We got to Barcelona at 2 am due to a two hour flight delay, I can't complain since it was due to a thunderstorm over Barcelona (safety first). Our hostel was off La Rambla, a central shopping street in Barcelona and only a few minutes walk to the beach.
Friday:
We headed out in the late morning on Friday when it was raining, luckily we were prepared. Our first stop was the St. Joseph market off of La Rambla. At this market you could buy fruit, meat, veggies, cheese, and premade pasta among other things. It was fun to walk around because all the food was fresh and colorful. We decided to get a fruit salad for breakfast, which included mango, coconut, oranges, cantolope, watermelon, pineapple, dragonfruit, and kiwi, Then we took the extremely easy and efficient metro to La sagrada familia- or the sacred family church designed by Gaudi. He started the church in the 1920s or so but died soon after. the church is detailed, large, and elaborate that it is still being constructed, they haven't even built all the spires and the inside was just finished in 2007. It is supposed to be finished in 2030 or later, over 100 years after it was started. The church is modern looking inside, but looks almost medieval on the outside. The figures that are built on the outside depicting Jesus and his family are block like and look almost pagan to me. After this, we heard there was a Museu de la xocolata (Chocolate museum) that was rather cheap. It took us a while to find it but we made it. The museum gave us a free chocolate bar and had many different chocolate moldings. Otherwise it was kind of a disappointment. After this we decided to go to the beach. We bought sangria and snacks and sat on the beach (because it was now sunny) for a couple hours. For dinner we ate paella (rice with seafood and vegetables) near the harbor. Finally, we saw a dock with many people walking across. We decided to follow and found a large man made "island" of shopping, theaters, and an outdoor concert. After this I called it a night.
seafood at the market
fruit at the market
front view of la sagrada familia and some of its construction
me in front of (a beardless) jesus christ inside sagrada familia
the ceiling
back view of sagrada familia
chocolate sculpture of the movie UP
barcelona beach
seafood paella
Saturday:
We got up and went to the market again, this time to pack a picnic lunch for Park Guell, the park designed by Gaudi. We got another fruit salad and a pasta and rice mixture. Then we headed for Park Guell, which you have to climb up a hill to get to. We sat and at our lunch in the park, then walked around. The park is full of typical Gaudi walls, and buildings with beautiful mosaics. We spent about an hour or so walking around the place. Afterwards, we went back to the shopping area to do some shopping. We determined that Spanish fashion is a thousand times better than Spanish fashion, so it was interesting to look around (but not buy at least for me). After this we once again went to Barcelona beach to sit and drink Sangria. Afterwards we went to a huge fountain called Montjuic that basically puts on a water show to music and lights. We heard a lot of 80s music during this show. The fountain is really cool and the area around it was full of people watching it. Then, we went to find tapas, which we apparently didn't go to the right area for, so once we saw a sign for tapas we went in. It turned out to be bar food tapas so nachos, empanadas, and fries. Not exactly real tapas but after going 4 months without this kind of food it was pretty good (and so was the sangria with dinner).
cave like wall in Park guell
Park Guell performers, they were so energetic jumping while playing instruments
mosaic bench
sitting in park guell with Barcelona in the background
mosaic ceiling
mosaic salamander fountain
walking to the montjuic fountain
montjuic show
Sunday:
On our final day in Barcelona we got up, but our bags in a storage facility and went to get breakfast. We found the cutest restaurant on La Rambla and got coffee and fried eggs with chorizo. It was very tasty. Afterwards we walked back to the area near the Chocolate museum because it looked like it had cute boutiques. We ended up running into one of the largest protests I have ever seen (except for the rally to restore sanity). The signs were all in Spanish (probably the Barcelonian Spanish Catalan) but it I realized Italian is similar to Spanish and Spanish is similar to French. So my language skills as well as the signs with scissors and the socialist part symbol led me to deduce the protest was about socialist program cuts (or their budget cuts). Spanish protests are so fun there were drummers and fire breather. Anyway, We walked around and sat in some squares until 3 pm and headed over to the Picasso Museum because it is apparently free after 3 pm on Sundays. However, it turns out it was closed that day for whatever reason. That was disappointing so we just kept walking aimlessly around the central shopping area. For a late lunch/early dinner we went to a real tapas place and ate things like their famous tomato bread, olives, cheese, and grilled sepia. Then it was time to grab our bags and head to the airport. The plane ride home ended up being very interesting. Towards the end of the flight there was EXTREME turbulence. I'm admittedly a nervous flyer anyways and a little turbulence makes me anxious but this was the WORST. People were grabbing on to each other, looking at the emergency information cards. I decided at the time it was best to put my head down in my lap, which seemed to be an overreaction compared to the people around me, so much so that I became their in-flight entertainment. The guy sitting next to me even felt it necessary to pat me on the back and tell me it was ok and another man sitting in front of me grabbed my hand after the turbulence to calm me down (I mean I wasn't screaming or anything so these acts of kindness were surprising). Meanwhile I was strategically planning what I would do if we hit water. Anyway that turbulence finally ended and we landed safely in Rome.
The protest fire breather- you can't tell in this picture but the amount of people seemed to stretch for a mile
the Spanish arc de triomf
while in spain, eat churros and hot chocolate
Anyways, this week it is back to the grind since it is the last week of class. I'll be busy with papers and presentations in preparation for next weekend when I'll be studying for next week's 5 finals. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though when my parents come in less than two weeks to travel. And finally on May 29 I'll be back in the states. This semester has flown by!
