Kim, Kendal, Gretchen, Joey and I went to Barcelona this weekend! It was amazing (except for the weather). We got in pretty early on friday (10:30am I think?), but it took us about 2 hours to make our way to/find the hostel. Our hostel was really cute, filled with the exact stereotype of backpacker-type people you would expect at a hostel. We stayed in a room of 8, so we had the chance to meet some new travelers: there was one guy from England and one from Italy in our room, and we met some others from the Netherlands, Germany, and more Americans. After we secured our bags, it was time for some sightseeing!
First we went to the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral still under construction since the death of it’s architect, Antoni Gaudí. The construction began in 1882 and isn’t expected to finish until 2026! It is the most intricate building I have ever seen, with detail covering every inch of the walls. Even the inside is completely detailed with stained glass windows and beautifully crafted pillars that rise up to an elaborately designed ceiling. Needless to say, there are many elements that make the Sagrada Familia a gorgeous cathedral. Next we decided to wander the city a little and go to “Las Ramblas” the big street in Barcelona stretching to the sea port/beach area. Along Las Ramblas you can find tons of street performers, outdoor cafés, shops, etc. That was all we could fit in for the day before it started raining on us, so we went back to the hostel.
Saturday we woke up and walked down to the beach hoping for a little bit of sun, we were disappointed that the clouds dominated the sky. We walked up through Las Ramblas again and sat down at a little café for lunch. We talked, played cards and people watched after lunch was over. Finally we decided to go to Parque Güell, a park with lots of Gaudí architecture. After climbing some extremely steep hills and using probably 5+ outdoor escalators, we arrived at the Park. (The girls and I had to stop for ice cream in order to take our mind off the ridiculous walk). The view from the top of the park was definitely worth the climb! We could see all of Barcelona and the clouds above the Mediterranean looked incredible. After soaking in the views, we traveled up and down the park and finally stumbled upon the Gaudí house, his famous mosaic lizard, and some other architectural gems. The sun began to set and we knew it was time for dinner so we grabbed some food and a bottle of wine from the grocery store and headed back to the hostel.
That night we went to a little bar called Chupitos (when I say little, I mean the size of a small hallway) with our Arizona group. They had literally tons of drinks, we tried one called the “Harry Potter shot.” They lined up the glasses, put an orange on top with some sugar, and lit them on fire, then the bartender proceeded to shake something onto them creating sparks flying out of the flames. It was so cool!
Sunday we woke up early, went to Las Ramblas and played some more cards at an outdoor café while watching the street performers (it was finally sunny and there were lots of interesting people out). Then we headed back to the airport and came home to Madrid!
No comments:
Post a Comment