One of the first things we learned when moving to Barcelona from the states is there is no Uber or Lyft in Spain. When we visited a few months back to find an apartment at one point we waited for a taxi at a stand for close to 30 minutes. It is funny how quickly I got used to the new normal of using Uber everyone and the thought of having to search or waiting for a cab to pass by felt archaic. Now as a local we learned a little secret, while there is no Uber there is something called Cabify which is essentially the same thing. So we downloaded the app and we were now ready to go.
We woke up Friday morning determined not to leave for our first weekend getaway to Sitges until we were fully unpacked as we did not want to come back to the mess we were currently living in. That meant we did not head out to 4pm. We decided to take the train to Sitges vs rent a car which in hindsight was not the best idea. But as I share in chapter 1 of The Fast Forward Mindset, “Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows?”
We used Cabify to pick us up and it worked like a charm as the driver was here in 4 minutes. However, unlike NY they would not let us sneak in a 5th person, so I ended up “calling” my own car. As we boarded the train, we each ordered Tortilla Espanoia which was Kelli’s favorite when she lived in Sevilla over 20 years ago. It is and egg and potato omelette in a sandwich.
As we arrived in Sitges we got off the subway looking for the taxi stand. Over 20 people in line and no taxi’s in site. We arrived on the last day of a huge festival and maybe all the taxi’s were being used some where else. No problem, someone told us it is only a 10 minute walk to the hotel. We had two rolling bags, and 3 kids, we could do that. We did a quick search in google maps and we saw it was actually closer to 2 miles away. Ok, let’s wait. Another 5 minutes and still no taxis. No Cabify service either.
Okay, let’s walk. I have to give it to the kids as they were troopers. It was hot and crowded and it took us close to 40 minutes to get there. It was actually a great way to see the town if not for the tired kids and bags we were lugging around. Finally we got to our rooms and it was all worth it. A corner room with an ocean view!
That night we had dinner at a hut on the beach where there was great music and dancing. At 11pm, there were fireworks celebrating the end of the festival. My kids were still on NY time and stayed up very very late. Need to get them up earlier for now on….
