Barcelona Time!

June 10-11

It’s Barcelona time! Barcelona was the one place I wanted to go to the most, and it ended up being my favorite place I’ve visited in Spain! I’m a sucker for the ocean so saving Barcelona for our last weekend was a perfect ending to the trip.

After a long train ride to Barcelona, and a long walk with a hundred bags on our shoulders, we made it to a breakfast stop. I had the best coffee of the trip so far, cafe mocha, and some fruit and granola for a quick morning recharge. We couldn’t check into our air bnb until 3:00, so we had to lug our bags around while exploring. We stopped into some shops and went to the mall to pass time.

Mocha coffee and fruit and granola

We were just looking around and there were little flea markets of antiques that were super cute! Maddie finally found her Spanish bible that she had been looking for the whole trip!

Antiques and Maddie with her bible

I was so excited to see the ocean!! It was so pretty and we saw fish swimming in the water.

The view off the pier

For lunch we stopped at CasaLolea which was a restaurant that Maddie’s friend said we HAD to go to in Barcelona. We ordered tartar for the table, which I did not like, but I don’t like raw anything so I’m not sure why I thought I’d like it. Then I ordered a little hamburger tapa which was also delicious. I’m going to miss tapas!!

Hamburger and tartar tapas

After lunch we checked into our air bnb. It was so cute! It was really nice and the perfect size. It had two bedrooms and a couch. We freshened up and took a taxi to the Sagrada Famila which I think everyone had been waiting to see the whole trip. I swear we took so many taxis this trip, I just know my pocket is hurting from it! The Sagrada Familia was seriously gorgeous. I hadn’t even seen pictures of it before I came so I had no idea what to expect. The inside was massive. The columns went so high and the light from the stain glass windows made the room glow. There was music playing and the whole thing just felt really magical. I can’t believe it’s still not done being built!

The Sagrada Famila

The one thing I really wanted to do was go to the Bunkers del Carmel which is a super pretty view of Barcelona. Before we went there we needed to grab some dinner. We stopped in at this restaurant, but they could only seat us inside, which was sooo hot. So after they seated us we awkwardly had to say that we thought our friend was eating here so we had the wrong restaurant! Then we went to the restaurant next door and we think waiters were glaringgg at us. But it’s okay because we had the best American meal that we’ve been craving. We all got a 4 cheese pizza to share, which was so good I still think about it, and cheeseburgers.

Hamburger and pizza

We went right at sunset so we got to see it during the day with the beach, and then we stayed long enough to see all the night time lights too! It was so beautiful to soak in the lights or Barcelona. It felt like I was looking out to New York on a beach. Ashleigh and I took a picture on the railing and I think that might be one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip <3

Me at Bunker delt Carmel

Ash and I looking at the view

After the beautiful lights of Barcelona, it was time to get into some party attire! Maddie, Ashleigh, and I met some really nice guys from Canada at Shokû. They told us they hated getting mistaken as American every time they talked. Maddie and I took off our heels and ran into the ocean on the beach. I’ll always remember that moment. We all took a stroll along the beach line and talked about everything under the moon. Ashleigh mostly talked about wanting to go to the Mercado to get food. We didn't get back to our house for the night until 5 a.m and Maddie, Ash, and I all curled up on the couch. There we’re no blankets so I had to sleep with a towel as a blanket. I don’t think I’ve ever been so uncomfortable, but good thing we only had to 4 hours to sleep!

Our Canadian friends

The next day we were heading to Park Güell and going on a boat for a couple hours. I thought Park Güell was interesting, but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone as a must do. It’s a big garden with really cool architectural elements that a man (Güell) designed after being inspired by British gardens. We had to hike up steep stairs and it was very very hot.

Us at Park Güell

And again

I convinced everyone that we haddd to go on a boat in Barcelona so we all paid to go on a boat excursion that took us on a ride with snacks, drinks, and swimming involved! But first we had to get some lunch by the beach at Barnabier first! I had a chicken bowl, and Ashleigh grossed me out all lunch with her mussels.

Mussels and chicken bowl

The boat ride was my favorite part. I absolutely love the ocean. The salty water burned my skin, but, weirdly, I love that feeling. I like when the salty water dries in my hair and on my skin. The view of the coastline was so pretty. I tried to soak in the view as best as possible, no picture compares to how pretty it was.

Maddie and I on the boat

Before we knew it, the captain told us it was time to go back to shore. Yet again, we got ice cream before we left Barcelona. We almost missed our train because we literally could not get a taxi! They were all taken because apparently there has been more tourist than usual in Europe. We were sprinting through the station and I even dropped so many of my clothes on the ground because I didn’t even have time to zip up my bags.

This was the last trip we took. The next week is just final days of class and then I leave :(

Adios!

Morgan