Barcelona

Hola!!! I just spent a fabulous weekend in Barcelona – one last hurrah before I head back to the states! I’m really glad I squeezed it in – even though I had my last final the day after we got back!! I’m officially done with junior year, I’m a senior – eek!! I absolutely loved Barcelona because it’s just such a fun and unique city. Apparently it’s nothing like the rest of Spain, but I really wouldn’t know so I’ll take people’s word for it.

We left Galway at 3:30am to catch a 7am flight. We got to Girona Airport at 10amish, then hit Barcelona by 11. The metro was pretty easy to figure out and we hopped on that, then a ferrocarril – which is just another train system – and headed to our hostel. We got there, then climbed up one of the steepest mountains I’ve been on. Our hostel was located in the city’s Natural Park way up in the mountains. It was super cute, tucked away on a windy road. The countryside was absolutely beautiful, and the temperature was perfect. The hike was unbelievable with our backpacks. But we got there and the staff was very sweet and the hostel was like a glorified sleep away camp, and I mean that in a good way. Our beds were clean, we had personal lockers, the whole place was actually great – very unusual for a hostel!!

We then went to the Placa Catalunya, which is the main center. We walked along Las Ramblas, which is the busiest street. People lined it dressed up like statues or bizarre garden people or kittens, all to pose with tourists. It was so busy and cute. Further down were merchants with cute handmade jewelry and a whole section was full of artists. The architecture is the real draw to Barcelona. Every single building is different from the one next to it – some look like mini castles, and some look like they are straight out of Zorro with elegant balconies and flowing flower boxes. We popped into this little square that had a huge fountain and tons of little café tables around it. Palm trees lined the interior, and the flower boxes had vines dangling down them with vibrant blossoms coloring the yellow stucco buildings. We found a great market filled with fresh fruit, meats, and candies, but best of all – a Dunkin Donuts!!! I haven’t seen one of those puppies in 5 months! We then walked down to the port which had these modern art sculptures and beautiful sailboats. Gigantic fish just hung out along the stone lining we were sitting on – it was so cool. We walked along the boardwalk and then down the strip checkin out the palm trees. BMW was doing this huge promo thing, so we decided to partake and took a test drive in the X5 on their test course. It was literally like being on an amusement park ride in Disney, and we had an adorable German pilot for Luftansa in the car with us. We then walked all the way down the Ramblas again to the other side, and when we both almost fell asleep on a park bench we decided it was time to head to the hostel.

Next day we had a great lovely little breakfast in the outdoor café at our hostel, then headed back to Catalunya. We went to the Sangrada Familia, this gorgeous unfinished cathedral. It looks like a giant sand castle, and the top looks like a drip castle. We strolled around and went to where the Olympic Village was and hung out on the beach for a few hours – don’t worry mom – in the shade!! We then took a sky ride over the Mediterrean into the mountains and got off in these great gardens that had saguaro cacti! While we were relaxin on a bench listening to the music from the local restaurant this lady approached us and asked to take pictures of us for this tourist magazine she’s a graphic designer for. We just had to look and act really hot, and then she gave us tickets to a bunch of museums. It was hysterical. Oh and then I got the call about AIDAN!!! Very exciting news! We then went back to the center and I got some tapas – it was fried chicken pate and just thinking about it makes me nauseous. But we walked to the cathedral which was under massive construction, but I got Sangria at a café across the square and we hung out listening to a mariachi band – except they weren’t dressed like one. Someone Katie went to high school with was sitting right next to us so that was a small world experience! Also these kids started walking around with signs saying Free Hugs, and we hugging people. I thought they were definitely pick pocketing, but turns out they were just giving out some free love, and yup I got some Spanish hugs. We then walked back to the port and hung out on a bench for awhile, till it was dinner time and then back to the hostel.
Unlike our last few trips we literally just hung out in Barcelona and took it all in. We strolled – a new experience for us – and just took our time to appreciate the city since it doesn’t have major tourist attractions. It’s really cool because they have two official languages – Catalonian and Spanish, with the former almost more prominent. Katie knows Spanish and she was completely thrown by the Catalonian, but luckily her knowledge of espanol came in handy a few times. It was a fun weekend – literally no sleep though with all our early flights. I’m glad I saw it, I’ll definitely be back!!