Barcelona!!!

I'm back from relatively sunny Barcelona, Spain! Virginia and Hannah and I went on a 4 day girls trip to Barcelona, for touring, beaching, and shopping!

The weather wasn't the 30 degrees that I was expecting, but it was still about 20 which was a little warmer than Lyon was while I was away, and a whole lot warmer than Canada in March, so I can't complain. I learned a little bit of Spanish, but had to mostly rely on English, and Virginia and Hannah translating things for me. Although even they had trouble because Barcelona uses it's own language Catalan which is a mix between Spanish, French, and who knows what else. At least most people understand and know a little bit of English, and hand signals are universal!!




We stayed in a Hostel just off La Rambla, the most famous pedestrian street in Spain (or so i've heard). Our Hostel was pretty nice, although we stayed in a room with 15 other people. A little bit interesting, but since we were only there to sleep, it turned out just fine.

The first day, we were told by our lovely new friend Hector (The guy at the Hostel Desk) that the Picasso museum was free Sunday afternoons after 3, and luckily enough it was indeed Sunday afternoon after 3! I hadn't known before that Picasso was from Barcelona, and it was very interesting to see the progress of his art throughout his Career. He wasn't always a crazy painter, his earliest work was completely normal portraits!

From there, we slowly wandered through the city making our way to the beach. We got there just before the sun started setting, and enjoyed some Spanish food on the water. We enjoyed a beautiful walk along the beach at sunset, but it eventually got too cold and windy for us.



We planned on spending the entire next day tanning at the beach, but the weather wasn't on our side. It was cold, windy and overcast all day so we did the next best thing, SHOPPING! I had wanted a pair of Gladiator Sandals for awhile, so we searched those out, and of course we bought a ton of other things between the three of us. (Don't worry mom, I got good deals!)



We did some sightseeing in the afternoon which is completely taken over by Gaudi's masterpieces. Gaudi is a very famous architect who, in my opinion, designed all of Barcelona. Our first stop was to see the Casa Milà and the Casa Batlló.



Next stop was his most famous piece, La Sagrada Familia which was started in the 1880's and is still not finished today! It's projected to be finished around 2020, but we'll see if that happens. So naturally when we saw it, it was under construction. I just haven't had good luck with visiting huge monuments and them being under construction! It wasn't as beautiful as i'd expected it to be (there are so many contrasts between the old stone and the new ones), but breathtaking nonetheless.



Barcelona is very famous for it's crazy/interesting architecture, and not just by Gaudi. While walking down the street there are tons of additions to the city which make it just a little bit more interesting than just buildings and streets.

We made our way back to La Rambla visiting a bull fighting stadium, and a few other attractions along the way. Dinner tonight, we all had Paella (I had veggie!) and of course Sangria. A very traditional Spanish meal! We had a good time Bargaining with all of the tourist shops and street vendors, and I got a clock made specifically for me, while we watched!







Day three (which was supposed to be rainy) turned out the be the warmest and most beautiful. We headed to the Parc Guell armed with picnic supplies, and found ourselves in the midst of a Dr. Suess Story! The Parc Guell was the property and home of none other that Gaudi. The entire park (which is MASSIVE) is covered in mosaics and interesting stonework, and of course lots of street performers to enjoy.








After the park, we headed straight for the beach to take full advantage of the beautiful weather! It was a little windy, and chilly when the sun was behind the clouds, but we got some ice cream and manages to relax comfortably lying on the beach for a few hours. Exactly what we needed.



Barcelona is packed with amazing performers, artwork, architecture, and I had an AMAZING time enjoying the entire city. It has definitely been my favourite city I've visited so far on my adventure! Here are some more pictures and hopefully a video or two if I can figure out how to post them! Also Click on the title like normal to see all my Barcelona pictures!!