Google, and the internet in general, is a wonderful tool. It allows us to buy things we don’t need, date people we wouldn’t have known existed and ask questions we might be too embarrassed to ask of another person.

While preparing for my trip, I’ve learned two things about myself: I ask endless questions and the majority of them are ridiculous. Fine, all of them ridiculous. 

Here are some of my favorites! 

Is there unsweetened iced tea in Spain?

This is a real concern for me. There is nothing I crave more than an unsweetened iced tea. No sugar, no sugar substitute, just the tea. Maybe a fresh slice of lemon, but not completely necessary. I prefer it brewed, but if bottled, I’ll take a Pure Leaf in the green bottle (never Gold Peak). I like the refreshing taste and the caffeine boost too.

It is unlikely Barcelona has unsweetened iced tea as I’m accustomed to, but I realized my question really wasn’t about the presence of my favorite beverage. It was about routine.

An unsweetened iced tea is highly ingrained in my daily existence. It is my go-to morning beverage and my nonalcoholic drink of choice at lunches, dinners, and while wandering around on an ordinary day.

Barcelona has a strong café culture where people sip coffee drinks and relax for hours. I do not like coffee or coffee-related products at all—no Americanos, lattes, macchiatos, or espressos—and I struggle to imagine how I’ll adjust without my comfort drink.

As it stands, this isn’t a question I can answer right now. It will unfold in real time when I’m sitting in a café, wandering through a neighborhood, or heading out for a walk to the metro. Maybe I’ll find a suitable replacement. Maybe I’ll spend a month desperately searching for iced tea. I hope it isn’t the latter. 

Do people really eat dinner at 9 p.m.? 

Okay, so this isn’t necessarily about dinner itself but the entire Barcelona dining timeline.

I am very scheduled in my eating habits. Not for any dietary reason, but simply out of habit and alignment with the American dining schedule. I eat breakfast around 8:00 a.m., lunch around 12:30 p.m., and dinner around 6:30 p.m., with maybe a snack or two in between.

One of the most notable differences in Spain is that lunch, typically served between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., is often the largest and longest meal of the day. Dinner, meanwhile, doesn’t really get going until 9:00 p.m. I’ve read that while some restaurants cater to earlier diners, many neighborhood spots stick to the local schedule. Since my goal is to experience Barcelona from that perspective, I want to adjust my routine accordingly.

For me, that will mean a small breakfast, maybe a croissant, before heading out for the day, followed by a leisurely lunch and a snack in the afternoon. To survive a later dinner, I plan to embrace another foreign concept: the afternoon nap. With any luck, that will carry me through cocktails around 7:30 p.m. and dinner at an hour that would normally have me thinking about bedtime. 

Funny enough, I don’t think the meal times themselves will be the biggest adjustment. What feels more foreign is the idea of lingering. In the United States, lunch is often a Trader Joe’s salad squeezed in between meetings and dinner is finished up in an hour or less. Meals are efficient unless it’s a special occasion. 

I hope to use this as an opportunity to learn that a meal isn’t just something to cross off a list. It’s a reason to slow down, stay awhile, and enjoy where you are. If nothing else, Barcelona might teach me how to actually sit still for more than an hour.

Do people actually stay out until 3:00 a.m.?

On the surface, this might look like an extension of the question above, but it’s a bit deeper. If the average citizen is eating dinner at 10:00 p.m. for a couple of hours, at what ungodly hour does nightlife start?

I am a self-proclaimed morning person. I easily complete more tasks by 9:00 a.m. than most people do all day—grocery shopping, Pilates, cleaning, you name it.

On the flip side, I am not much of a night owl. When I was younger, I enjoyed clubs and late-night happy hours, but now I watch Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune most weeknights. Sure, I have my nights of staying out until the morning hours, but those are a rarity.

They are also not something I do alone.

I worry this is where solo traveling might be difficult. I don’t see myself experiencing much of the nightlife culture because it isn’t something I would necessarily feel safe doing on my own late at night. I think certain experiences are simply better suited for groups, especially as a woman.

While I’m not trying to spend my evenings in some massive discotheque, I’ve heard Barcelona has a fantastic nightlife scene and I am still young-ish after all. I would love to experience a couple nights of that during my stay.

Perhaps this is one of those questions that can only be answered once I’m there. Maybe I’ll meet someone who will take pity on the American who is ready for bed at 10:00 p.m. Or maybe I’ll happily be in bed while the rest of the city is just getting started.

Will I look like a tourist carrying a large water bottle?

I live in a city that tourists flock to in droves. They come from all over the world to see the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign, Santa Monica Pier, Disneyland, Rodeo Drive, and other world-renowned attractions.

After 13 years of living here, nine times out of ten, I can tell who is visiting from a faraway land, like Iowa.

There are certain tells: a pair of Tevas, a backpack, or worse, a fanny pack, and a giant water bottle clipped to the side.

In the last decade, America’s obsession with daily water intake has grown exponentially. It’s completely normal to see someone toting around a 32-ounce, 40-ounce, or even one of those 64-ounce jugs that is almost comically large.

Although I’m not your 32-ounce Stanley kind of girl—a 16-ounce bottle is perfectly fine for me—I do like having water with me. I see myself walking quite a bit and, combined with the warm September weather, I worry about dehydration and heatstroke, both of which I am prone to.

My goal for this trip has been to immerse myself as much as possible, but in this case, I may just have to carry my water bottle and accept looking slightly out of place. I’d rather do that than sacrifice comfort and safety for the sake of blending in.

What shoes do women wear in Europe? 

Okay so this was my most Googled question! 

I am quite possibly the only person living in Southern California who doesn’t own a pair of flat sandals or flip flops. Sure, I own some chunky heeled sandals and knee high and ankle boots for dressier outfits but mainly I wear my Nike Air Force Ones. 

I’ve worn my Nikes walking around Disneyland, Beach Life Festival and even for ten hour shifts behind the bar, amassing over 15,000 steps! Do they look sleek? Nope, but are they comfortable and practical? Yep! 

Unfortunately, some research quickly informed me that European women do not take the same approach. It is rare for a woman in Spain, Paris, Rome, etc. to wear athletic sneakers or clothing outside of actively working out. 

Whereas here in Los Angeles, it is commonplace to see women in Lululemon matching sets and trainers at a restaurant, grocery store, or coffee shop. And, although I firmly believe leggings are not pants, I do lean towards a more American approach to comfort. 

When I started searching the internet for photo inspiration, I noticed the same style of shoe accompanied each ensemble. Whether it was pants, a maxi skirt or linen shorts, the shoes were always neutral colors, sleek lines and simple designs. They looked stylish, while giving off an air of comfortability and ease. 

I had two realizations: I had no idea shoes could be both, and my current shoe collection is seriously holding back my wardrobe! 

Thankfully this was an easier problem to solve then some of the ones above. I just needed to do a little more research. I determined I would need a good pair of walking sandals for long days wandering around, a pair of black flat sandals for more elevated looks and a pair of kitten heeled sandals for nice dinners and places of minimal walking. 

*** 

Regardless of what initially drove me to ask these questions, I realized the question revealed more than the answer ever could. They showed me where I was having anxieties, worries and uncertainties regarding my upcoming trip

I question whether I will be comfortable, able to adjust to their routine, feel safe alone and fit in, at least as much as an American tourist can.

I know I will never be able to fully assimilate, but I hope I can enough to find my version of iced tea, maybe dance until 3:00 a.m. once or twice, and just feel like a woman in Barcelona who belongs.