Snailin Across Europe: Barcelona!!

Parc Guell

example of the tile pieces

Casa Calvet

Casa Batllo

Parc Guell

tunnel from America's Next Top Model at Parc Guell

At Parc Guell!

America's Next top model?!?

After my sisters left, I quickly began to get ready for my next adventure to Barcelona! I was leaving Friday to have a weekend of fun with my sorority sister, Allie. She has been studying in Barcelona and I was hoping I would be able to visit her!! I am so glad I did, because it was one of the most fun, relaxing weekends!!

After touching down, via Ryanair, I made my way to Allie's flat. I unloaded my stuff and we set out for La Ramblas- the main action packed street in Barcelona. We found a nice place to have tapas and Sangria and we were able to catch up with each other on the past semester. It was so nice to see a familiar face over here and we had a lot to tell each other! After finishing our meal, we went and got some gelato and we made our way back to the flat for the night.

The next day Allie decided to take me up to Park Guell, a park designed by Eusebi Guell who wanted to create a stylish park for the Spanish/ Barcelona aristocracy. The park contains amazing stone, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. It is famous for the dragon fountain and the tunnel which was featured in America's next top model!! It was a really hot and sunny day, so we thought the next logical location to go was the beach! We decided to stop at the grocery store beforehand and pick up a picnic lunch. We spent the next two hours on the beach eating cheese, bread, strawberries, and champagne!

After our picnic, we made our way to the Passeig de Gracia and took in a few sights and shops. Allie showed me la Casa Batllo and la Casa Calvet, both designed by Guell for the feuding families on the street. They were very unique and I wouldn't mind living in one of them!! They were huge and full of the different, beautiful mosaic pieces. We then made our way to the fresh market, La Boqueria. If you could name any type of fresh food, this place would have it! They had everything from fish to candy to odd looking fruit. It was a neat place and it was cool to see the different things.

After our nice day, we began to get ready for a night out on the town! We hung out with her roommates in the flat for awhile and then made our way to Chupitos (shot in Spanish)!! This was the coolest bar ever and they had over 500 shots to chose from. The first one we took was a boy scout and they set a bonfire around the glasses and gave you a marshmallow to roast! The second one was a Harry Potter, which had flames and sparks flying out of the top, like a wand! It was a cool place, but very crowded, so we made our way over to another bar. Here we met up with more of her friends and stayed til we closed the place down!! It was a fun and exhausting night and definitely an experience to have while in Barcelona!

The next day, we made our way to a small cafe and had hot chocolate (where you actually had to keep stirring the chocolate) and a hot croissant. After this deliciousness, we headed over to the Picasso museum, which was free on Sundays!! The paintings were amazing to see in person and I definitely developed a greater appreciation for his work. We had a nice day out, so we headed back to the flat to catch up on work and sleep.

On Monday Allie had class, so I was on my own for the first half of the day!! I made my way over to Sagrada Familia, meaning Sacred Family and it will not be finished until another decade or more! It is a unique building and it represents Cataluna from the XX and XXI centuries. After that, I made my way over to the bull fighting arena and then to the Parc de la Ciutadella to meet Allie. After meeting up with her, we headed down the beach front to the statue of Christopher Columbus. This then led to Las Ramblas, were we met my other sorority sister. Becca, for lunch!! It was fun to eat with them, but before I knew it I had to leave to go to the airport. I managed to get back safe and sound and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to travel to Spain. It was interesting to see how fast my Spanish came flooding back to me and I was impressed with the conversations I was able to have! Overall, Spain was beautiful and I can not wait to visit again someday!

Sagrada Familia