Barcelona!

This post is long over due, but last weekend I spent a couple of days in Barcelona. We flew in Thursday night so that we could have all day Friday and Saturday to spend in the city. The only flight out on Sunday was at 7am (flying Ryanair, the super cheap airline), so that was when we left. But, we took advantage of our two full days and saw as much as we could.

La Boquería

On Friday, we started out with a breakfast of fruit and pastries at the famous La Boqueria market, a giant market in Las Ramblas, a bustling section in Barcelona. From there, we walked toward the water and saw the Christopher Columbus statue and the port, which had probably over 100 sailboats in the marina. We then walked to the Gothic Quarter, where we visited Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful, old cathedral in Gothic style. There were some remains buried beneath the church and the inscriptions had skulls and crossbones on them. The pews had ship steering wheels carved in them and on the altar was a small wooden boat. Very nautical themed! We went to the Picasso museum and found out that our student IDs get us in for free! Even though the museum didn't have any of Picasso's major works, I loved the way the museum was set up. It was chronological with each room being a different time period in his life. It was interesting to see how his work changed from simple landscapes to the very distinct cubist style that he is so well-known for. We had a typical menu del día for lunch (2 courses, bread, a drink, and dessert for a reasonable price) and then set off to see more of the city. We walked by the main cathedral (we didn't think about the dress code and were all wearing shorts, which isn't allowed, so we couldn't see the inside). On our way to Parc de la Cituadella, we found a beach. Parc de la Cituadella was worth the walk!

Parc de la Cituadella

 It was huge and had a lot of greenspace, which was something there wasn't much of in Barcelona. After a very tiring day, we went back to the hostel for a short siesta. I tried my first Doner Kebob for dinner, which is essentially a pita stuffed with meat shaved off of the rotisserie right in front of you, along with lettuce and sauce. It was great! We found our way to the Magic Fountain, but not without accidentally getting on a train instead of a metro and ending up at the end of the line before realizing we were in the wrong place. The Magic Fountain was spectacular, though, and well worth the difficult time getting there. The show lasted about 30 minutes (and then it would replay) and there were great songs like ones from Pirates of the Carribean. It was a great ending to our first day.

The Magic Fountain

Inside La Sagrada Familia

On Saturday, we got up bright and early and made our way to La Sagrada Familia, the unfinished church designed by the architect Gaudí. We walked around the inside and outside, as well as a tower on the Nativity Facade, for about a two hours before our guided tour, which we loved and the whole place made a lot more sense after the tour. The inside of the church is huge and open and the stained glass covers the wall. There are some windows that are in the process of being finished, while others are completely finished and some haven't even been started.

The outside of La Sagrada Familia. 

Only 8 towers have been finished, but eventually there will be 18-12 for the apostles, 4 for the Gospel writers, one for Mary, and one for Jesus. The Nativity Facade on the outside is finished and has a lot of symbolism. It is covered in different Bible stories made of stone. The Passion Facade is unfinished, but has a lot fewer figures and they are done in a much different style since the Passion is a lot less lighthearted. The figures are simpler and look less lively. After spending a lot of time at La Sagrada Familia, we trekked across the city to Park Guell and Gaudí's house. By the time we got there, we were hot, hungry, and tired, so we probably didn't enjoy it as much as we could have, but seeing the green space in Barcelona was nice, and it was a great view of the city! For dinner, we met up with another group from our program and had dinner at a pizzeria. All in all, it was a tiring, but fun weekend!