Barcelona was incredible. Absolutely amazing. Oh my goodness, I can't even express how much I loved it!
We left rainy London on Friday and landed at the Girona airport (an hour outside the city so we bussed in)... it was in the 70s at night! We saw Barcelona's Arc de Triomf and checked into our hostel on the beach!
The hostel didn't exactly live up to the internet pictures, but hey, it was only 17 euros/person and we were right on the beach. And staying in a hostel is part of the European experience!
Another part of the experience is sharing your hostel with other people... we happened to get 2 old men. We walked into the hostel to find that bad boy (a ventilator of sorts) on one of their beds. Naturally I nicknamed the man Darth Vader but we never met either of them. Molly and I slept in the same bed so she could be as far away from him as possible!
After checking in, we went to dinner. We got to the restaurant at 10:30 and left at midnight and the place was still bumping! It's true what they say, Spanish people really do eat late.
I had tapas, chicken paella, and Catalan cream (Spanish creme brulee). It was incredible! I am craving it sooo bad right now!
I didn't want to miss it so I ran out in my pajama shirt and boots. It was amazing! I love the beach. The best part was that it was warm, unlike Brighton! Barcelona is so beautiful.
We got one last beach picture with our backpacks on before we headed out for the day!
We did the "Gaudi Walk," starting at the La Segrada Familia and walking through Barcelona to see some other buildings that he designed.
This is the La Segrada Familia. It's a Catholic cathedral designed by Gaudi and has been under construction for more than 100 years and won't be finished for a while. It's incredible! The pope was visiting Barcelona Sunday so it was crazy.
PS in the words of Natalie, "the Pope needs to get a life... he keeps following us" he came to London earlier this month. yeah, were pretty popular :)
Here are two more Gaudi buildings. What is so cool about Barcelona is that all of the buildings, not just Gaudi's, are so fun and different. We stumbled upon the coolest banks and shops and pharmacies and hotels. I loved it!
Here's an example of Barcelona's coolness: this was just in the middle of an intersection
The walk ended up in a fun square with fountains at the top of La Rambla, the most famous, touristy, cultural street in Barcelona.
We felt like such hardcore Euro travelers walking around with our backpacks on all day!
La Rambla:
La Rambla is such a fun street and apparently the second most pick-pocketed street in Europe (thanks for the heads up Meegan's mom!). We were a little paranoid and so we nerd-ed it up and wore our backpacks in the front. Safety first! We amped up our tourist-ness by gettting McDonald's, constantly checking our maps, and keeping our cameras out at all times. So funny!
Thank goodness for the metro! We navigated it like champs and were able to see so much more of the city because the Tube has made us all such public transportation pros.
Apparently it's sketchy because the workers told us in broken English to wear our backpacks in the front. We were used to looking pregnant this weekend... have the waddle down like naturals!
Next we went up to Park Guell, another one of Gaudi's designs, and my favorite spot in the city.
The park is up on a hill. It was quite the hike up the colorful streets but it was beautiful!
Look at that view!
I love Natalie.
I took French in high school so my Spanish knowledge basically consists of the Del Taco menu. But I love yelling Spanish words. Viva Barcelona/espana, ay caramba, and ay ay ay came out of my mouth all weekend!
This was on the top of another Gaudi building, the terrace overlooks the entire city. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was about 78 degrees (the perfect temperature), sunny, not a cloud in the sky, tons of beautiful people, and these fine Spanish men were playing flamenco music. They were incredible. I am now obsessed with Spanish guitars, and Barcelona.
Our last stop was this museum. We didn't go in but just wanted to see the building because it is beautiful and the site of a scene in Cheetah Girls 2!
It also had a wonderful view of the city and you better believe that we were singing and dancing to the Cheetah Girls soundtrack. I love my friends. It definitely wouldn't have been the same without Molly, Meegan, Devri, and Natalie!
I LOVE Barcelona. I can't wait to go back! This past weekend was probably my favorite so far. I had great company to travel through such a fun, cultural, spicy, sexy, beautiful city with! I loved loved loved it and feel soooo lucky that I got the opportunity.
Wow. This was probably my longest post yet, and I wasn't even in Barcelona for more than a day. Clearly, I loved it and am obsessed.
More to come!
Looks like an amazing time! Too bad you didn't have longer! I am dying to go there now!
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