Barcelona, Spain: Adios America

Barcelona, Spain

 Parc Guell

La Boqueria

Disclaimer: Even in the past few days, I saw so much and met so many unique individuals that it is impossible to capture the moments in a few choice words. Additionally, I am still not even close being adjusted to the 7 hour time difference, so I am a bit loopy. I also cannot find the apostrophe symbol  on the Kindle keypad (my writing center nightmare)- so bear with me. 

After a grueling 14 hour flight, Danny and I finally arrived in Barcelona. Running on only a few hours of sleep, we decided to hit the ground running and see what Barcelona had to offer. In attempts of finding La Rambla, the main street, we found ourselves in Parc de la Ciutadella. Since the weather was comperable to sunny San Diegos, there were plenty of tourists and locals having picnics, stretching their legs, and enjoying the sun. There was a lot of modern/ expressionist architecture scattered throughout the park, along with the entire city. 

Once our moment of serendipity was over, we eventually made our way over to La Rambla. This massive street was packed with all walks of life: street vendors, shoppers, locals, and tourists from all over the world. Walking along the street, so many different languages were floating through my ear simultaniously that it was close to impossible to decode one in time to figure out where anyone called home. On La Rambla we stopped into the famous La Boqueria, a market packed full with fresh fruit, meat, eggs, produce, and tapas. We worked our way through the maze of vendors and bought a cup of fresh squeezed strawberry and kiwi juice- perfect on a hot August day. 

With the day winding down to an end, Danny and I made the trek up to Parc Guell. Even CSUStairMaster did not prepare me for the climb we made up to the park; however, I am pretty sure we went the long way and ended up at the back of the park first. After listening to a little Spanish guitar, we climbed up to the lookout point that overlooked all of Barcelona. This was one of those senarios that no matter how many photos I tried to take to capture the moment, they did not even come close to doing the sight justice. From there we sat on the famous mosaic benches, enjoying both the view and ocean breeze. Our visit at Parc Guell came to an end as we enjoyed some of Gaudis famous architecture and sculptures. Parc Guell was by far the highlight of the day. 

That night, Danny and I stuck to our American roots and visited the Dow Jones, a bar whose drink prices fluctuate like the stock market. A handful of times throughout the night the stock market crashed and drinks were significantly cheaper. We had a few questionable shots, made friends with the bartenders, and all in all- had a great night. 

The first half of the next day was spent at the famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia. Even though the line took about two hours and it was pretty pricey to get in, the architecture was well worth it. I have been to a handful of cathedrals throughout my travels, but I have never seen one with such unique shapes, stain glass, and mosaics. A lot of the the statues had very sharp, expressionist style lines, which made Sagrada Familia stand out. 

The second half of the day was definitely a learning experience. We went to the train station to validate our Eurail passes, and ended up waiting for over three hours trying to talk to the right people. We also could not get a train to San Sebastian, so on a whim we booked our next ticket for Nice, France (which is where I am traveling to right now). Even though we experienced quite a bit of frustration, we met a few groups of backpackers in similar situations and got a lot of great advice. 

That night we ended up going out with two girls that we met at the train station and some people they met on couchsurfer.com. I will admit that Danny and I were both a bit hesitant about going out with people we hardly knew and people they met online, but it ended up being a fantastic night. Our plan was to go to this shot bar, but another moment of serendipity presented itself when we came upon the side of the Barcelona Cathedral and a group of hippy-esque people were hanging out, drinking, playing music, and doing modern dance. Street vendors were selling beers for one euro, and our time there ended up occupying the entire night. Again, it was an experience that words do not do justice; however, it was an amazing night that truly set the tone of the wide range of possibilities this trip has to offer.