Barcelona

What a weekend. Where to begin?

I took a taxi from my host family's house at 5:30 in the morning on Saturday. The cost was ridiculous (It cost more than my hostel for two nights), but since my flight was so early I didn't really have any other option. This was my first non-solo trip while in Europe. I met two girls, who are also English tutors in Madrid, through our program group on Facebook. We got together last week and decided to take this trip together. After a quick flight from Madrid, a train ride, and a short walk to our hostel...we were in the city and ready to explore by 10:00am.

Barcelona is a city unlike any i've ever experienced. It's a big city, with busy streets and large buildings. But it's also a beach town, with cute little shops and walkways by the water. The architecture is incredible. You can tell its a huge tourist destination because of the hoards of people EVERYWHERE. I liked it almost at once. But one thing I noticed right away was that it definitely didn't feel Spanish.

I'd heard a lot from my host family about Catalonia: How they're unpatriotic, want to be their own country, don't like Spain, etc. When you walk down the streets you see Catalonian flags hanging from every window. Signs are in Catalan first, then English, then sometimes Spanish. Nobody speaks Spanish, they all speak Catalan (It was strange saying "Merces" instead of "Gracias") It felt like we were in a completely different country!

The first thing we did after dropping off our bags was head out to find food. Just a block up the street from our hostel was the Mercat de Sant Josp/La Boqueria. Food vendors were selling fresh fruit, jamon, seafood, pastries, empanadas, and more. The place was huge! We looked around a bit and sampled some of the items, but we wanted to find a sit down place for lunch. So we left the market and walked a little further up the street.

A ways up we found a restaurant serving paella. So we ordered some. It was my first time trying the famous Spanish dish. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. I left the restaurant thinking paella was just a bit overrated. I was wrong, by the way, but more on that later.

After lunch we headed for the beach. Let me rephrase that: We headed in the direction we thought the beach should be. We ended up at the marina instead. Cruise ships, yachts, sailboats and fishing boats all lined the harbor. We walked down the waterfront walkway where people were selling purses, sunglasses, and souvenirs, then back over a bridge towards the city. The walkway was lined with palm trees and had great views of the water and surrounding mountains.

Tired, we decided to go back to the hostel. After a quick siesta we tried for the beach again.

This time, we succeeded. The walk to the beach felt like a fair or festival. A ferris wheel spins in the background as you walk by table after table of souvenirs, clothing, pottery, jewelry, and more. The smell of churros and crepes is everywhere. The weather made it feel even more festive: 85 degrees Fahrenheit and not a cloud in the sky.

The beach was beautiful, but also crowded. We walked along the shore in bare feet. The sand wasn't super soft, but the water felt nice. It was a weird thing for me: seeing it, and knowing where it is on a globe, but not being able to wrap my mind around the fact that I was actually walking in the Mediterranean.

We walked the beach for quite awhile, then decided we'd better get sightseeing. At that point it was about 5pm and we'd basically only seen the water. We walked up towards where we thought the Barcelona arch was, but got lost. We ended up at the Barcelona Cathedral instead which was AMAZING. I can't get over the architecture and how much work was put into so many of these buildings. From there we wandered the small streets of shops for a while, not really knowing where we were headed. As the sun was setting we finally found the arch, completely on accident.

Next was dinner. We walked by a restaurant on the way back to our hostel that had a special deal: three tapas, paella, and a desert for 10 euros. The tapas were good. Each was a different type of meat on a slice of bread. I ordered the Seafood paella, but I wasn't super excited because of my earlier experience. This paella was nothing like what I'd had for lunch. It was full of fresh clams, fish, and prawns, and it was SOOO good! I was too stuffed afterwards to finish the flan they brought us for dessert.

We went back to the hostel after that and hung out for a while, trying to decide what to do. We finally went for drinks around 11pm. I was so tired. I took a taxi back to the hostel at 3am, when my travel buddies were heading out to a club. 3am is late enough for me.

I woke up on Sunday and went to Starbucks for some breakfast. I had been against going to Starbucks in any foreign country at first, but it's actually really interesting to see the differences in what they serve. In Barcelona they have "American Pancakes" in the display case. So weird.

Since I didn't get to much yesterday, I decided today I'd better do some major sightseeing. I bought a tour bus pass and hopped on near the Cathedral. The pass was awesome. It came with headphones so you could listen to the commentary on all the different places the bus passed, as well as a map and a guidebook for when you decided to get off at a stop. Plus, free wifi :)

The first bus I took brought us near the marina and then up Montjuic Mountain, one of the two mountains in the city of Barcelona. There, I had an awesome view of the water and the city. The next stop was at the 1992 Olympic stadium, which was pretty neat to see. Then the Placa d'Espana, where I got off and walked up the street towards the Palau Nacional and the Magic Fountain. From there I walked (A long, long walk) back to the Cathedral to hop on the eastbound bus.

The eastbound bus was even more interesting. We rode along the beach and learned about the many architects that have influenced the city. There were many different stops at famous landmarks or buildings, but the best was definitely the one that Barcelona is known for. The Sagrada Familia cathedral designed by Gaudi is unreal. I missed visiting hours, so I couldn't go inside. But the exterior was incredible.

The tour ended and I took the metro to meet up with Alyssa and Trisha (My two travel friends) at the Magic Fountain. We walked from there to Barcelona's Oktoberfest where we looked around and bought massive amounts of churros. Then it was back to the hostel once again.

The activity coordinator at the hostel was making paella, and it was only three euros for a huge plate. So we had yet more paella (This one was really good too, especially the squid!) He was also giving free Salsa lessons, and though we didn't participate, we went with the group after dinner to a nearby Salsa club. It was fun to experience, even if I didn't actually dance :)

We woke up this morning, packed, checked out of the hostel, and took the train to the airport. I could've easily spent two or three more days in Barcelona, but for a weekend trip I think it was a success. We got to experience the city, and see many of the sights that make it famous. It was weird feeling like I was going "home". And yet arriving in Madrid brought a nice sense of normalcy. I've had a busy couple of days and I'm ready for some down time.

So...where to next? Any suggestions? :)