Okay, time for Barcelona recap. I think I’m going to start with a post about the city itself and then dedicate an entire post to my Saturday night. Let’s begin.
We flew into El Prat on Thursday and went to our hostel: Hello BCN. I highly recommend this place if you stop by Barca for a bit, it was very clean and quite awesome – they had computers in the lobby with free internet, free breakfast in the morning, free coffee all day, a full kitchen, a lounge area, and at night it turned into a bar where I had the opportunity to meet some very interesting people from various parts of the world.
After arriving, we walked around a little bit and saw Las Ramblas, the market, and the port. I had half a bocadilla and cappuccino flavored gelato for dinner. It was heavenly. We went back to the hostel to look for something to do that night and we were offered to go on a pub crawl by a crazy Croatian - which I recommend always saying yes to.
We went first to Chupitos, which comes highly recommended, and we actually ran into a lot of other people from our program there. Chupitos is a LOT of fun and full of fire and wonder.
After that we went to another bar and then to a few clubs by the beach where we got to see some legitimate break dancers and see the Mediterranean. So, nooot a bad night.
Friday was a Gaudi filled day. We went to Park Guell, which is really really impressive and sports an amazing view.
After this we walked down to both of his famous houses but we didn’t go inside, they were really expensive. Barcelona gave my feet a beating, but I enjoyed walking the city.
Friday night we went to the Magic Fountain show, which was indeed magic – full of lights and music. The fountain even chanted “Barcelona” which I thought was fittingly epic.
After the fountain we wandered around the Gothic District until we found a place for dinner – it was a strange place, but we were intrigued. By the time we got out of the restaurant it was after 11, and then on the way back to the hostel, when we were trying to decide what to do, Sydney got her phone pickpocketed. That kind of put a hold on the night, though I really enjoyed the day I had anyways.
Saturday morning we went to La Sagrada Familia, which was really unusual to me at first – its so different from any other cathedral I’ve seen. Obviously its still under construction and isn’t going to be finished for another 15 years (at least) but what you couldn’t see inside the cathedral was made up for by the museums and information they had inside – it really shed a lot of light on why things were styled the way we were – Gaudi is quite the impressive architect and things make a lot more sense once you understand where he was coming from in his design.
After seeing the cathedral we went back to the Gothic District to meet up with a free walking tour of this part of the city. It was informative in unusual ways that I wouldn’t have known about before. We were shown places that had bullet holes from where people were executed during the Franco regime…and then we were shown the place Picasso supposedly lost his virginity. Strange.
During one part of the tour, our guide explained that there’s an arch in the Gothic District that legend has it if you walk under it with your back to it, your wish will come true, so she had all of us do this. I felt a little silly, but obliged….and I think my wish actually came true. I wanted an awesome night in the city, and it delivered on a fantastic level, which will have to be what the next post is about.
So you can go read that, but first here’s my impression of Barcelona: It’s a gorgeous city with really unique architecture. It’s very lively, in a beautiful location with mountains and the coast, and it’s a LOT of fun. While I loved my visit, I’m glad I didn’t study there (Sorry Monica.) English is EVERYWHERE, and the culture isn't the Spanish culture that I experience every day in Sevilla. Instead, it really is a unique mixture of everyone. While I like this for a city, I wouldn’t like it while trying to be immersed in a culture – which I truly feel like I get to experience in Sevilla. The creeper level is also exponentially more noticeable in Barcelona, we were followed a few times and like I said, one of us was pickpocketed. Judging by the conversations I had with people in the hostel, this is really common. One girl had been staying in Spain since February because she legally can’t leave the country – all of her documentation was stolen the first day she got to Barcelona. But, it’s a big city, and stuff like that comes with it. I really enjoyed my visit and my Saturday night, so…I shall post about that specifically….
(This elephant was not involved in my Saturday night...)
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