Viva el Audleif – viva la España!
Okay, the first thing you might think from reading the title of the post is “What the fuck?” Well, this blog post is dedicated to Audleif, also known as Torunn’s beloved(?) car. In the middle of the cold and snowy night of Sunday March 27, you took us all the way from Porsgrunn to Gardermoen, and even a little bit further than that, totally unexpected, since both me and Torunn are the best human GPS’s of the world. I blame the lack of sleep and two overenthusiastic, normally shower-singing Norwegians not paying attention to the road. Barcelona here we come! Even though estimating our time really good; missing the first parking bus, standing in line for luggage check-in forever and then the neverending security check, we made our way to the gate 10 minutes before boarding time! Falling asleep almost before fastening our seat belts, we were so excited to go to Barcelona to see our best friend Minna.
Three hours later we woke up to the flight attendants telling us to pull seats up, and prepare for landing. Woah, we were already flying over Spain; seeing the sea, beaches and palm trees on the ground beneath us. We were finally there 
A short hour later we were in the city center of Barcelona, Place Catalunya, meeting Minna to guide us through what seemed like a unorganizaed mess; the Barcelona Metro. The three musketeers of Østerveien 64 was finally reunited for 5 days of awesomeness.
First on the program was check-in at Minna’s place, also referred to as Casa de Locas, before a guided tour with Minna through the streets of Barcelona. We tried to get in Museu Picasso, and failed: I have never ever in my life seen suuuuuuuuuuuuuch a long line to get into a museum! So instead we went for ice creams in the sun ( ) in Parc de la Ciutadella and a stroll along la playa de Barceloneta.
So came the next day, with ordering breakfast in a local Spanish café, without any knowledge of the Spanish language except for “Si” and “Gracias”. I’m impressed that both me and Torunn managed to order something that actually 
could be linked to breakfast – sandwiches! And no, they did not speak one word of English! After several hours of shopping and checking the madness of el Loco de Gaudí, it was time to return to Casa de Locas. The rest of the night cannot be described better than the words of Sak Noel:
When I came to Spain and I saw people party
I told to myself: What the f*ck!?
All day, all night
All day, all night
Viva la fiesta, viva la noche
Viva los DJ’s
I couldn’t believe what I was living
(Lyrics Sak Noel – Loca People)
The very next morning – rise and shine early!! Or not? It was 1.38 pm. Time to go sightseeing? No, let’s sleep for a few more hours. Broken down, worn down. 4.16 pm, let’s move a bit. Breakfast was consumed at the kitchen table, quietly. Finally starting to look alive. Put sunglasses on!
By 5.30 pm, we finally made it out of the house for the first time that day. Taking the Metro to Place Espanya, and then seeking to find
out how to get to the top of Montjuïc. After a 20 minutes search, we found a bus. It was the wrong bus though. Instead of going to the top, it stopped at Parallell, less than halfway from our destination. At least we saw Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Caixa Forum, the Olympic Needle and FC Barcelona stadium on the way up. And I will call it luck anyways, even if it was the wrong bus! There was no queue at the Teleféric de Montjuïc, which is the cable cart that can take us from Parallell to Castell de Montjuïc. Amazing view over the city. Recommended!
Whilest being in Barcelona we fell in love with el loco de Gaudí. Apparently, Barcelona loves their loco as much as we do, so they let him design a park; Parc Güell, and a cathedral: Sagrada Familia. The entire park was filled with the crazy creations of Gaudí. Wednesday was therefore dedicated to especially to Parc Güell, and to the Barcelona Fresh Food Market and shopping.
Well, when being in Barcelona, a trip to the beach could not be denied. The last day in Barcelona decided to bring us awesome weather; so the day was spent at la playa de Barceloneta with sun, sunglasses, sea and sangria. Tipsy before noon! And beers are the Irish pub in the evening. We arrived at the apartment just before 4.00 am. 3 hours till we had to leave . The adventure of Bjørnson and Puntis had to come to an end. However, it did not end in Barcelona, the home adventure was just about to begin.
Poor Audleif, had been waiting for us for five days, in the cold in a outdoor parking lot with no cars he knew from before. Poor fellah! It had even snowed a bit. No wonder he started harking and refusing to start when we finally found him. Having to revive him twice (!) and losing our parking ticket, it took us more than an hour to get out of the parking. But good ol’ Audleif got us all the way to Porsgrunn, despite two tired travelers that barely could keep their eyes open! Thanks for bringing us home
And Torunn, I look forward to our next adventure!
See ya!
