Barcelona: Friendship & Fantasy

"I recharge like American electronics on Spanish voltage"

Super silly, but totally true. No one should be able to have a Saturday like I did on less than 3 hours of sleep.

Last weekend, I flew to Barcelona to cross Euro Trip paths with one of my best friends from College, Seth, and his friend from home. It was exciting for us to have our first post-grad reunion while we were both abroad in Spain! The morning getting there was tough, but totally worth it - down to the last Euro.

I'm still surprised by my ability to do so much with such little time, including touring Barcelona and having an epic reunion in less than 40 hours. Here are photo highlights from my weekend adventures with Seth:

Here is the famous street of Barcelona, La Rambla. It is home to tons of street performers, and apparently a guy who rides around naked on a bike (we must have missed that). It was pretty cool as the street is lined with trees and has pretty much everything for sale. I liked that from up in the park you could tell which street was La Rambla due to its sheer size.

La Boqueria was the best part of walking La Rambla, as it was the most epic food market I have ever seen. I'd have to liken it to shopping at the silk markets in China, but minus the bartering, and exchange the clothes and goods for food. It smelled of fresh everything! Fruit, juices, seafood, meats, I wanted to try a bit of everything. The crabs were still alive and some of the fish look straight out of the sea.

We ended up trying some quiches/empanadas, and then a variety of fried cod as well (croquetas, dumplings). Both very excellent choices.

The Beach in Barcelona was amazing. Not just because it was my first Spanish beach, but everything was sparkling with golden flakes! The sand and sea apparently appear to shimmer due to a large amount of Mica. It was super neat to be all golden and sparkly just by laying in the sand.

Interestingly enough, these beaches aren't natural. They were actually made when Barcelona had the Summer Olympics in 1992. All of the sand was imported, and now gives Barcelona bragging rights for having one of the best beaches in the world.

 Magnum Bars! Not specific to Barcelona, or Spain, but still the best ice cream bar I've ever had. I don't know what it is, but its absolutely delicious. This one was Magnum Gold!?, which was a mix of vanilla and caramel ice cream, with a chocolaty golden covered shell. Even my ice cream on the beach shimmered!

Okay, so easily my favorite part of Barcelona was the Gaudi designed, Parc Guell. I don't know exactly what it is, but the feeling of whimsy, bliss, and pure content can be hard to come by, and I felt all of that during my time in the park. It was like being in a Dr. Seuss story, or in a scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Just totally unreal.

While the entrance to the park was fun, what really did it was the expansive view of all of Barcelona. We felt on top of the world, which is a position that really gets you thinking about people, places, and life in general. Everyone needs to experience a view like this to really expand their perspective. I wish this view was outside my window every day. 

Even higher up in the park, this location offered a 360 view of Barcelona.

On Sunday we went over to see La Sagrada Familia. Yet another breath taking, thought provoking design by Gaudi. We didn't pay to go inside, but outside was enough to have us sit and talk about the building and Gaudi's influence on Barcelona for quite some time. Its incredible to think that this is the only Cathedral in the world still under construction.

All over Barcelona, there are different houses and apartments that Gaudi was commissioned to do. We didn't go inside as they cost 20ish Euro each, (and had really long lines as the houses seemed to be the only thing open in all of Barcelona on a Sunday), but outside and the gift shop gave us a pretty good idea of what he was all about. His designs create a fantasy land that I never wanted to leave. It was just so much fun!

Barcelona was an excellent weekend trip, and I hope to go back there again soon. Despite my Spanish being useless in reading signs and some menus, (as they use Catalan), the vast feeling of the city and the beauty of the beaches and the park are enough to keep me coming back for more.

~Jenna