Barcelona might be my new all-time favorite city. I was told that everyone likes Barcelona more than Madrid but I was impressed with Madrid and I liked it!! Barcelona was so much better than I imagined and I wish I had more than the three days that I did!! It was the perfect mid-summer break from the family and teaching English.
I’m becoming a master of the train system. To get to Barcelona, I took a train from Alcázar de San Juan to Madrid and then another train from Madrid to Barcelona. All in all, about five hours. The Madrid to Barcelona train is a “fast train” and it goes 250 kilometers/hour miles per hour the whole way. It’s pretty incredible to think about how fast that is.
Taxis were on strike the day I came in and so that made the 1.2 mile walk from the train station to my hotel SO FUN. Wouldn’t have been bad without a bag or with a bag with wheels…neither of which I had!! The hotel, Evenia Rossello, was exactly what I needed: a big bed, air conditioning, and great water pressure.
The first thing I had to do upon arrival was buy a purse. Barcelona is known for pickpocketing and my purse broke on the way in. So I started walking to a main square with lots of shopping: Plaza Catalunya. I found a super cute purse (and some other things 😉 ) on my little walk and I rewarded myself with a meal at Hard Rock Café. ASK ME IF I THOUGHT IT WAS DELICIOUS. It was a little American slice of heaven right in the middle of Europe. It was the most delicious hamburger of my life and my parents, boyfriend, friends, neighbors all received photos because it was that good. Thursday was a wander and see day, so after Hard Rock I walked to the Arc de Triumf. It is beautiful and picturesque. From there, drum roll please, I walked to a store called Taste of America. It has all things America in it. I BOUGHT A DR. PEPPER. It was as blissfully delicious as I remember. I actually bought….six Dr. Peppers. Shameless. It was so worth it.
Friday was off to a great start when I was awakened……by my own shivering. The air conditioning proved to be too much now that I wasn’t used to it and in my sleepy haze I had to find a blanket. After waking up appropriately, I made my way to Sagrada Familia. I had breakfast at a cute little café overlooking to church and its construction. Sagrada Familia is a Catholic church designed by Anthony Gaudí. It has been under construction for over 100 years (with a tentative finish date of 2026) and is part of the Gaudí UNESCO sites. The outside is beautiful. Not only is it a church with stunning architecture, but the outside of the church tells the story of Jesus: nativity, passion, glory. The outside of the church is stunning but nothing prepares you for the inside. Gaudí was inspired by the forest so the church is filled with columns and arches representing tree trunks and the branches. The church takes natural light into consideration with beautiful stained glass that light pours into making colorful paintings all their own in the church. The towers on the church represent Jesus, the holy family, and the disciples. Inside the church, the four center columns holding up the Jesus column are a red color and made of the strongest material. Each set of colums has their own material going progressively down in strength. The choir loft, being the “least important” in the hierarchy of these people, has columns made of sandstone. One set of columns, according to the audio guide, was made of “gra-night.”
After Sagrada Familia, I made my way to La Bouqueria which I was so excited about after the fun Dad and I had at Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid. However, this food market was less restaurant and more grocery store so I didn’t get to eat the way I wanted to there. Since it was close to Plaza Catalunya, I made my way back to Hard Rock. I’m completely unashamed it was so stinking good. Because I was vacationing on my own time, I wanted to take a nap. So I did and it was incredible.
After my delightful nap, I made my way to Camp Nou for the Barcelona vs Manchester United soccer match. Y’all, I am the least sporty person on the planet. This is the first athletic event I have stayed at entirely since the Iron Bowl…of my freshman year. It was so fun though! I had great seats and the environment was really fun. Can’t say anything about the soccer playing because I had no idea what was going on. I wasn’t even sure how long the game lasted. Two 45 minute halves is how long it lasts and I stayed for all of it. I was blown away by the great sportsmanship displayed by the players. I was also completely blown away that you’re allowed to smoke inside the stadium. And not only that, but the smokers were so courteous. They waited until halftime and got up out of their seats and stayed out of everyone’s way. Totally blew me away. After stopping for a delicious calzone on the way home, I was in for the night.
Saturday I hit the ground running: Casa Mila at 9 when it opened. Casa Mila was designed for the Mila family by Gaudí at what is considered the height of his power. It is stunning. He took what was necessary, like chimneys, and made them beautiful. He is known for his mosaic work, some of which are just smashed champagne bottles. The house is still inhabited by residents and businesses, but there is an apartment set up like it would have been in the early 20th century when it was built.
My tour of Park Güell at 11 was so great, I highly recommend. Originally a social project so that people could live out of the filth of the city, Gaudí designed the park to be an escape as well as a home. The project was considered a massive failure because no one bought property to live there. This is thought to be because it is at the top of a massive incline and it was before cars. No one wanted to walk it! It is beautiful on that hill though. The buildings are functional and beautiful. Columns holding up the bridges that also act as a cistern and filtering device. There is a church that looks straight out of Candy Land. The house that Gaudí lived in before he sold off everything to pay for more work on Sagrada Familia is there as a museum. In front of the house is stones representing the rosary because he wanted his walk to the church (about 1.2 kilometers) to a pilgrimage in itself. I also met the nicest family during the tour and it was so nice to speak beautiful, unbroken English with them.
After finishing the tour of Park Güell, I made my way to, you guessed it, Hard Rock for lunch. I shamelessly ate there 3 times. I didn’t even need to menu the last day and the bartender made fun of me. From here, my last site was for the Muesu d’Historia de Barcelona. While walking there, I was heavily distracted by the sales. July is the big sale month in Spain and starting July 1 it felt like a free for all. I felt like I was stealing everything was so cheap!! After peeling myself away from Zara, the museum was great. Aside from being so hot inside, it was so cool because it is built on the ruins of the old city and you get to explore them. Granted it’s got a walkway and signs so explore is a strong word, but you get to see these parts of the old city and that is so cool! A train trip back to Alcázar was all that awaited me now and my weekend in Barcelona was over.
Besos,
Caro
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