly pond itself. This led to me to return to the train station and hop on the earlier train out of the city. I suppose a future trip is due to reassess Barcelona and give it a fair shot.

Tarragona

The next stop on the clown-with-a-suitcase-on-cobblestone-sidewalks circus was Tarragona, a lovely little beach town only an hour’s train ride away from Barcelona. I wasted no time after checking into the hostel, immediately getting to exploring. The receptionist, Albert, who was also the owner’s nephew, gave me a map and a little intro to his hometown. I headed down to the pier to grab a drink and dinner with a beautiful view of the calm Mediterranean. The first day of my solo adventures had a bit of an early end as I was just exhausted from all the movement.

Now it was Thursday morning, the first of two full days to completely immerse myself in this new city. What better way to start the day than getting a coffee and pastry for under 3 euros with a stunning view of the 900-year-old Tarragona Cathedral-Basilica. I carried on the Roman theme after breakfast, exploring the old city walls, murals, and the ruins of an old amphitheater. After having the best dürüm kebab I’ve ever had for lunch, I hiked my way down to La Platja Del Miracle (The Miracle Beach), and it really was miraculous. I lounged for hours, listening to the waves, occasionally going in the water to cool myself, without any distractions or disturbances. It was the most meditative time of my life, also at a point where I was at a really major crossroads.

I treated myself to a sit-down restaurant in the city plaza for dinner and then called it a night. The next day was intentionally similar, as I thought to myself “Yesterday was so amazing, why would I not do all my favorite things again?” So I went to grab coffee and look at the same beautiful cathedral and spent much of the day at the beach too. I had lunch with the receptionist Albert (which was funnily enough really the only human interaction I had these three days) and I learned a lot about what the Mediterranean life is about. I tried to soak in as much of it as I could, trying to be as mindful as possible. I spent a lot of time people-watching from the cheap cafés in the plazas. I enjoyed being alone with my thoughts, slowing my life down, and catching a deep breath for the first time in a while.

So my time in Spain was drawing to a close. I woke up early on Saturday, beating the sun, and therefore obviously the night-owl locals too. One last Spanish coffee in the plaza, watching the sun rise over the Catalan coast. Spain is an incredibly beautiful place, with a very admirable way of life, and it has a very special place in my heart for all that it has given me, not just in this express Tarragona trip. I carefully navigated my way through the train and bus to the Reus airport, and I was on my way to London Gatwick.

London

Thrilled to be reunited with my native tongue, I watched as we descended through a rainy, gray London sky — quite different from the heavenly weather of the Mediterranean I had foolishly gotten accustomed to. I knew my stay here would be short, I landed in the early afternoon on Saturday and I was heading out around the same time on Monday, but I couldn’t have been more excited. Anyone who has ever been to Gatwick will agree with my assessment that it is an absolute maze, and also calling it “London” Gatwick seems to be false advertising. However I did eventually escape, and shortly after I was on my way up to Brentford on the tube (fun name!).

As you may know, London is a very expensive city, so this combined with the fact my trip was extremely last minute, there were few options for accommodation. Depending on how well you know me personally, you may or may not that I am actually half Indian; my father was born in Mumbai and lived there until he moved to the US aged 16. One of the great things about having an international parent is having access to their very large and spread-out network. And very fortunately for me, a close friend of his from primary school who lives in Brentford (West London) had an empty bedroom, with his wife and daughters out on holiday (not vacation, we’re in the UK now). So I was very warmly and generously received by Akshay after my hour-long journey through the impressive London public transit system, which is something I’ll touch on more a bit later.

The first item on the London itinerary was a preseason friendly football match between the local team, Brentford FC and the former French champions LOSC Lille. So immediately after dropping off my bag at Akshay’s flat and meeting the ever-energetic Luna (pictured below on the right), we made our way to the stadium on the bus. Prior to this, my only encounters with professional football/soccer were the Manchester City game I’d been to in March, which was unbelievable, and numerous DC United games, which in all honesty are a sorry attempt at recreating the passionate environment which is so regular here across the pond. This match, despite ending in a dull 0-0 draw, was really impressive. The stadium is called the Brentford Community Stadium, and it really does feel like that. It’s such an integral part of the culture and you get an incredibly warm feeling entering the stadium and hearing thousands of neighbors sing “Hey Jude”.

One thing I loved about this side of London was the seamless integration with so much history, London Pro #1. Just walking back from the bus, we walked over a bridge where you could see the holes from bullets fired from German planes during WWII, we saw a construction project that was recently delayed due to the discovery of Roman ruins under the plot of land, and the building where the flat is is actually a redeveloped courthouse from centuries ago, the storage rooms in the basement still look like the original jail cells.

Carrying on the local feel, after the game, Akshay, Luna, and I went to a pub across the street from the flat. Another great thing about London was how dog-friendly it was, London Pro #2. I wouldn’t be surprised if Luna has more public transit experience than 90% of Americans. We had a great traditional British pub meal, burgers, chips, and pints, and I heard some funny stories about my Dad when he was my age.

On Sunday, we got up early to see more of the borough. Breakfast of avocado toast at a lovely little cafe only a short walk from the flat, then we went for a walk through Syon Park, the lavish garden of House Syon accessible to the public. London Pro #3: the abundance of green space available in all parts; it really dampens the noise and can make the city feel way more like a neighborhood. During our walk, we saw many people out with their families and dogs, a local market and butcher, where we got our dinner to be grilled later, and it all contributed to making it feel like a tightly-knit community.

Being in England with a local, it is an absolute must to have a Sunday roast, so our lunch plans were sorted. A restaurant called The Greyhound in the adjacent borough of Richmond might ring a bell for some Ted Lasso fans. I feel like British cuisine is too often the subject of jokes because I didn’t have one bad meal during my time there. I’m not just referring to the traditional food, like the delicious Sunday roast and its roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and roasted potatoes and vegetables, but also to the numerous other cuisines available. London Pro #4, the diversity: London has a reputation as one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and it’s almost a majority-minority. One major benefit of this is the plethora of dining options available. You really can find any food you desire in this city.

After lunch, it was time for the main event of the weekend, the FA Community Shield, a match between the previous season’s champions of England’s top division and the winners of the FA Cup that serves as a ceremonial kickoff to the new season. This year’s edition was a little different because my Manchester City won both the Premier League and the FA Cup, so they arranged the match to be against the league’s runners-up, Arsenal (unfortunately for me, the favorite team of two of my best friends). The game is hosted at Wembley, the home of England’s national football team and one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. To give a little context, this was only 5 months after my first game, and I had no expectation to return anytime soon, so when I had the opportunity to potentially recreate what was the best day of my life, I couldn’t say no.

Unfortunately for me, this game didn’t have the same positive result that I experienced the first time. Just before the 80th minute, City went ahead from a well-placed curling shot from Cole Palmer and sent the rather quiet City half of the crowd into a manic state. The next 20 minutes were lively until a very late deflected equalizer from an Arsenal substitute sent us to penalties. Now my love for City is about as strong as my love for anything, but I just knew we were gonna lose at this point. Three missed penalties later and I was out of my misery. I stayed to see us collect our loser’s medals, living in denial, not wanting to open my phone to see my friends laugh at me and send memes of my team’s demise. It wasn’t all so grim, I still had a great time singing Blue Moon and cheering on the treble winners. And going back for a second game, I knew it was far from my last.

It was quite an eventful tube ride back to the flat, seeing some drunk Arsenal and City fans trade insults was definitely more entertaining than that penalty shootout. The day drew to a calm end, as we grilled the nice meat we had gotten from the butcher earlier that morning. And that was Sunday.

Now it was Monday, the final day of my adventure. While I was disappointed to be leaving London, as I had loved what I’d seen so far (evidenced by this being the longest section of this blog post), I was still determined to make the most of the few hours I had left. I went with Akshay to see his company, 3rdi (pronounced third eye), and the office. I got a special tour, seeing a demo of their product and some behind the scenes of the software development process. Afterward, Akshay took me to a Danish cafe for coffee and a pastry with one of his employees, Heba. It was great talking to two people working in the industry that I’m interested in, and they both have such interesting perspectives with all of their international experience.

I explored a little around the office in the Chiswick neighborhood of Brentford, checking out some of the local stores. One of my favorites was an antique bookstore, where you could see historical books about even earlier events, like an 1840s book about the American Revolution. Shortly after it was time to head to the airport. Another hour-long trek to Gatwick. As promised, here’s London Pro #5: the public transportation network. This was by far my favorite part of London. The public transit system connects all the boroughs, connecting you no matter where you are through very frequent buses and trains. And it’s so easy to access, all you have to do is tap your credit card or even Apple Pay, no need for a special metro card or pass. I was amazed to find out that Akshay has lived in London for more than 20 years and has never owned a car. I wish more American cities took bigger steps to pivot away from the car dependence we live with now to develop better public transit systems.

This wasn’t my first time in London. In March, before heading up to Manchester, we had one day to squeeze in as many touristy sights as possible, the Tower of London, London Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, River Thames, and Buckingham Palace (it was a very busy day). This was a much different experience, I really enjoyed seeing the residential side of London. I learned so much about what it’s like to live and work there. It was such a special trip, and London is one of my favorite cities in the world.

It was an amazing trip. I loved the freedom of traveling alone, nobody had anything to say if I missed the 1:15 bus and had to take the 1:30 one. I got to explore the places that were most interesting to me, to whatever depth I desired. It was a really special time for me, and I’m glad I got to have this experience before heading off to college.