Our first full day in Barcelona started with breakfast at the hostel. Breakfast consisted of bread, butter, jam, muffins, cereal, ham, and cheese. There was also coffee, hot tea, and hot milk to make hot chocolate with. After breakfast we broke into two groups to do our site seeing for the day. My group started off with a brisk walk down the street to the Picasso Museum. Surprisingly we only got lost once on the way there! We took our time wandering through the exhibit (a little too much time due to an uninvited straggler) and saw a ton of interesting pieces of art. The really big and famous Picasso pieces that most people would recognize are not in the Museum but there are still plenty of drawings and paintings that really represent his variety of styles. I really enjoyed seeing his artwork since it is a big part of what we studied in high school Spanish class. We visited the gift shop where my credit card was denied again and the cashier still asks me for a PIN number…I’m pretty sure I don’t need one but for now I’ll just rely on the Euros. After the gift shop we sat in a little coffee shop while we waited for the straggler, Anne. When she finally finished looking at every single thing we headed to a place called Bar Restaurant Lisa for lunch. I ordered gazpacho, grilled chicken, and a coke. It was all amazing. There was a piece of chicken on my plate that I wasn’t sure what part of the body it came from. I asked Nhesty who is from the Philippines and he said it was the neck. I tried a tiny bite and it tastes like regular chicken but there is not much meat on that part.
After lunch we met back with Anne (she said couldn’t eat with us because they allowed smoking inside) and we caught the Barcela Turistica bus to La Sagrada Familia. The tour bus costs 21 euros for a day pass and has routes all over the city. We can use our ticket on three different lines and get on and off at any stop. They have headphones that you listen to as you drive to hear about all the sites you are passing. Here are some things I learned:
- Barcelona was originally a Roman colony
- There was once a snow storm and people skied down the streets and used the metro as a ski lift back up the hill
We got off the bus right across the street from La Sagrada Familia which is a church designed by Gaudi. The Expiatory Church of La Sagrada Familia was created in 1874 by the Spiritual Association of the Devotees of St. Joseph as a church dedicated to the Holy family. In 1882 the foundation stone of the crypt was laid under direction of the architect Fancisco de P. del Villar. A year and a half later Antoni Gaudi took over and devoted forty three years of his life to this work. Later, a generous donation was anonymously given and Gaudi changed the direction of the architecture. Construction still continues to this day. At present the church has two facades dedicated to the Birth of Jesus (on the front) and the Passion of the Christ (on the back) When it is finished the third will be the Glory of Jesus resurrected. There will be 18 towers, 12 dedicated to the apostles, four to the evangelists, one to the Virgin Mary, and another to Jesus which will rise to 170 meters. There are over 300 people who work on the project. The interior is planned to be completed in 2010 for services. The outside will be completed in 2030. All of the designs used in the church are related to nature and Gaudi’s deep interest in religion and mysticism. This is another location in Barcelona that I studied in depth in high school and it blows my mind to see it in person and see how massive it is. We took an elevator up to the top of a tower and saw not only a great view of the city but the tiny details that go from the ground all the way to the top of each tower. We took the spiral stairs down and peeked out all the windows to see what sculpture was next to us.
During this whole time we are worrying because Anne disappeared when we went through the ticket line and we cant get in contact with her. I wont relate the details because they are so frustrating but I think we all learned that some people are not prepared to travel in groups or without a chaperone.
After La Sagrada Familia we hopped back on the tour bus and went to Parc Guell. We walked about 10 minutes from the bus stop to the hill where the park is situated. The park was originally made as a neighborhood where people would actually live. It never really caught on so there are a couple of houses and just some interesting architecture on the plaza and surrounding areas. There is also a natural area to walk down dirt paths and people were jogging around for exercise. The whole place is covered with mosaic tiles. The walls, ceilings, pillars, benches, and sculptures are all unique and colorful and handmade. This was yet another place I had learned about in Spanish class and my favorite thing that I have seen so far.
We headed back to the hostel around 6:30 pm so we could get ready to get dinner and go out for the night. We stopped by the market to get a snack; I got some really juicy cherries that were awesome. We snacked and napped until it was dinner time around 9:30. We headed to a place next to the hostel called Brasil. Only half our group went and ate upstairs, the other half headed to another place outside. We got a special with 2 tapas, paella, and sangria. The tapas were really interesting because we didn’t get to choose them with the special. We tried octopus, seafood salad, artichoke, olives, meatballs, and chicken. They were all really good. Gelato was a perfect conclusion to our meal. I had a double cone with banana and pistachio. My two favorites that I don’t think a single other person likes!
Back at the hostel we met up with everyone and made some plans for the night. We wanted to hit up this karaoke place but we weren’t sure where it was. We knew it was near the beach so we took some people who had been to the beach the night before and armed with an iphone GPS we started out. We walked past the harbor/port and towards something like a highway. It started looking sketchy so (after much arguing) we decided to head to the beach instead. Well, when we got to the beach that was scary too so we headed back to the hostel. On the road by the hostel I had my first up close experience with a prostitute. They were all over the street just looking for men to grab. Literally they were grabbing any guy who walked by. I grabbed the arm of the guy closest to me and we walked arm and arm to the hostel to avoid either of us getting assaulted. We arrived safely and a group of us sat in the plaza and chatted till the street cleaners came by with a fire hose to wash down the plaza. That was a strange experience; in America the streets and public areas are not cleaned on a nightly basis, or at all usually.
In the morning we have to catch a flight back to Cádiz so hopefully our use of public transportation goes much more smoothly.
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Seeing the most breathtaking views and the most beautiful architecture was a once in a lifetime experience. I would absolutely live in Barcelona if I had the opportunity.
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Our second night trying to party it up in Barcelona was also a bust. Interesting, but still a failure.
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