(3/20) After many weeks of anticipation, the time for Easter Break had finally arrived. I got up and finished packing and headed off to the train station. I had to take 2 trains to get to Liverpool, first from Lancaster to Preston, then Preston to Liverpool. My train to Preston was late departing which caused me to miss my connecting train to go to Liverpool, so I sat in the Preston train station for an hour waiting for the next train. Once I got to Liverpool I only had about 45 minutes before I absolutely had to be at the airport to check in, so I grabbed a taxi cause it was the fastest way to get there. Check-in went smoothly and the flight was fine cause I had an exit row. After arriving in Barcelona I caught a bus from the airport to Plaza Catalunya, which is the city center. From there I walked down Las Ramblas and met up with Lauren and Jade outside the flat we rented. With the exception of Rachel Kubacki, they were the first friends or family I'd physically seen in almost 4 months. After a catching up for a few minutes we went up to our flat so I could drop my stuff off and relax for a few minutes. Then we walked down Las Ramblas a few blocks and got tapas for dinner at a place called "American Soda". Full from dinner we decided we would keep it a quiet night and just head back to the flat to crash.
(3/21) With a decent night's sleep under my belt it was time to start enjoying Barcelona. I wolfed down a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast and we set off for a day of sightseeing. First stop was Plaza Reial, which was just a few blocks down off of Las Ramblas. There was a nice fountain and the sun was shining so we hung out in the plaza for a bit before moving on. We proceeded down Las Ramblas towards the waterfront. Along the way were numerous little tents with people selling various crafts. At the end of Las Ramblas, just before the water, is a monument to Christopher Columbus which was pretty neat. We walked along the waterfront towards Barceloneta, passing more tents along the way. Barceloneta is where the beach is located, so we sat down for a bit and enjoyed the sun. After our brief siesta we walked along the boardwalk towards the site where the 1992 Olympics were held. We walked around a few of the buildings and then decided it was lunch time so we found a nearby cafe and enjoyed some pizza.
With our hunger sated we pressed on. Next on our tour was Parc Cuitadella. The park was nice and it had a really cool fountain, although the building attached to the fountain was undergoing renovation, which was a bit annoying. We moved through the park and emerged on the other side near the train station so we decided to stop in a check on getting our tickets for the overnight train to Milan, which we would be taking in 3 days. With that sorted out we once again hit the road. We worked our way back towards our flat and passed the gothic cathedral along the way, which was undergoing renovation as well.
Back at the flat we snacked on some bread and cheese that the girls had purchased at La Boqueria. After enjoying the snack we all decided to take naps, cause things don't get going in Barcelona until really late. We all awoke from our naps around 9PM and began contemplating our plans for dinner. We decided to just start walking down one of the side streets near our flat and after about 30 minutes we ended up deciding on a place called "DosTrece" (Spanish for "213"). The place had a bit of a funky hispanic feel and it was very neatly decorated. We talked with the owner for a bit and found out that he was originally from LA, hence the 213 which is the area code there. The food there was pretty good, albeit a bit random, and the music was good as well. After dinner we asked the owner for a recommendation about where to go for the rest of the evening and he suggested a placed called "Jamboree", which was in Plaza Reial. When we got to "Jamboree" we mentioned that Gabriel, the owner of DosTrece, had sent us and we were able to skip the line, but once inside we got confused and ended up leaving. It was still fairly early so we decided we would just walk around and look for somewhere else to hang out. We ended up at a place called Bar Tequila, which was a rock and metal bar. It was ridiculously smoky and the drinks were a bit pricey so we only stayed for one round. After that we called it a night and walked back up Las Ramblas to our flat. We discovered that at night Las Ramblas is swarming with hookers and one of them tried to pick me up, but I immediately denied her and kept on walking. It was a funny experience for all of us.
(3/22) Today began in similar fashion to yesterday. After a light breakfast we were out the door. There was a falafel place near our flat called Maoz, which I had heard good things about so I couldn't resist and I got one for the walk. Our first stop of the day was Plaza Reial because there was a flea market going on. The flea market ended up being pretty lame with most of the items being collector's coins and stamps. After a quick browse we walked up Las Ramblas, through Plaza Catalunya, and on up through the city towards the Gaudi apartment. We paid and took the tour of the Gaudi apartment which was pretty neat. They had most of the living spaces preserved with old artifacts from when Gaudi actually lived there. The tour begins in the living areas and then works its way up to the roof which has odd-looking statues and chimneys and a nice view of the city. We hung out on the roof for quite a while cause the sun was bright and shining. After leaving the Gaudi apartment we went across town to the most spectacular of Gaudi's creations, the still unfinished La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a giant church which Gaudi designed during his life and work on it has yet to be completed well after his death. The current architects have estimated a completion date somewhere in 2026. It was truly a breathtaking sight. With the weather still holding out we decided it would be nice to go and relax on the beach once more so away we went. We relaxed on the beach for about an hour and then returned to our flat for our usual late afternoon nap.
We regained consciousness around 9:30PM and decided that dinner for the night was going to involve paella. We found a restaurant on Las Ramblas near our flat and grabbed a table. The food was alright, but I have yet to be very impressed by paella. I find it to be a bit too plain. Anyways, after dinner we went to an absinthe bar called "Casa Almirall", which we had found on our walk to DosTrece the night before. We settled in at the bar and all ordered a glass of absinthe. The taste was a lot stronger than I remembered, which made it difficult to even sip on. I went back up to the bar and ordered a Coke, then slammed my glass of absinthe and chased it with the Coke. With one glass down I sat back and relaxed hoping that absinthe's fabled effects would start to play out, but after 15 minutes I felt nothing but slightly nauseous. I decided to go ahead and order another one. In similar fashion I downed it in one go and chased it with my beloved Coke. The girls had a good laugh as I grimaced from the awful lingering taste. I again sat back and waited for absinthe to work its magic. I was yet again disappointed as I felt nothing but even more nauseous. I decided I couldn't stomach another one so after the girls finally finished their glasses we packed up and went back to the flat to get some sleep.
(3/23) First stop today was La Boqueria, which is a huge covered market off of Las Ramblas and less than a block away from our flat. It is truly an awesome place with food of all sorts and freshness that is hard to beat. We picked up some food to make sandwiches with and went back to the flat to make a quick lunch. After lunch we went to Plaza Catalunya and caught a bus up to Parc Guell, which is yet another beautiful Gaudi creation. We walked all around the park, which is like a whole garden city, then laid down on the grass for a 30 minute nap. After Parc Guell we caught the bus back to the city center and walked to the gothic cathedral so we could tour the inside this time. The cathedral was pretty neat and the courtyard beside it was even better. After the cathedral it was time for the daily nap at the flat.
Upon waking it was time to sort out dinner plans. We decided to go in search of this place called "FoodBall", which Lauren remembered from her last visit several years ago. We later found out that it had been closed down a while ago and so we were left without a plan and we also had very little time before we were going to see a flamenco show. We decided to just walk to the flamenco show and figure something out afterwards. The show was at a place called "Tarantos" and it was just off of Plaza Reial. The show was pretty cool, especially the kid that came out at the end and threw some moves down. I also randomly ran into my friend Alexa from Lancaster while we were there. After the flamenco show we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby and filled up before heading to a club called Apolo for NASTY MONDAY.
Lauren knew one of the guys who was DJing that night, Soren, so we were supposed to get free entry, but due to the language barrier and the bouncers being dicks we ended up having to pay. Once inside we grabbed drinks and went up to the front to say hi to Soren. Lauren talked to him for a few minutes and he let us into the VIP area on the right side of the stage. In the VIP we got free alcohol until it ran out and it was nice cause the rest of the floor was shoulder-to-shoulder. After setting us up in the VIP Soren headed back on stage to finish his set. After Soren was done a band came on to play. The lead singer/lead guitarist played completely naked which was funny. Their music sucked, but then again that could be because they were singing in Spanish so I couldn't even understand the lyrics. After the band's set was over Soren and his buddy went back on to DJ the rest of the evening and we moved out of the VIP and onto the dance floor. The floor was super crowded so most of the time was spent being shoved around, but we made the most of it. I ended up losing the back of my phone which was really annoying cause my battery kept coming loose. We danced for about an hour then decided we'd had enough and headed back to our flat to crash.
(3/24) We had to check out of our flat at noon, so the morning was spent packing things up and eating a light breakfast. Luggage in hand we went back to La Boqueria to pick up some snacks for later. We caught the subway to Estacion de Franca which is where were going to be catching our train to Milan later. We were under the impression that there were lockers at the station where we could store our stuff, but we were wrong. With all our luggage in tow we wandered around in search of nearby hostels that might let us put our stuff up for a few hours. Luckily, we ended up finding one across the street from the station after trying 2 other ones. Now that we weren't bogged down with luggage we wanted to go see a few last things of the city before we left. We decided to split up and Jade went to the zoo, while Lauren and I just started wandering. Lauren and I ended up going to H&M for some shopping and I got myself a new shirt. We met back up near the zoo 2.5 hours later and walked up the dirt path in Parc Ciutadella towards the Arc de Triomf. We hung out in the sun and watched some skateboarders to waste time. With about 1.5 hours till our train departed we headed back to get our luggage, got a bite to eat, and then boarded our overnight train to Milan. I ended up sharing a car with 3 Japanese guys with limited English-speaking ability, but we were able to get a conversation going and they were fun to hang out with. Anyways, next stop Cinque Terre.
Barcelona Photos 1
Barcelona Photos 2
Barcelona Photos 3
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