Euro Trip: Spain pt. II

Thursday, December 19, 2013

It was another early rise for traveling, this time to Barcelona. We packed up our stuff, ate a quick breakfast left out for us by the hostel staff (so nice), and wheeled our luggage down the cobbled street in the morning darkness. We took the bus to the airport and waited in the tiny terminal. When we boarded, I was thrilled to find our seats on an exit row. That was a luxury I had never experienced before! The flight was short to Barcelona, only was an hour and a half. We landed and took the metro to our airbnb place located a few miles from the city center. Silva, our airbnb host, showed us around our place. It was a nice, modern apartment with a few bedrooms, kitchen, living area, and a small terrace. It was nice to have the place to ourselves.

We were tired from staying up late and waking early, so we took a quick nap after eating shwarma. Since we were only in Barcelona for a couple days, we visited the a few Antoni Gaudi designed buildings, starting with Sagrada Familia first. This was a huge, oddly constructed church that got many of its design aspects from the shapes of nature, plants, animals, etc. It is notoriously unfinished, with construction occurring even as we visited. After that, we strolled through the rain to Casa Bastllo, another Gaudi building. This time, we took an audio tour of the building. I thought I wouldn't really like his style which had no straight lines and symmetry, but I found his nature-inspired ideas to be not only be appealing but also functional. He thought out of the box, especially for his time.  We made a quick stop by our apt and then went out for tapas at a restaurant recommended by Silvia. It was packed, but the food was just alright. Strangely, steak fries are really common here as tapas. I'm not really a fan (esp. the topping of mayonnaise...gross). We strolled back to our apt and got ready for bed. Travel days are always long and tiring.

Friday, December 20, 2013

We (actually, just me) were tired of eating out every meal, so we made toast and tea for breakfast. Our day starting with a short visit to the Picasso Meuseum. It was interesting to see the progression of his style throughout his life. We then walked down La Rambla, the main street of Barcelona that leads to the peer. It was touristy, but still very different than home. Barcelona had the most European/Western style to it, more than Madrid and Granada. The peer was huge, and even had an entire mall on it. We sat on the huge deck and watched to bustling activity. People watching in foreign places is so interesting. There was also a massive spire with a Colombus statue on it. I have a feeling that would not fly in America. We walked back down La Rambla and stopped at a street side place for lunch. The food was decent and fairly priced, but the Tinto de Verano was disgusting and coated as much ad our entire meal. We were totally tourist-scammed. We stopped again to get a Nutella crêpe which was absolutely delicious. We walked the streets more. I was nice to have clear weather.

We took the metro to Park Güell, yet another site designed by Gaudi. I accidentally took us through the back entrance with trails. It ended up working put because the front entrance recently started making you pay. We didn't get access to the Gaudi part, but the park was still nice. Spain is bascislly broke, so they try and find and excuse to charge money for anything.

I wasn't really in the mood to eat tapas again, so we bought ingredient to make a salad. Finally, a meal that wasn't all carbs. We also made our own tinto de verano that was wayyy better. Since our apt wasn't situated any city sites, we just walked around the streets which was fun. The little shops are so tiny but jammed packed with items. Our stay in Barcelona was short, but I feel like I experienced the city well.