Spring Break Part Two

Casa Batlló

Cathedral

Castell

Park Guell Churro y chocolate

I will try to add more pictures later... but here are a few!

Part TWO

Tuesday Alyssa and I got up early to head to the airport. We were being spacey, and almost took the wrong bus (1A instead of 1X… really, though, can’t you just have one “1”). But we made it to the airport with plenty of time, just to get stuck behind someone who was having problems in the passport check line (the only passport check line, no less)! Haha we had rushed and stressed just to wait. An employee finally came and told us we could go to any line since they were having problems. We gratefully did so, and got checked and through security in no time. We listened to some jams and boarded our first Ryanair flight! If you don’t know, Ryanair is a super cheap airline in Europe, which is pretty much the only reason Barcelona was able to happen for us! When we arrived in Barcelona, we got on the metro and went to find our hostel. It was a trek, but it was very nice when we got there. The girl at the front desk was so sweet and circled points of interest, bus stops, and metro stops on our map. The hostel was clean, and was an eco-hostel, which was sweet. Then we went to explore. First we went to the Pablo Picasso museum! I had seen some work by Picasso in San Diego, but the museum was amazing. It is set up chronologically, which makes understanding the development of his work/style possible. By far the most impressive thing was his 58 paintings based on “Las Meninas” by Velazquez. Picasso’s interpretations were fascinating and wonderful to view all-together. After the museum we got tapas, of course. We enjoyed fried oysters and roasted green peppers for an afternoon snack. Then we went to La Sagrada Familia, one Gaudi’s most famous works. Seeing Gaudi’s work in real life was wonderful. He used so much imagination and didn’t follow rules other architects live by. We also walked to Hospital de Sant Pau. It was under construction for renovation, but you could still see how beautiful the building was. There were tons of stray cats there, too, which a woman was walking around feeding. It was cute. Then last thing for the day was to head over to see more of Gaudi’s famous work, Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. Sweet stuff! That was our Tuesday, in a nutshell!

Wednesday We got up and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). There were some great exhibitions going on, and it was a nice change of pace from the mostly Renaissance museums in Italy. After the museum, we walked down La Rambla, Barcelona’s most famous street; although the girls who worked at our hostel told us it’s more elevated in the eyes of tourists than Barcelonans. We were ready for lunch after lots of art viewing, and we got to Mercat de la Boqueria just in time. The market is HUGE, and houses produce from all over the world. We got organic vegetarian paella from a vendor. It was delicious. There are also a bunch of stands selling fruit and fruit juice. Alyssa got blackberry-banana and I got coconut pineapple. I want a Juiceman-Juicer more now! After lunch we walked down the rest of La Rambla. There are lots of street performers. I took a picture with a guy dressed as a fruit stand, and when I put money in his can he yelled “Ayyy Tutti Frutti, take a funny picture!” He then put a hat and a fruit lei on me and I took another picture with him. Haha. Alyssa took pictures with a headless man. It was amusing. We then got to the end of the street where the Christopher Columbus statue is located. Then we walked along the pier. It was such a gorgeous day! We also went to the park right by the Barcelona zoo. Next, we went to the cathedral and Gothic quarter. Our friend, Di, was in Spain over the summer working as a camp councilor on a US military base. She came home with some killer harem pants, which are her “Spain pants.” We got some Spain pants, too! Lol. Then it was time to meet with our host in Barcelona. Marçal is student and photographer, in addition to an amazing host. He has hosted nearly 150 people in his flat, and has taken portraits of all of them. He calls this photo project “The Center of the World” because for him, his flat in Barcelona is the center of the world. We were excited to be staying with a host who had met so many other surfers. We took Marçal out to dinner to a restaurant by his house. I got the same thing he did, some kind of blood sausage with fried potatoes. I never would have ordered it without him suggesting it, but it was really good. Then we went to have drinks with him. He is a really interesting person, and it was nice to get to know him a bit.

Thursday The next morning it was our turn to be photographed in the “Center of the World.” For the shoot, you take a picture of you and something you are traveling with, then you with something from his flat, and lastly with the people you are traveling with. It was a cool experience, for sure. After our pictures, we went back to Mercat de la Boqueria for lunch. I got a wrap something or other and GOOD, FRESH fried fish on a stick. Then we did a little shopping before heading to Montjuïc Mountain. There is a castle there that sits on the edge of the mountain, Castell Montjuïc. We walked up to the castle and enjoyed the views of the city and of the ocean. There was a slide on the mountain we went down, too. We also went by the Montjuïc Fountain, which has shows with music and lights on Friday nights. We were bummed we were going to miss a show, but maybe one day we’ll be back. We then went to Park Gϋell, where Gaudi has more work. The day was lovely and the park magnificent, but there were far too many people. We got chocolate and churros, and headed to Fontana, four little squares that make up a neighborhood. We explored the area, shops, ect, before getting tapas. We had crab salad, fried squid, grilled mushrooms…all for cheap cheap. We then went back to the Center of the World for our last night in Barcelona. We looked at the pictures and hung out with our host before going to sleep.

Friday was travel. All day. Took the first subway in Barcelona at 5 am and got home to Florence at about 11pm. That weekend I was dead, but it was worth it! Sorry I’m slow at writing and may have multiple typos… but much love!