Day 1: Wednesday
Like always we left early in the morning. It was the easiest travel day I have had yet. Besides having to wake up at 2 in the morning everything went smoothly. We landed in Barcelona at 9:00 am took a short train to our hostel and were at the beach before noon.
{Brynn and Me on our way to the Beach}
It was a 30 minute walk from our hostel to the beach but a perfect walk in such great weather. We walked along La Rambla, which is a street with lots of vendors, street performers, and restaurants. During the day its very nice, busy with lots of tourists. At night its super sketchy with pick-pocketers so we made sure to avoid it after dark.
The beach was crowded on Wednesday. It was sunny and 70 degrees. Me, Greta, and Brynn did not dress appropriately. We were in jeans and a t-shirt and extremely hot at the beach. All we wanted was to be laying in there in shorts. Around 3:00 after a few good hours of sun we decided to go shopping for shorts so we'd be prepared for the next day. I bought more things in Barcelona than I have in London. The only problem was I had to fit it all in my backpack, which was already jammed pack.
{THE BEACH :) }
That night for dinner we went to an italian restaurant on the Rambla. It wasn't super busy around 6:00 when we ate but as we were leaving the line was getting long. On our first day we hadn't adjusted to their 10:00 pm eating schedule.
Day 2: Thursday
On Thursday we were super excited to wear our new shorts and be super prepared for the beach. In the morning we got dressed, packed our books and white shower towels provided by the hostel. We decided to stop at Sagrada Familia on our way to the beach. The church built by Barcelona's architect Gaudi. After leaving the hostel our day just went downhill...
Story of how we got lost on the way to Sagrada Familia: (please see picture for justification)
The map our hostel gave us had all the tourist sites as well as restaurants. Sagrada Familia was all the way in the top right hand corner. Right next to it is a restaurant. All the restaurants have arrows pointing to where they are located on the map. The top right hand restaurant makes it look like the arrow is coming from Sagrada Familia. So we walked to that area. It was a tiny alley. We were super confused. I don't know Barcelona very well but I knew there was no room for a church where we were. Then I looked up and looked back at the map and we were right next to the restaurant that the arrow is really coming from! We had walked the complete opposite direction from church. At this point we decided to go straight to the beach.
{Sagrada Familia and Cow Restaurant in top corner - does this justify our long excursion?}
Story of how we got lost on the way to the beach: On the map it looked like you could walk through a nice park to get to the beach. We thought that was a great idea! We walked through a grassy area and eventually got to a dead end! In front of us was the Barcelona zoo, which we couldn't get around. We walked right in an attempt to go around it. Now we ran into parliament and everything was gated in! We back tracked an now took a left around the zoo. We reached a main road but we were still gated in and could not cross to get to the beach. We could see the beach but unable to cross. Finally after walking so far out of the way we found a bridge! We eventually made it to the beach but no one was there... Why? please read on...
Story of how it was freezing: So we were very hot on Wednesday and we each bought a pair of shorts. On Thursday we all wore our shorts. As we were walking it felt a little cool. The sky was cloudy so no sun to warm us up and it was kinda windy. People were looking and laughing at us in shorts and shower towels like we were complete idiots. We even passed 2 people wearing long winter parkas, but we were laughing at them. We were absolutely freezing but still decided to go closer to the beach. Finally after about 30 minutes at the beach we couldn't take it anymore. We just wanted to wrap ourselves in our tiny shower towels. We quickly made it home and dressed in multiple layers.
{So cloudy and cold}
{Front of Church}
{Back of Church}
{Another Gaudi building located right near our hostel}
That evening we met up with my friend from school who is studying in Barcelona. We couldn't eat dinner until 8 because restaurants don't start serving dinner until then (I was so hungry!) She took us to a restaurant for Paella. She even said that today was one of the coldest days (AHH!!!) We got a really good deal on Paella - salad, paella, and a pitcher of sangria for 15 euros (usually paella alone is at least 12 euors and a cup of sangria usually is 5 euros). We even got a free glass chapagne for sitting outside and being their marketing. I really liked the paella- rice and chicken, my favorite, yum!
{Of course there's a picture}
{Me and Michelle}
Friday was our touring day. Today was actually very warm and I dressed perfect in capris and a t-shirt! We went to Parc Guell. It's called the Gaudi park that was designed by him with lots of Gaudi sculptures. It was a metro ride and then a few escalators to the top of the mountain/hill (after Switzerland I don't like calling it a mountain).
The view was gorgeous. We first walked around a pathed area and went to the highest point at the park. You could see the whole city. Then we walked into an open area that contains a lot of the touristy Gaudi things such as a bench and two buildings (I see it in all my friends pictures that go to Barcelona). There's a bench that is lined with people sitting on it. We had to hover in order to get a spot to take a picture! The area was so pretty and it was such a nice day I could have sat there all day (but we had to get to the beach eventually right?) At the park we ran into our two friends from AKPsi that are studying in Paris. They were in Barcelona for the weekend as well. It was so ironic running into them!
{Me and Brynn at Parc Guell}
{The View}
{Greta and Me at Parc Guell}
{Me and Brynn at the bench}
After the Gaudi Park we went to lunch. My friend had suggested this sandwich place on the way to the beach called Bo Da B. It was the place to be. We got there around 2 (adjusting to Barcelona eating time) and there was a line out the door with Americans (we weren't the only ones who heard of this place). The sandwich was amazing. They cook the meat fresh in front of you and then you add whatever sauce and veggies you want. It was huge- comparable to a chipotle burito. I ate it all and felt huge afterwards. We layed in the sun and then headed home for our siesta (nap time).
We slept from 4-6 (it's what the Barcelonas do) then ate dinner at 8. The restaurant was completely packed at 10:00 pm! (I don't understand late night eating!) That night we went out and attempted to stay out as late at the Barcelonas do but we hit the hay around 2:00 am. We went to a local bar called the Black Sheep where you can get pitchers of Sangria. We met our AKPsi friends there. Its meant for huge groups because they sell 5 liters of Sangria that is brought to the table in a huge jug. It was a very fun atmosphere. I couldn't believe that I saw old couples like my grandparents walking around at midnight! Crazy Crazy!
Day 4: Saturday
Saturday was another beach day. We started the morning/afternoon since we didn't get up till 11 at the market. Its a huge market with fruit, candy, meats, fish, breads, etc. We all got juices since everyone has told us to try them and they were so fresh and delicious. Then we headed to the beach. My friend had told us about going to The W (super fancy and expensive hotel on the beach) and sitting in their chairs because they are open to the public. So we attempted that. We walked into the hotel and tried to make it look like we were super rich and belonged there. No one kicked us out so it must be true that anyone can sit on their chairs.
{Juuuicesss!!}
No comments:
Post a Comment