locura de Marzo: Barcelona

Barcelona was INCREDIBLE. Even in two and a half days I feel like we had the best time. We flew in Friday morning, it was an easy hour and a half flight, and hit the ground running. After checking into our hostel, I led the group of eight of us on a mini walking tour of La Rambla, a busy stretch filled with a mixture of old Catalunya Spanish tradition, and commercial tourist attractions. My research paid off, and we had a great time getting to know our area.

“La Rambla” is Arabic for stream, and the street used to be a drainage ditch in old medieval Spain. Now it’s filled with everything from old legendary fountains to a three-story McDonald’s (which we ate at…oops). One of our first stops along the tour was the Fountain of Canaletes. Legend says that if you drink from the fountain you will return to Barcelona one day. Looks like I’m coming back!

 We continued our tour and visited La Boquería, which is a lively produce market that sits on land that used to be a monastery. This was definitely one of my top three favorite things about Barca. It was like a giant farmer’s market with everything from fruit smoothies to olives to fudge and more. It was so colorful and full of Spanish culture, and there was a nice mix of tourists and locals. You could tell that certain locals had their go-to stands (there was about five different stands for each type of food within the market) that they have been going to for years. The owners were on a first name basis with their customers, and everyone was so happy. And best of all, everything was SO fresh!
 

We loved La Boquería so much we came back Saturday morning and bought bowls of fruit and smoothies for breakfast. It was definitely the right way to start the day.

 After breakfast on Saturday, we took the metro to the Parc Güell, a beautiful park with famous Gaudí’s architecture and amazing views of the city. Gaudí is known as “God’s architect” and had the most insane style. I felt like I was in Candyland walking through the park and seeing his colorful and quirky masterpieces.

To continue with our Gaudí theme, (Gaudí is to Barcelona as filmmaking is to Hollywood…if that makes sense) we went to La Sagrada Família, a massive Roman Catholic Church in the heart of the city. There is literally no way to describe this structure; it might be the weirdest/coolest thing I’ve ever seen. The construction of this church began in 1882 and is STILL not complete! Gaudí is obviously long gone, but construction continues and is said to be done around 2026.

We ended our busy day of tourism at a precious little sweet shop near our hostel (I found it in my Rick Steves’ book…he’s the man). The shop has been serving sweet treats since 1870! After a failed attempt of trying to blend with the locals, Emma and I got up and asked these two old ladies in broken Spanish/Catalán/English what they ordered so we could try what they were having. We got a delicious little pastry and dark hot chocolate with whipped cream. It made sense why there was a line out the door.

Saturday night was probably one of my favorite nights in Spain thus far. We went to an ice bar! I have never even heard of these, but one of our friends’ sisters recommended it to us, and I am so glad we went. The bar was -12 degrees Celsius (10.4 degrees Fahrenheit!) and for only 15 euro we got a big warm puffy coat, mittens and a drink. The bar, our drink glasses, the walls, EVERYTHING was made of ice. We could only be in there for about 45 minutes before our fingers would fall off, but it was awesome.

Sunday morning we visited the Picasso Museum highly recommended by my dad (a huge Picasso fan, literally we have the famous “La Guernica” in our house…which he bought at this museum in Barca!) and it was very interesting. When I think of Picasso, I think of crazy nonsensical artwork that sometimes doesn’t even look like art. But after seeing his earlier work and reading about his life, it all makes sense.


On our way to the museum, we passed the cathedral and stumbled upon Sardana Dances. Locals come here every Sunday to show their Catalunyan patriotism and/or just dance. They put their coats and purses in the center (apparently symbolic to the community of sharing) and dance in a circle holding hands. It was so cute and one of those moments that reminds you that you're in Europe.

After a busy weekend of traveling and "cultural immersion" we decided to culturally immerse ourselves back to America and have some McDonald's for lunch. I swear it tastes better over here. 

 No shame

I’d have to say after our fun and busy weekend in Barca, I don’t think that anyone could have conquered that city even in a semester. I loved it, but it made me grateful that I’m studying/living in Sevilla. This place is finally starting to feel like home.

March is going to be a busy month for me; I will be traveling throughout four different countries and a handful of cities.  March madness takes on a whole new meaning for me this year, and I can hardly wait! 

Mediterranean sunset from the airplane