Espagne

OK ALEX I know this is not up-to-date. You've encouraged me, well done!

First, Barcelona: April 25th-29th

Barcelona was such a sunny contrast to cloudy, rainy Paris. It immediately improved all of our moods, and all we wanted to do was be outside all of the time. Thankfully, everything in the old city of Barcelona was within walking distance. Our hostel was in a perfect location, just off of Los Ramblas, which is a main street, and not too far from the water either. I bought at 2-day tourist bus pass and did both the Northern and Southern loop, visiting the Sagrada Familia and spotting other Gaudi creations all through the city. We also saw the Olympic stadium, which wasn't as exciting.

The Sagrada Familia was incredible. When Megan first saw it, she said, "It looks like it's melting', which is in fact true. It looks unlike any Catholic church I have ever seen. It resembles a sandcastle, or an underwater palace for mermen - very Little Mermaid-esque, really. Half of the church's exterior looks a bit aged and dark, while the new part looks like it is made out of sandstone! It's unfinished and it has been said that it probably won't be completed until 80 years from now, since it's funded only by anonymous donations and by visitors' admission fees. What's amazing is that Gaudi never saw and will never see his project completely realized, yet he devoted the last 15 years of his life to planning it. And now, the rest of the construction is being done according to his blueprints but is also using some more modern technology to modify his work. (Oh no! Ethical dilemmas!)



The inside was also beautiful.


I liked how on the bus tour, our audioguide pointed out other Gaudi architecture all across the city. The architecture, in general, in Barcelona, is a really interesting mix of new and old. I'm glad we took the bus tour, because it would have been difficult to get a real sense of the city otherwise.

We were so surprised by how friendly everyone was in Barcelona. Honestly, we never spoke to one actual Barcelonian other than our hostel clerks, but all the tourists were so fun! We had two nice British girls living in our hostel room, we met Australians and Irish tourists and one fellow American (a 17-yr old heading off to Princeton next year), and many more. It was so nice just to talk with other people our age about what we were all doing in different corners of Europe. So many people had taken a couple of months off from work or school to travel - it seems like a very European thing to do. Jealous!

The marketplace was probably my favorite part of Barcelona. We visited the Boqueria marketplace which was absolutely packed with bright fruits, cheap and fresh fruit juice, beautiful assortments of candy and candied fruit, and lots of meat and fish. I ate a delicious lunch of Rasberry-Pineapple juice (fresh), organic roasted vegetables with rice (amazing) and a couple jellied/candied/dried fruits and chocolate.

Just look at this! Yum!


The food in Barcelona was incredible. I ate paella almost every day. I could eat paella every day for the rest of my life. We also tried a tapas bar once! Katie and I tried an octopus dish, which was delicious. We spent almost 3 hours at the restaurant our first night in Barcelona, and in the end, it only cost us 20 euros each! We had 2 pitchers of Sangria, appetizers, a main dish, and dessert. What a deal! Those kinds of deals simply do not exist in Paris. This restaurant was an A+. If anyone goes to Barcelona sometime soon, find Les Quinze Nits (yes, the name is in French, but it's Spanish-Mediterranean cuisine).

Anyway, Barcelona was wonderful; definitely a success.

The Palais Garnier will probably be next, followed by Nice and the rest of Cote d'Azur.