Bar-THE-lona

Carly, Annie, and I at the Gothic cathedral

What can I say? I had the BEST time ever in Barcelona with Carly, Kwan, and Annie! After a long trip and little sleep I arrived in the Barcelona airport at 9:20 am (12:20 am California time!) and upon exiting the baggage claim was immediately greeted by smiles and hugs. Annie and Kwan were there waiting for me with open arms (which was a very good thing because I don't think I would've been able to navigate my way back to Carly's in my apartment in my current state of confusion/delusion/whatever you want to call it. After a shuttle, a train, and a metro ride we finally had arrived in Carly's apartment and after a quick shower to freshen up we didn't waste any time getting out into the city to explore!
We met Carly in el Barrio Gotico (Gothic District) of Barcelona and from there we grabbed some lunch and continued on to la Boqueria...a famous market in Barcelona where we all had a delicious juice. 
After saying goodbye to Carly as she went back to class and with map and hand we continued down the busy street of Las Ramblas and on to see some of Gaudi's famous work. It's literally nestled right in with the rest of the buildings in the city.

Delicious juice at the Boqueria!

 

After a little bit more exploring we came back to have dinner and after a long day with little sleep, I decided to take a little siesta while the other girls cooked. When I woke up we had a delicious Mexican feast!

La Sagrada Familia

The following morning was gloomy but we were out again exploring the city...our first stop: La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family church) which was started by Gaudí in 1882 and is still being worked on today! The gloomy weather was the perfect ambience for this extremely over-the-top and gaudy (the word is derived from Gaudí himself) church. After spending a long time there we took the metro to get to the Picasso museum. When we emerged it was pouring rain! And thundering! Kwan bought an umbrella and we booked it in the direction of the museum. The museum was fantastic...with our Rick Steves guidebook in hand we were able to decipher many of his works. There's such a freedom and wonder in being able to do whatever we wanted in a foreign country and choosing to go to a museum and really enjoying it...I feel all grown up! Afterwards we went to the Four Cats, a restaurant where Picasso and his artist friends spent a lot of time. Then we met back up with Carly for a nice paella dinner and then out to enjoy the nightlife which is quite evident in Barcelona!

Enjoying our paella and sangria!

The last day was my favorite! First of all, the weather was beautiful...perfect for our last day. It was a day of parks...first we went to Park Güell which is muy famoso for the modernist architecture. The park was up a huge hill so we took outdoor escalators located smack dab in the middle of the street up to the park (we thought there was a mistranslation when the guy we asked for directions told us this!) I loved looking at all the cool mosaics and architectural designs--the houses looked like gingerbread houses! Parc Güell is also home to the world's largest park bench! From the park we had spectacular views overlooking the entire city. 

Outdoor escalators!

Gingerbread houses

World's longest park bench

Annie and I decided to do some more exploring so we went to this park/zoo that Carly told us about. We entered to see lush greenery until we stumbled upon this miraculous oasis just kind of hidden from where we first entered.

The stairs were blocked off so we weren't really sure if we were allowed to go in, but we decided to try our luck anyway! We continued to wander and just were enjoying exploring. With Barcelona's big festival coming up there was lots of activity in preparation for it. We made our way out of the park and came to the infamous Arc de Triomf of Barcelona. It was kind of heavy...

Barcelona's Arc de Triomf

After dinner it was time to say goodbye to Annie and Kwan and also time for me to start the next leg of my journey...this time solo. Unfortunately I don't have time to get into all that but until next time! Besos y Abrazos!