This past weekend was the absolute rainiest weekend of my entire life. I think from the very moment we landed in Barcelona, the rain started and still hasn’t stopped 2 days later. But that didn’t stop me from walking all around Barcelona and seeing the most famous places in the city. I arrived on Friday night with another girl in my program around 5:30. We walked to our hostel (about 30 minutes away) and while we were on our way, we saw the Arc di Triomf, Placa Catalunya, and La Rambla (the most famous street in Barcelona). We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and walked around the city some more. We got some dinner at 100 Montaditos (described as the McDonalds of Barcelona) where they had tiny sandwiches, patatas covered in cheddar cheese and bacons, and also huuge mugs of Sangria and Beer for only a euro and a half. After dinner, we went to La Sagrada Familia, the most famous landmark in all of Barcelona. It’s this cathedral that Gaudi (the most famous architect/artist guy from Barcelona who was all about Modernist design) started building about 100 years ago and it still isn’t finished. And it was absolutely gigantic, way bigger than I ever imagined it being. After we stopped at the church, we walked around a little more and headed back to the hostel for the night.
The next day we started off by grabbing a coffee at Starbucks and walking down La Rambla. We stumbled upon the Mercat Boqueria, this huge food market that has literally any food you can think of. Fresh fish, fruit smoothies, meats, veggetables, nuts, honey, anything. After the market, we took a free walking tour of Bari Gothic, a really cool part of the city with lots of history. For example, the old Patron Saint of Barcelona, Saint Eulalia was a 13 year old girl who was prosecuted and tortured for being a Christian back in Ancient Roman times. She had 13 tortures (one for each year that she was alive) and, not to be morbid, but was when she was put in a barrel will glass and knives and bugs and snakes and stuff and rolled down a hill. We saw the actual hill that she was supposedly rolled down. We visited a lot of places and I learned more than just that history, but that one stuck with me the most. The walking tour was really really really great and helped me get a feel for the city. But I think the best thing about the walking tour is that our guide told us where to get lunch, at this little shop called Bo De B’s near the Port. They had the most delicious sandwiches where you could put anything you wanted on it and it was only 3 euro. I also shared some potatas bravas with my friend. After the walking tour, we went up to Mount Montjuic and took some beautiful pictures of the city and also saw the Olympic stadium. After that, we took the metro to Park Guell and walked around there for a bit. We had an exhausting day and accomplished so much on Saturday.
The last day we took it easy. Started off by going to Dunkin Coffee, which is basically a Dunkin Donuts but with a different name and it’s obviously owned by the same company. We had a nice breakfast and coffee and just sat and people watched. After that, we walked around La Rambla a bit more and saw a couple more monuments, Casa Milla and Casa Battlo and finally headed back to the bus station where we got our bus to the airport to fly home.
Barcelona was absolutely magical, especially with every street decorated in different lights for Christmas and seeing all of the windows decorated as well. And I realized, you can really tell if you like a city or not based on how much fun you can have in even the crappiest weather… And even though it rained the ENTIRE time we were in Barcelona, I still had a blast. It’s such a unique city with a culture all its own. It’s like a weird mix between Spanish, Italian, and French in my opinion that bring together the best parts of each culture and mix it all into one. The food was amazing, the drinks were amazing, the sites were amazing, and the people were so nice. I’d say that Barcelona was a success.
Next weekend I’m going to Rome for my FINAL trip, so stay tuned everyone.
Until next time,
Adeu!
The next day we started off by grabbing a coffee at Starbucks and walking down La Rambla. We stumbled upon the Mercat Boqueria, this huge food market that has literally any food you can think of. Fresh fish, fruit smoothies, meats, veggetables, nuts, honey, anything. After the market, we took a free walking tour of Bari Gothic, a really cool part of the city with lots of history. For example, the old Patron Saint of Barcelona, Saint Eulalia was a 13 year old girl who was prosecuted and tortured for being a Christian back in Ancient Roman times. She had 13 tortures (one for each year that she was alive) and, not to be morbid, but was when she was put in a barrel will glass and knives and bugs and snakes and stuff and rolled down a hill. We saw the actual hill that she was supposedly rolled down. We visited a lot of places and I learned more than just that history, but that one stuck with me the most. The walking tour was really really really great and helped me get a feel for the city. But I think the best thing about the walking tour is that our guide told us where to get lunch, at this little shop called Bo De B’s near the Port. They had the most delicious sandwiches where you could put anything you wanted on it and it was only 3 euro. I also shared some potatas bravas with my friend. After the walking tour, we went up to Mount Montjuic and took some beautiful pictures of the city and also saw the Olympic stadium. After that, we took the metro to Park Guell and walked around there for a bit. We had an exhausting day and accomplished so much on Saturday.
The last day we took it easy. Started off by going to Dunkin Coffee, which is basically a Dunkin Donuts but with a different name and it’s obviously owned by the same company. We had a nice breakfast and coffee and just sat and people watched. After that, we walked around La Rambla a bit more and saw a couple more monuments, Casa Milla and Casa Battlo and finally headed back to the bus station where we got our bus to the airport to fly home.
Barcelona was absolutely magical, especially with every street decorated in different lights for Christmas and seeing all of the windows decorated as well. And I realized, you can really tell if you like a city or not based on how much fun you can have in even the crappiest weather… And even though it rained the ENTIRE time we were in Barcelona, I still had a blast. It’s such a unique city with a culture all its own. It’s like a weird mix between Spanish, Italian, and French in my opinion that bring together the best parts of each culture and mix it all into one. The food was amazing, the drinks were amazing, the sites were amazing, and the people were so nice. I’d say that Barcelona was a success.
Next weekend I’m going to Rome for my FINAL trip, so stay tuned everyone.
Until next time,
Adeu!