This weekend I had the most smooth, fun-filled, culture-filled, relaxing weekend I could possibly imagine! I visited Paige in Barcelona. From the get-go, we went site seeing, visiting Park Güell, Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Las Gracías, the Born area, the Gothic Quarter, and the Cathedral. After we got to see all of that we went to the beach to drink some wine and talk about our lives abroad. It was great because we talked the whole time in Spanish.
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| Park Güell |
After hanging out en el sol por la playa, we headed to a pub, George Payne, where we tried to watch the IU vs. U of I game (unsuccessfully). We still got to watch some fútbol though! That night, Paige and I met back up to go to two different bars and a club that she likes in Barcelona: Chupitos, make your own drink bar (don’t know the name), and Opium.
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| Font Magico |
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| Out of this world works of Gaudi |
Saturday we woke up at 9 so that we could head straight over to the Sagrada Familia…no words for this one. We got the audio guides and spent a good two hours trying to soak in all of the details and their significance. I couldn’t possibly list everything I loved about the church or how moving all of the perfectly designed and constructed details are, but I think my favorite part was the close relation of each aspect of the church to nature. The second most moving part of the design was that the final tower (which hasn’t been built yet) will be just shorter than the tallest point in Barcelona, Tibidabo, because Gaudi believed that mankind should not trump what God created by building above it. Que guay!
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| Hayyy cutie |
After that, we ate at Bo Da
B, an out of this world place for sandwiches. We had passed it the day before
and there was a line all the way around the block, but luckily we got there at
12:50 and it opened at 1:00, so we were the fourth group in line! Later, we climbed up montjuic to see the '92 Olympic Stadium and the city from above..where we encountered a mob of Justin Beiber fans waiting for his concert that night. We proceeded to do the only appropriate thing and ask obsessed fans to take pictures of us looking super super excited with them. They were totally gung-ho about it, never suspecting the tiny bit of mockery there.
Saturday night was low key
because I had a 6 am flight Sunday. I went to Paige’s homestay for dinner. We
played bingo and some games with her 7 year old sister then talked with her
parents about our lives at home and here. It was fun seeing Paige’s daily life
and meeting her family, chatting and learning.
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| Arc de triomphe |
Altogether, last weekend
could not have gone more smoothly. I found the metro surprisingly easy to
navigate, and there was not a single problem the whole time..so much less
stressful to travel with just one pal!!
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