Barcelona

Barcelona is magnificent. From the prevalence of the unique Gaudi architecture to the live seafood market to the fútbol pride and surely not least the beach, it is definitely not lacking in culture or things to do. I met up with my friend Dominique (and later with her friend Jalynn) who are studying in Montpellier, France for the semester for the weekend and we saw most of these things, plus a few off-the-map destinations.

Our first day, Dominique and I checked into our hostel, which was quite brilliantly located in the center of Plaça Real, a smaller-scale Plaza Mayor with palm trees, and in a wonderful location. Then we made our way to Gaudi's famous Park Güell, via the amazing food market where we got a free juice from the juice man, and wandered through his architecture-blends-with-nature haven, getting a great few of the city and lots of dirt in our shoes along the way. At a café where we stopped for coffee, I ended up talking to the friendly owner for half an hour about Catalan (the language they speak in Barcelona more than Spanish), politics, traveling, and how he could find a way to pay the fine he got last time he was in the US without being detained next time he enters the country. About halfway through the conversation, he pointed to Dominique and said, she's quite serious," thinking that she had just been super quiet the whole time, though it was just that she hasn't had Spanish in a while.

That night, we visited the Sagrada Familia, which is stunning at night, and dined on paella and sangria, Spanish specialties for Dominique.  The next morning we wandered through the Gothic Quarter, picked up Jalynn from the train station, and got the freshest churros and chocolate (xocolata as they spell it in Catalan) I've had. That evening, we headed to Montjüic, a huge park that was the Olympic center during the Barcelona Olympics and also has a castle, endless gardens, some sort of concert venue (we could hear it), and a museum of Catalunian history that serves as the backdrop to the "Magic Fountain," a colorful dancing fountain not unlike that of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  After twenty minutes of dancing fountain, we wandered down the hill in search of dinner.  Having spent way too much money on dinner the night before due to stupid tourist syndrome, we went to a one $ restaurant on TripAdvisor that was pretty awesome.  We ordered a paella, which was for two people, and an appetizer, and were going to order more when the waiter stopped us and said that was a bad idea.  And when the paella emerged in a pan that was almost two feet in diameter, I understood.  We did our best to finish off the meal and the incredibly strong sangria, but neither could be completely consumed.

Then, considering that the Barcelona soccer game that we had hoped to catch in the bars had already ended, we shifted gears and celebrated St. Patty's day in the seemingly prolific Irish bars of Barcelona, all of which were decked out in green balloons and Irish flags, and filled with people drinking Guinness and wearing the hats that come with any order of two pints.  It was quite an experience, and we met a bunch of great people.  As our hats said, it was the "friendliest day of the year." 

Our last morning, and with little sleep, we tried to go back to the open market that was so spectacular, but it was closed!  They take Sundays quite seriously in Barcelona, as almost everything was closed, but we managed to find some coffee and churros and get to the neighrobhood of L'Eixemple, home of Gaudi's famous Casa Batllò and Casa Milà.  We parted ways that afternoon, as the other two had an earlier train, and then I headed to the Picasso Museum, which I wanted to see because we're studying him in Art History right now.  After getting lost and wandering through the narrow-streeted neighborhoods where people actually live (I was semi-relieved to see that), I came across another of the city's famous parks, which was literally chock-a-block people.  You could hardly see the grass, there were so many people enjoying picnics in the sun and playing with their kids and their dogs.  It was a great sight, and one of my first moments seeing the actual people of Barcelona rather than just the city.  Still wanting to go to the museum, though, I tried again, only to discover just a couple blocks away that the line was at least an hour long.  With only a few hours before I had to be at the train station, I sadly accepted that it wasn't going to happen and somehow found myself at the beach twenty minutes later. This town has everything, I'm telling you.  The beach area was so great - there were endless rollerbladers skating among the crowds and musicians along the boardwalk flanked on either side by a beautiful beach and seafood cafés.  It was a wonderful way to end my stay.