(Pictures...#1=fruit market on Las Ramblas near our hotel in Barcelona, #2=me on the steps at Park Guell on the outskirts of Barcelona, #3=the view looking down from the hike up to Park Guell)Allie, Jess, and I went to Barcelona Thursday evening and just got back tonight...this is as concise of a summary as I can manage...hope I don't bore y'all!...
Thursday: We had class until 12:30, then Allie, Trevor, and I hit the nearby coffee shop (closer than Bar da Gino and recently opened after taking the winter off) for lunch, then we came back to get our lives together before Allie and I headed to the airport. Allie, Jess, and I got to Piazzale Roma, where buses/cars connect Venice to the mainland, in plenty of time, bought our bus tickets, and were on our way to Treviso, which is a really small airport about an hour outside Venice. We flew RyanAir, which is a lowcost airline and in order to keep costs low, they fly in/out of very small cities that are usually an hour or two outside big cities like Barcelona. The Treviso airport was definitely old and a little run down, but we got such a bargain on the airline tickets that the state of the airport wasn't too bad. After waiting in a really long line to check in, going through security, and getting to the boarding area, we realized that RyanAir doesn't assign seats, so it was a bit of a stampeded to line up at the boarding door for people to get good seats. Despite being midway through the line, we scored the bulkheads and settled in for what was a bumpy flight during which RyanAir peddled its wares in order to make the money it doesn't necessarily make on tickets. We got to Girona right on time and forked over more euro (which became the trend of the weekend) to buy a Barcelona Bus ticket and headed into the city. About an hour later, we got to Barcelona and took the metro to a stop near our hotel. Turns out our hotel was in the red light district, and the lack of any sort of deadbolt on the door or soundproofing of rooms made me really, really anxious (this was my first time really traveling without my family, so I felt much less protected), but the girls convinced me to get over myself long enough to go find dinner. We found a cute restaurant near our hotel on Las Ramblas and literally devoured our 1/2 chicken & potato dinners before going back to the hotel and passing out.
Friday: We woke up early and headed out for a day of sightseeing. My craving for some sort of American breakfast led us to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts, which was conveniently right next to a HUGE fruit/veggie/fish/pastry market. We ended up perusing the market and taking pictures for about 1/2 an hour because everything was arranged so beautifully. After that, our first"real" stop was the cathedral, which was full of beautiful designs all throughout. After wandering through the main part of the cathedral, we took the "lift" (aka elevator) up to the top which gave us some beautiful views of the city. After the cathedral, we ventured towards the Picasso Museum. Mom called as we were entering and I thought I had lost the signal, so I told the girls to go on without me (since I really needed to talk to mom) and that they could call me to meet up when they finished. Well, once the girls entered the museum, I realized outside that I hadn't lost the signal, but that there was no more credit on my phone to make calls and since I was outside Italy, I needed credit to even receive calls. So, after a minor "I'm in a foreign city all alone" type panic, I tried to just get over it and find a store to buy a vodafone recharge card. I found one, paid 15 euro, and after trying to make it work, realized that vodafone espana and vodafone italia are not compatible. So, I got really frustrated and sat down on the edge of the Picasso Museum and cried...and an older Spanish couple stopped and asked me in Spanish if I needed help and if it was a problem of love or money...I tried to explain the situation in my Spanish/English/Italian mix but told them I was ok and so they reluctantly left me behind. I, of course, was worried for no good reason, because about an hour later I saw the girls and everything was fine. Later on we found another cute restaurant on Las Ramblas and had paella con pollo (a rice dish) and sangria (wine with fruit).
Saturday: We woke up early again and hit the market we had found Friday for fruit and pastries before more sightseeing. We took the metro out to Park Guell, a massive park on the outskirts of Barcelona where Gaudi orginally intended to build 60 mansions (about 3 were actually built and serve as museums). It was quite a hike from the metro to the park and around the park, but it was definitely worth it...we got such amazing views of the city and the structures in the park itself were just unbelievable (see picture #2 for one of many, many examples). We went into one of the few houses that was actually completed...it's since been turned into a museum of sorts with pieces Gaudi made for other familes and some of his own possessions, which was interesting. We then hiked back to the metro and found Casa Mia, which is a huge, ice cream-esque apartment building Gaudi build in Barcelona. The top floor is set up as an apartment in the 20s would have been set up, and after looking through that, we went up to the attic, which had a lot of informational type exhibits...then we hit the terrace for more great skyline views of the city. We then found lunch and headed towards La Sagrada Familia, which is Europe's largest church. Gaudi had started the church but died in a tragic accident before the completion of construction and since he left no detailed plans, construction continues to this day as architechts and builders try to finish the huge church as Gaudi would have wanted it finished. We took the lift up to the top and I was fine until we had to start the decent...275 stairs. Spiral. Cement. No handrails. Very narrow. Needless to say I (and my legs) were shaking by the bottom. But the views were 100% worth it, and I'm proud that I went through with it. We then headed back to the room to rest, went out for more paella and sangria, then met up with Luke, a high school friend of Allie's. Luke's studying in Barcelona, so we met some of his roommates and friends, then he took us to a bar that is called "the Black Sheep" where we stayed until they closed at 3...
Sunday: We slept from 3 to 10, then reluctantly dragged ourselves out of bed to shower, pack, get some breakfast/see the last bits of the city, then check ot. We then rode the metro to the bus station, caught the Barcelona bus back to Girona, flew from Girona to Treviso, and took the bus to Piazzale Roma. We dropped our stuff in the house, then dashed back to San Travaso to get some dinner (I had only had a pastry up to this point).
Barcelona was definitely an edgy, loud city that I wasn't used to at all, but I can appreciate it for what it was and know that I could never live there, but that I liked visiting it. I was forewarned about how late everything happens in the city (dinner, going out, sleep, etc), but it was still a hard adjustment to make. It was also hard to know where to eat and go out since we were only visiting for the weekend, so we spent a lot of time trying to figure that type of thing out. Nevertheless, it was a successful first travel experience all said and done, but we definitely learned (from RyanAir to Hotel Barbara) that you get what you pay for!
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