We arrived around 5 pm on Monday night, and took a train from the airport to the hostel. Not too long of a trip, but I was far over-dressed for the warm Spain weather. When we got in, we dropped our bags off and went on a search for food, finding some 2 euro kebabs that the reception recommended. It was fantastic. I do not have photos, because I devoured it. We also picked a 1 euro bottle of wine, which was actually surprisingly good. Wine in hand we went back to the hostel, fully intent on an early night....
But this is Spain. Of course tons of people were awake down in the common room, so we ended up meeting new people, playing drinking games and staying up late.
Tuesday we kind of failed at getting out of bed early, but finally pulled ourselves up and decided to go on a walking tour of the city, which was awesome. The guide was Australian and gave us an incredible explanation of Barcelona's history, as well as the current movement that many Catalans are involved in to return it to it's own nation-something I had never heard anything about.
That night we met up with Jackson, Alyse (our friends from Dublin) and their friend Jen for tapas at an awesome restaurant. It was great to see familiar faces and exchange stories about things that had happened since we'd last seen them. And the food was awesome. My favorite you ask? Rabbit ribs. If you know me, you know I love me some rabbit.
After dinner we went over to a shot bar called Chupitos, which serves shots for 2 euro-incredibly cheap. Also, to clarify, these were really interesting, delicious, not strong at all shots....such as the Pringle shot...no idea what alcohol it was but you chase it with a Pringle with a drop of Tabasco. We also had some flaming shots.
Wednesday we had full intentions of waking up early and getting to sightseeing and the beach, but per usual we slept in a bit and then got caught up in a train situation. We have a rail pass for later journeys in our trip and had run into some snafoos that are a bit too boring to share on a blog. Just know that we spent a couple hours on Skype calls and going back and forth to the train station.
Finally, we got ourselves out of the hostel and headed over to La Sagrada Familia (see above), which is a large, crazy looking, forever under-construction cathedral. We didn't go in because the line was long, and I had heard not that impressive things about the inside. Looking back, I regret this decision because many people have since told me that it's amazing and that we really missed out....bucket list!
Next we went over to Park Guell, which is a giant "park". I wasn't crazy about this place, but it did have amazing views, and truth be told I didn't explore as much as I could have because I was eager to get back and rest my poor little feet.
Side note- never in my life have my feet hurt as much as on this trip. I am now taking volunteers for foot rubs, please and thanks.
Thursday we woke up pretty early because we had plans at 5:30 and wanted to get as much sightseeing in as possible. We started the day with the Picasso museum. This was awesome, because although Picasso did much of his work in France, and most of his works are displayed elsewhere, he started his career in Barcelona, so this museum houses much of his earlier paintings. I've never been much of a Picasso fan, I honestly just don't "get" it. But I did enjoy seeing his early paintings from before he got into this Cubist phase.
Next, we tooooooooo......THE BEACH!!! Finally. I got onto that beautiful hot sand and immediately regretted not planning to spend an entire day there. It was beautiful out, the beach we chose was far less crowded than others and it was pure bliss. Good thing I live near the beach because I will some of that when I return...
Here's a nice visual...excuse any topless women you may see...Europe is far more ok with nudists than the US.
Thursday night we attended a seafood paella cooking class. Essentially, a chef brought us to the market to buy the seafood (mussels, clams, calamari and prawns) and then we learned how to cook paella, eat paella and make sangria. This was an awesome (and delicious) experience...I fully intend to make everyone paella when I return home, so hit me up.
Friday we didn't get to spend any time exploring, because our flight to Stockholm was pretty early in the day so we needed to leave for the airport right after we got up and packed. Barcelona left me pretty pooped, so I slept the whole plane ride and am just now writing this (after my first day in Stockholm) so I'm sorry for the late upload!
Overall, Barcelona was a gorgeous, awesome city. I didn't see even close to everything I wanted to, and I'd love to go back someday. I spent a good portion of the time feeling homesick and kind of sad, as I think can be the case when you travel. You have those times that your mind and you body want to be somewhere comfortable and for me, Barcelona (particularly our hostel) wasn't that place. I'd like to go back and really get the full potential that I think the city has to offer me.
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