This past weekend I was lucky enough to travel outside of Italy to the magical land of Spain. There I spent my time in the spry city of Barcelona. It is amazing how extraordinarily different Barcelona feels from Rome. Barcelona felt young, modern, hip, and sunny. Around every corner there was a random piece of modern art, or beautiful murals, or even welcomed graffiti. The beaches were beautiful! To the right I am sitting at one of the most famous beaches in Barcelona, Barceloneta, which is always packed with people, (many who don't feel the need to wear swim suites), and has very accessible sangria :)
I arrived in Barcelona on Friday morning with my friend Maddy. We checked into our hostel, which was a no frills clean place that was the right price. Then we pretty much just wondered around all day. We stopped to mill around the dozens of outdoor markets, and even paid a visit to the famous Catedral de Barcelona, pictured left. We saw the harbor, stopped for some famous sangria, and just soaked in the sunshine. We even got into the beach mood when we stopped at Makamaka for lupper. It had a very spring break feel and a great selection of vegetarian burgers, as well as the best beer I think I have had so far.
Being pretty exhausted we decided to save our "going out" for the next evening and instead ventured to this fountain light/water show. I'm really glad we did because it was positively beautiful! There were more fountains in that block than I think I have ever seen. There was this huge palace at the top, which is an art museum, and the view from there is incredible. We called it an "early night" at about 1 am when our roommates were just starting to get ready to hit the town...hahah oh Barcelona!
The next day we got an early start and made the treck to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, a huge church in an architectural style unlike anything I have every witnessed. Gaudi is known for using nature as his inspiration in architecture and it is apparent in every single part of his work. From the outside this huge church looks like a drip sand castle. The inside however is not rough at all, it is smooth, sleek, and colorful. Every detail represents an aspect of nature. For example the columns holding up the church are trees and extend into a canopy above the church, creating the ceiling. That night Maddy and I had an authentic Catalian dinner around 11 pm and then headed out. We got to a place around 12:30 and were really early. We ended up at a club called the Sidecart, which well let's just say we made it fun... We decided to call it a night around 3:30 or 4:00 and were still the first ones back to our hostel! The nightlife in Barcelona definitely doesn't get started until at least 1 and it sure goes until 6 in the morning, crazy!
The next day we hung out at the beach the ENTIRE day! It was so relaxing, although I did get sunburnt :(
Overall Barcelona was great, very sunny and modern, and young. However it sure is no Roma :)
I arrived in Barcelona on Friday morning with my friend Maddy. We checked into our hostel, which was a no frills clean place that was the right price. Then we pretty much just wondered around all day. We stopped to mill around the dozens of outdoor markets, and even paid a visit to the famous Catedral de Barcelona, pictured left. We saw the harbor, stopped for some famous sangria, and just soaked in the sunshine. We even got into the beach mood when we stopped at Makamaka for lupper. It had a very spring break feel and a great selection of vegetarian burgers, as well as the best beer I think I have had so far.
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