Barcelona!

I finally made my way into Spain! With three friends, I drove to Barcelona for the three-day weekend and we all stayed in a hostel together. The drive was about 6 hours long, and the passage through the Pyrénées was the most beautiful drive I've ever seen; there were hidden castles surrounded by terrifying cliffs as well as tiny mountain villages that make you wonder where they find groceries. Of all the mountains I've see in my life, I prefer the Pyrénées; they are absolutely breath-taking.

When we arrived in Barcelona, it was packed with its night-life, and we had to swerve around gigantic round-a-bouts and crowds of pedestrians whilst trying to find affordable parking; we searched for an hour an a half before finding parking where we could park the car for three days without over-spending. Finally, we found our way to the hostel, which ended up being pretty sketchy. The owner was super friendly, but was also intoxicated for about 90% of our stay. I woke up one morning to go to the bathroom only to be greeted by a cockroach scuttling under the toilet. What's more, the door to our room couldn't close; we had a padlock for the outside of our door for leaving our things for the day, but at night we had to pile our bags in front of the door in order to keep it shut. I'm not sure if you know this about Spain, but no one sleeps. Ever. Our room faced the street, which was smack in the middle of downtown Barcelona, so we listened sleeplessly to the partying until about 6 in the morning each night. Aside from being a bit of a mess, the hostel was tolerable, especially since we were hardly ever there.

The first morning, we headed straight to Starbucks for breakfast; Pau does not have a Starbucks, nor anything kind of coffee shop that resembles a Starbucks, so I was glad to break my 5-month-iced-white-chocolate-mocha fast. My Frenchies enjoyed it too, as they only get coffee like that if they are in Paris. We met up with one of their acquaintances, who is working in Barcelona, and she pointed out the best places to go, and explained the metro and bus system for us. From there, we went to the Sagrada Familia, which is the cathedral and symbol of Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1881 and is still in the process of being built; the expected date of finality is 2030.

Sagrada Familia

Still under construction

The oldest part of the cathedral

So many details on that place.

After seeing the cathedral, we made our way to Guell park, which is covered in mosaics. We spent a good three hours exploring every corner of that place:

This bench was enormous, and stunning, but there were so many people that  all I could capture was this little snippet.

After that, we headed to Place de la Seu where we watched the Castellers de Vilafranca perform their human pyramid acts, as well as watched some traditional dances. The human pyramids were terrifying to watch, and the second to last act confirmed that terror when the pyramid broke and they all fell like dolls. No one was badly hurt, but it certainly made everyone stop breathing for a couple of seconds.

Dancing

Lining up for the tower

Up on top

That was all for that day; we ate some tapas for dinner, and headed to bed around midnight (and then lay there and listened to all of the drunk people). The next day, we woke up a bit earlier and (again) headed to Starbucks. From there we wandered around and discovered the town. We walked through the Place Catalunya and from there we wandered into a gorgeous neighborhood which held the Palau de la Musica Catalana as well as the Arc de Triomf of Barcelona.

Place Catalunya

Palau de la Musica Catalana

The entire neighborhood looked like this.

Arc de Triomf (no, I did not spell it wrong)

After our exploration, we made our way to a suggested restaurant for lunch, and we ate delicious tapas. Tapas is a meal made entirely of appetizers. The tradition in Spain is to order a plate of tapas and a drink, eat, then go to the next restaurant to try some different tapas. Most of the restaurants in downtown Barcelona were pretty expensive, so we went to this one which was a bit further off. Each tapas was about 2,50 and we all shared each other's. It was super scrumptious. 

If you're ever in Barcelona...

After lunch we took the metro to the Mediterranean!! It was my first time seeing the sea, and it was quite special for me -- I was practically skipping all the way there. We took the afternoon to sunbath and test the cold, salty water. There was an obnoxious amount of people, and venders circulated through them all offering massages, mojitos, towels, etc. -- not exactly peaceful, but it was beautiful anyway.

Sand creation

Pastey-white me

La Méditerranée!!!!!

Once the beach was half-covered in shadow, we left to go back to the hostel to shower and then head to dinner. We went to the Place Espagna where we watched the fountain music and light show. And thus concluded Sunday. 

Place Espagne

The next morning, after (yes, once again) going to Starbucks, Estelle and I did a bit of light shopping ("light" because everything was closed for Pentecost except the street venders) while the boys wandered around by themselves. We made our way back to the fantastic tapas restaurant for one last taste of authentic Spanish food, and then we departed. It definitely was a vacation that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to see the lively city of Barcelona.