Bordeaux & the downfalls of traveling on a bus

Happy Sunday! this past weekend truly pushed my limits and my skills with lack of sleep, but it was definitely worth it.

This past week was filled with interesting ups and downs as I am really beginning to feel settled in Bilbao. Firstly, I got my first college B! It was a bit humbling because I have been lucky enough to get all A's and these Spanish classes have truly pushed my brain to new limits. I am proud of this B, because it made me recognize how hard classes can truly be in a new country and with teachers who are native Spanish speakers. To celebrate my hard work, I splurged and got a delicious croiffle (a waffle made out of a croissant), and I have to say that my life has forever been changed.

I blinked and the week flew by, and then came the longest weekend of my life. Friday, myself and my friends hopped on a bus to Bordeaux! 6 hours seemed like a long bus ride, but we were fortunate enough to have tons of space and a row to ourselves for a few hours. We were feeling tired, but very excited to reach Bordeaux! We left at 2pm and arrived at 8pm and stayed at the cutest hostel ever. They had a tiny little bar in the front with delicious fruity drinks and we had a private room that felt like a hotel room. We devoured pizza and then rested for the long day ahead of us. Saturday morning we woke up, checked out of the hostel and set out to spend the day in Bordeaux. First we started with an omelette breakfast and the heaviest passionfruit daiquiri I have ever experienced in my life. One thing I quickly realized was how much more expensive Bordeaux is than Bilbao and so I just kept on sipping my drink. After breakfast we walked all over Bordeaux, looking in thrift shops, stores, and wandering down gorgeous streets. The architecture of Bordeaux was absolutely stunning and I could have spent all day staring at the buildings. Around 3pm we headed to the water to board a boat and sip on wine, as we had booked a boat ride with a guide explained the different parts of Bordeaux and how they have changed over time. Other than the wind, it was an enjoyable ride and it was very calm. Once that ended then we headed to lunch and quickly discovered how hard it was to find food at odd times of the day because everyone tends to eat later. Giving up we instead headed to an outdoor market across the river! The market was super unique and filled with breweries and a Patagonia store. Still not finding food we headed back and managed to find a tiny little Pho place, the food realistically was alright, but on an empty stomach it tasted even better than I could have imagined. At this point it was 8pm and we were fueled up and ready to hangout until our bus arrived. Of course, because we were so prepared, the universe messed with our plans and delayed our bus by 30 minutes. This is where things started to go downhill.

Our bus was originally supposed to leave at 11:30 and arrive in Bilbao around 4am. We got the news as we were sitting in a little bar that our bus had been delayed. Tired and a bit delusional we groaned a bit, but it didn't affect our moods too much because at that point we believed that we would get on a beautiful bus like last time and we would just sleep the entire time. Then reality set in, we walked up to the bus at midnight and we were met with a tiny bus stuffed to the brim with people. It got worse when we got on, and the smell of body odor and cigarettes filled the entire bus air. It was so bad that when I stepped on my glasses completely fogged up. Taking deep breaths, we headed to our seats and realized that we had no leg room and almost no space to move our legs. Luckily the ride was only about 4 hours and I managed to giggle through the entire thing because I was so delirious. With my little bag of gummy bears I managed to not go crazy through the entire bus ride. A few of the members of my group did shed some tears, but ultimately we made it through one of the worse bus rides of our life. That brings me to the point that not all travel is glamours and fun. There will absolutely be moments where you want to cry, throw-up or scream because of exhaustion and frustration. However, you just have to make the best of it and get through the trip because being in a bed will be so worth it. We made it back, and my bed has never been so inviting and comfortable.

The adventure doesn't stop there! We got to sleep about 6am and slept until noon, only to have to wake up and get ready for our soccer game. We had bought tickets a few weekends before and so we knew that we had to absolutely go to the game. Regardless of how tired we were. It was definitely worth it! The energy inside the stadium was amazing and everyone chanted and sang for Bilbao Athletic Club. Unfortunately, we did lose and quite honestly I am not shocked. Our team was good, but the passes were absolutely horrendous and I kept joking that they should give me cleats and put me on the field.

Overall, the weekend was exhausting, but amazing. The architecture and energy of Bordeaux was worth every second of the horrible bus ride and loss of sleep. I would definitely go again and hopefully for a longer time. I wish we would have had more time for the trip, but I wouldn't have changed anything (maybe minus the bus ride back)