Backtracking to Barcelona

After spending nearly a month in Sevilla, my curiosity about other parts of Spain was growing. I was beginning to realize that Spain is a country with a lot of diversity when it comes to culture. In my class, Spanish Culture Up Close, we’ve been learning that Spain is broken into 17 autonomous communities that each offer a little different view on what it means to be “Spanish.”

During my time here I wanted to see as many parts of Spain, so I booked a trip to Barcelona. My family was scheduled to arrive in Barcelona the last Sunday in September and since Barcelona was on my list of “must-see” places, I booked a ticket for the Thursday night before their arrival. I figured I’d explore around for the weekend alone and then meet up with my family Sunday afternoon and leave Monday night.

A couple weeks before I left, I mentioned to a couple people that I was going and casually asked if they wanted to join me. My biggest bargaining chip was that there was a Barcelona vs. Granada soccer game on Saturday night, which turned out to be enough incentive, because I convinced a girl I met in Portugal (Laura) and my roommate, Sophia, to come.

On Thursday night, Laura and I headed to the Sevilla airport. We were scheduled to take different flights, but arrive in Barcelona around the same time.

I checked into my flight and then hurried over to Laura to figure out that she had accidentally booked a flight that left at 9 in the morning and not 9pm. Laura managed to get a flight to Barcelona that night and we ended up meeting outside the Barcelona airport later that evening. Taking a taxi into the center of town, we arrived at our hostel, Casa Gracia.

So far, my experiences with hostels have been incredible; I’ve eaten some of the best breakfasts and met people from around the world and this hostel definitely measured up to my previous experiences.

Friday morning, Laura and I woke, ate a delicious continental breakfast and went walking around the local neighborhoods.

Breakfast Patio

We had to be back at our hostel at 11 to pick up our bags and move into the apartment we rented for the rest of our stay. The apartment was owned by this intimidating 35 year old Russian woman, who spoke 6 languages and was a lawyer. Despite her daunting resume, she was very friendly and gave us an entire walking itinerary from her place.

Our cute apartment.

The weather was perfect so we put on our walking shoes and literally walked almost the entire city of Barcelona. In total, I think we walked around 12 miles in that one afternoon.

Our lengthy walking journey around Barcelona.

We grabbed lunch, headed to the beach, and ate and watched volleyball players diving in the sand and dipped our toes in the Mediterranean. The beach scene reminded me of the California boardwalk.

One of the things I miss most about home is my daily smoothie, so when I saw a smoothie café, I had to stop. It was a taste of home and helped re-energized me for the rest of the day.

From there, we walked to La Rambla, one of the famous pedestrian streets in Barcelona, filled with street performers and many tourists. Off La Rambla was a huge marketplace called St. Josep-La Boqueria. It was a maze to navigate through, but had so many different types of fruits, meats, and candies.

Next stop was the Cathedral and the Arc de Triomf.

Quality photo-bombing in the background.

At that point in the day, the sun was starting to set and my feet were starting to tire, so we jumped on the metro and went back to our apartment. We lounged around for a while and then headed back into town for dinner at this Italian restaurant, recommended by our hostess. It tasted like Italy. I had a beet ravoli with a pear gorgonzola stuffing in a rona pesto. It was to die for, an under 10 euros.

The next day, my roommate Sophia arrived and we all decided to hit the main attraction in Barcelona, Park Güell. I felt like I was in Candyland with all the unique, mosaic structures. There were tons of tourists, but we took our pictures then headed to Sagrada Família for one last tourist attraction before we headed to the soccer game.

Seeing a soccer game in Spain was something I’d always wanted to experience, so when I learned that FC Barcelona was playing that weekend, I found the cheapest tickets. The game was sold out and the stadium was packed with avid fans. My seat was almost in the highest row but it gave me the best perspective over the entire arena. I cheered as loud as I could as FCB won against Granada (7-0). The game was truly an incredible experience to watch as so many Spaniards and families came together to unite in cheering for their team.

Incredible sunset over the stadium.

Score!

After fleeing the stadium, we walked a couple miles to a popular tourist destination, the Magical Fountain. Reminding me of the Bellagio, every hour the fountain dances to music with beautiful lights electrifying the streams of water. It was the perfect way to end a day of seeing a marvelous city with new friends, but the highlight of my trip was less than 24 hours from arriving, so I went to bed fairly early for Spanish time.

The last thing on my “must do things in Barcelona” list was jumping into the Mediterranean, so Laura and I went for an early morning run and dove straight in.

Collage of all our selfies throughout the weekend.

My family didn’t arrive until later in the afternoon so we planned to walk around the city more but severe rain got in the way. Instead, we drank cafés con leches and ate pasteries in cafes.

Sophia left to meet up with some friends and Laura stayed with me as we trekked through the rain to meet up with my family. It was a torrential downpour so my family ended up walking with umbrellas to meet us. When I finally saw them, I ran across the crosswalk completely drenched and smuggled them with hugs. I was so excited that my family had finally made it to my “home” country.

Waiting in the rain.

Reunited as a family, we met up with our foreign exchange student from the previous year, Clara. Clara is from a town 4 hours away from Barcelona, so her family traveled to Barcelona to meet us. That night, they took us out to dinner, the Spanish way. My family was jet-lagged, but we enjoyed the evening moving from one restaurant to another to get our appetizers, our samples of the best jamon, an entrée, and gelato. Over the course of the night, we went to 3 restaurants and ate for 3 hours, a normal dinner for Spaniards.

Monday was my last day in Barcelona, so my family and Clara’s family went to Casa Milá, a famous building designed by Gaudí. Continuing Spanish tradition, we ate a hearty, leisurely lunch, grabbed coffee and then Clara’s family drove me to the airport. I had to say goodbye to my family, but it was one of my easiest goodbyes, because they would be arriving in Sevilla in two days.

Mi Hermanas

 

Barcelona was an incredible city, filled with culture, history, but also a laid-back alternative beach scene. I fell in love with another part of Spain and am now beginning to see why Spain attracts so many visitors from around the world.