What a weekend. We had an amazing time in Barcelona and I can confidently say that we got a taste of everything it had to offer us. The weekend was absolutely packed! We were constantly moving and we realized the consequences of that this morning when we could barely get out of bed to get to class. I have over 200 pictures on my camera from this weekend, so just stay with me. I am going to try to post the best ones.
Quick history lesson before I lay out our itinerary. Barcelona is in the northeast of Spain. It is right on the Mediterranean Sea and it is one of the most popular cities in Spain. While Sevilla is in the south in Andalucia, Barcelona is in Cataluña. Unfortunately, we didn't get to speak any Spanish this weekend because they actually speak Catalan in Barcelona, which is a completely different language. It is kind of a mix between French and Spanish, and maybe a little Portuguese? For example, while we spell Spanish as Español, they spell it like Espanyol. A little different. But the worst part is that native Barcelonians hate when you try to talk to them in Spanish. So they will either just ignore you or speak in English if they know it. The language barrier wasn't a problem all weekend though because most people spoke English, probably due to the high population of American and British tourists.
So Friday night we took off for Barcelona. There were 10 of us but we had 2 different flights - 5 on one and 5 on the other. Check out our plane below. You know how you never really get to see the plane when you get on it? Well, we had to go on the tarmac to get on our plane. Thank you RyanAir for your cheap European tickets and awful service. But it's okay because we just slept the majority of the only hour and 15 minute ride there. It's a plane and we are thankful for that.
Quick history lesson before I lay out our itinerary. Barcelona is in the northeast of Spain. It is right on the Mediterranean Sea and it is one of the most popular cities in Spain. While Sevilla is in the south in Andalucia, Barcelona is in Cataluña. Unfortunately, we didn't get to speak any Spanish this weekend because they actually speak Catalan in Barcelona, which is a completely different language. It is kind of a mix between French and Spanish, and maybe a little Portuguese? For example, while we spell Spanish as Español, they spell it like Espanyol. A little different. But the worst part is that native Barcelonians hate when you try to talk to them in Spanish. So they will either just ignore you or speak in English if they know it. The language barrier wasn't a problem all weekend though because most people spoke English, probably due to the high population of American and British tourists.
So Friday night we took off for Barcelona. There were 10 of us but we had 2 different flights - 5 on one and 5 on the other. Check out our plane below. You know how you never really get to see the plane when you get on it? Well, we had to go on the tarmac to get on our plane. Thank you RyanAir for your cheap European tickets and awful service. But it's okay because we just slept the majority of the only hour and 15 minute ride there. It's a plane and we are thankful for that.
We got to Barcelona ahead of the other girls and had to switch terminals to meet them at their baggage claim. Barcelona is one of the most well known cities in the world for pick-pocketers. I can proudly say that none of us (all 10!) had anything stolen all weekend. Everyone had kept telling us about the theft everywhere, but we didn't realize the reality of it until the airport. We literally felt like people were circling us. Luckily RyanAir only lets you bring one carry on and we all only had to hold our backpacks close. Plus a group of 10 girls sometimes isn't the best prey for pick-pocketers. We just looked out for one another. Here is our first picture in Barcelona! This was around midnight. Note the man photo-bombing in the back. Hello?
Once we got to the hostel we put our stuff up and went to explore the area a bit. So most of us got to experience our first night in a hostel. What an opportunity. Ha but really, it was an adventure. We had to split up into 2 groups because the hostel didn't have a room big enough for 10 people. So we walked into our room and there were already people sleeping in there. We only got a sheet and a pillowcase. We knew we were going to be roughing it that weekend. But it was all worth it when we woke up and realized we were right on a beautiful beach. The Mediterranean Sea!
We walked to Las Ramblas that morning to check out La Boqueria. Las Ramblas is a long strip of shopping and it's one of Barcelona's famous tourist spots. We walked along the water to get there and we saw The Columbus Monument. Barcelona is really well known for their soccer team and the city decided to put an FC Barcelona jersey on the statue, which towers over the whole city. You may not be able to see it, but I promise it's there. And it's great!
La Boqueria is a huge market with fresh fruit, lots of seafood, spices, meats, and sweets. It was unreal how big it was. And it was packed! We got really good fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast. I got strawberry-coconut but they had so many different flavors! Here are some pictures from La Boqueria.
We explored the city a little bit before we broke into smaller groups and some girls went to the beach. Here is Shannon and I at the Plaza de Catalunya.
Here is one of the famous cathedrals in Barcelona called the La Catedral Gotic. We didn't get to go inside, but the view from outside was sufficient for us.
So let me tell you about this guy named Antoni Gaudí and how he practically runs the city of Barcelona, even though he died 87 years ago. Gaudí was a famous architect and a lot of the beautiful structures in Barcelona were designed and created by him. He definitely became a very popular name throughout our trip. For example, we visited Parc de la Citutadella next and just happened to fall upon this magnificent waterfall fountain. Of course, Gaudí was the man behind the beauty.
This is the Arc of Triomf and although it isn't constructed by Gaudí, it is definitely worth sharing. All along the path leading to it there were amazing street performers. These acrobatic groups were break-dancing and dancing in some type of bamboo hoop. Of course the background music was American pop music. That's definitely the trend here. We haven't figured out yet if they even know the words or they just like the beat.
For lunch, we found a really cute cafe that overlooked the beautiful street view. And we got to try Paella finally! Paella is a Spanish dish that has rice in it and lots of spices. You can get different types - seafood, chicken, vegetable, or meat. They serve it really hot in a stir fry pan. It is SO much food!
That night we went out and experienced Barcelona night life. What a scene. All the bars/clubs are along the beach, but they are underground. All the ones we went to were really nice and a lot of them had porches that opened up to the beach so people could sit and just relax. It was a good ending to a long day. Too bad the next day was going to be even longer.
We woke up somewhat early because we knew we had a lot to accomplish before we left Barcelona early Monday morning. We headed straight towards La Sagrada Familia. This cathedral was also a work of Gaudí's. Although the construction of the cathedral began in 1882, it is still in process. Gaudí wanted the cathedral to be paid for by the people because he wanted it to be mirrored in them and therefore, taxes and admission fees are the only forces pushing the construction along. Luckily, the inside is already complete. It is one of the most exquisite cathedrals we have seen thus far and I liked it's modern style inside. We read a lot about the history behind each idea that went into why it was built the way it was. Also, the different ways Gaudí was influenced.
We woke up somewhat early because we knew we had a lot to accomplish before we left Barcelona early Monday morning. We headed straight towards La Sagrada Familia. This cathedral was also a work of Gaudí's. Although the construction of the cathedral began in 1882, it is still in process. Gaudí wanted the cathedral to be paid for by the people because he wanted it to be mirrored in them and therefore, taxes and admission fees are the only forces pushing the construction along. Luckily, the inside is already complete. It is one of the most exquisite cathedrals we have seen thus far and I liked it's modern style inside. We read a lot about the history behind each idea that went into why it was built the way it was. Also, the different ways Gaudí was influenced.
After about a 45 minute wait, we finally were able to get inside. Gaudí was all about nature and he wanted the cathedral to resemble a forest with the pillars looking like trees and the ceiling looking like a canopy. Just ignore the random people in the pictures. A lot of the cathedral was blocked off where the seats had been set for mass later that day, so there wasn't much room to walk. Speaking about mass, how cool would it be to hear mass in there? Yeah too bad you need an invitation to attend. By the way, it was actually announced as a Basilica in 2009 by the Pope. And the outside has not even been completed yet!
The stain glass of course was magnificent. Even though it was somewhat a gloomy day, it brought so much color into the cathedral.
Here's a picture they had in the museum of what it looked like when the cathedral was full of people. This was during the dedication ceremony with the Pope seen walking down the center aisle.
Next stop was another one of Gaudí's famous works, Park Güell. We had to hike up a couple huge hills to get there, but the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. Perfect for what we were about to see. We were at the Park for a good 3 hours.
This whole salamander was made out of mosaic tiles. This is one of the most distinctive characteristics of this park - the beautiful mosaics. This next picture is one of the most famous views of Barcelona with the mosaic overlooking the city all the way to the ocean.
This was only one of the views, but we went all the way to the top. Here is just one of the views. I took over 50 pictures in one spot. You could see both the ocean and the mountains from the top. It was incredible!
After getting cleaned up a bit, we decided to close out our trip at a famous water light show at La Font Mágica. It was absolutely beautiful! I have a lot of pictures from there too, but I am just gonna post some of my favorites.
We even got some UNC representation at La Font.
Here is a picture of all of us in front of La Font!
That night was a little rough since we decided we weren't going to stay in the hostel, but at the airport. So the light show ended at 11 and we took the metro back to the main strip where we spent a few hours at dinner. We grabbed our stuff from the hostel and headed to the airport around 2. When we got there, all the doors were locked so we had to walk all the way down to the one door that was thankfully open. We were a little worried we were going to be sleeping on the streets that night. (It was also freezing outside which made it seem way worse). We slept for a few hours on the floor of the airport before we checked into the gate at 4am. "Slept" may be an understatement since everyone woke up every 5 minutes because we were either freezing cold or super uncomfortable. We slept a little more at the gate before our flight took off at 6am. Once we got on the plane, everyone was out cold until we landed in Sevilla. We took the bus to our own houses and after showers, we all had some time to nap before class.
Monday was gonna be a rough day, but our awesome weekend was perfect that we wouldn't change anything about it. Barcelona was one trip we are going to remember for a long time!
Monday we are taking a field trip to La Alcázar back in Sevilla, so check for pictures from that back on my Sevilla page.
Besos, Bri
Monday was gonna be a rough day, but our awesome weekend was perfect that we wouldn't change anything about it. Barcelona was one trip we are going to remember for a long time!
Monday we are taking a field trip to La Alcázar back in Sevilla, so check for pictures from that back on my Sevilla page.
Besos, Bri
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