It's been awhile since I've updated the blog, I've got a couple weekends to catch up on. Here goes! Two weekends ago (March 2-4), my CC friends Eric, Ariella and Laura all came to Barcelona for the weekend. It was great to see them all, especially Ariella who I haven't seen since last Spring! After a pretty mellow week for me, they all arrived late Friday night. I met up with them at Plaza Catalunya (the main plaza in the center of Barcelona) and made plans to meet them again later after Eric and Laura found a hostel for the night. We all ended up meeting at a club later that night and had a blast dancing together. Before parting ways that night we made plans to meet up in the morning so I could show Eric, Laura and Ariella around the city.
Woke up the next morning with my ears still ringing from the night before, and managed to meet up with Eric, Laura and Laura's friend Ben in Parc de Citutadella so we could begin walking around the city. We went through the historic Born district. It's narrow, winding streets and gothic style buildings make this neighborhood one of my favorite areas in Barcelona. We walked through most of the neighborhood and ended up at the Palau de la Musica Catalana.
This beautiful building hosts a number of different concerts. Unfortunately, we were not allowed inside and could only take pictures of the outside of the building. After leaving the Palau de la Musica, we walked out to Ramblas, one of the main streets in Barcelona, and up to the Boqueria. The Boqueria is a large, open air market where you can find any sort of food from candy to juice to rabbits. It's a very fun market to walk around in because of all the different kinds of foods and the colors. We stopped and tried some of the juices that were being sold there, they were all delicious! After walking through the Boqueria, we met up with Ariella and two of her friends that she came with. They were on their way back from a late breakfast and had their own plans for places to see that day, so we said a quick hello and goodbye and set off to show Eric and Laura more of the sites
We left the Boqueria and went to another nearby market to grab some baguettes, sandwich meat, fruit, chocolate and wine to go have a late picnic lunch at Park Guell. Park Guell is a park designed by Gaudi and features some incredible mosaic work, two cottages he designed, some of his signature wrought-iron work and a number of beautiful walkways he designed. We got to the park, walked up to the very top where there is an incredible view of the city. We took in the view for a little bit and then took a very long picnic, we were pretty tired from walking all day! Once we finished lunch, we walked around the park, and took in the sights. It was pretty late in the day at that point, so I headed back home to take a nap and have some dinner while Eric, Laura and Ben headed back to Ben's apartment where Eric and Laura were spending the night. We met up later that night and all went out to one of the clubs on the beach where we had a great time dancing.
We got to a pretty late start on Sunday, Eric, Ben and Laura went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and I ended up meeting them afterwards at Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is the cathedral Gaudi designed. It was the last project he worked on until his death and one of the most recognized landmarks in Barcelona. Needless to say, I was so excited to go inside and look around! We went inside and I couldn't believe the sheer size of the place. I had seen the Sagrada Familia a few times before from the outside, but that view cannot do justice to how huge this cathedral actually is.
In designing the inside of the Cathedral, Gaudi was inspired by trees and wanted to make the viewer feel as though they are walking through a forest. I couldn't think of a better way to describe the inside other than forest-like. Huge columns rose up and branched out as they reached the ceiling. The stained glass windows let in all sorts of incredible colors. The mosaic work inside and on the ceiling also added to the colors. It was truly breath-taking to be in this cathedral and should be a priority for anyone visiting Barcelona!
When we bought our tickets, we also sprung the extra few euro to take the elevator to the top, definitely a great decision! The views from up there were amazing and it was so cool to be up in the towers that we saw from below just minutes earlier! We only spent a few minutes up there taking pictures and then began the walk down. The walk down was something like 220 stairs winding down the towers. It took some time and was definitely dizzying, but there were great views the whole way down.
Once we got down, we looked around the cathedral once more and then headed back outside to meet Ben and go over to Montjuic. Montjuic is one of my favorite areas of Barcelona, it is home to the MNAC (a palace-like art museum), the Olympic stadium, Montjuic castle and it offers great views of the city and of Plaza Espanya. Once we arrived, we walked up the mountain to the MNAC and the Olympic park to take in the views and see the stadiums. From there, we took a bus up to the castle. I had never been to the castle and was amazed at how beautiful the castle was and of the incredible views it offered looking out over the city and the Mediterranean. We walked around the castle for a little while, watched the sunset and then headed back down.
After dinner that night, Eric and I met up at one of my favorite bars, Ryan's Irish Pub, and had a great time hanging out together over a few beers. It was a great weekend, I was so happy to have Eric, Laura and Ariella visit, it's always so much fun to see my friends from school over here. I'll be sure to post again about what I did last weekend (March 23-25)!
Adios!
Pictures (from top): Eric, Laura and I in front of the Nativity Facade at Sagrada Familia, Palau de La Musica Catalana, two pictures inside the Boqueria, two different walkways in Park Guell, inside the Sagrada Familia, another picture inside Sagrada Familia, sunset on Montjuic, and Montjuic Castle
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