Una Noche en Barcelona

On Sunday, August 14h, the gang and I rose early and headed to the estación de autobuses with nothing more than one knapsack between us and some bocadillos.

For our last weekend in Spain, we decided to do something special, something spontaneous.
We climbed aboard a bus to Barcelona with no hotel or hostel booked, only full of the desire to explore more of this beautiful country.

We arrived in Barcelona around 2pm and immediately sat down at a small café for coffee and sepia. Sepia is a tapas dish, consisting of small rings of cuttlefish, swimming in olive oil. It is fabulous. Cuttlefish is what I will miss most upon my arrival to the States.

After getting our caffeine fix, we walked towards the heart of the city. On our way we passed the Arc de Triomf, which was gorgeous (and a perfect group photo op).

Photo by Clare Sweeney 

As we walked into the city, I was in absolute awe. The architecture was spectacular, the people were beautiful- as every minute passed, I couldn't help but think, "Why don't I live here?" 

Clare did live in Barcelona in the fall of 2010 when she studied abroad, so first thing on our agenda was to visit her old apartment across from the Barcelona Cathedral. As if I hadn't been a tiny bit jealous of her living in Barcelona already, after I saw that she lived across the plaza from the Cathedral I turned green with envy. 

It was so beautiful! Not only did her plaza contain the cathedral, but also there was an outdoor market occurring, and both the Dalí and archeology museums were right around the corner. 

We headed up Las Ramblas, a very busy street, populated with wandering tourists and peddling venders. Anything and everything was for sale- bunnies, turtles, flowers, whistles, art, gelato- you name it. It was very impressive. We entered the metro from Las Ramblas, heading up, up, up towards Park Güell.

Park Güell was designed by the infamous Galli. It was strange but beautiful, awe-inspiring and alluring. We climbed to the top, where we sat on a monument of stone and overlooked a 360 degree view of Barcelona. 

We climbed down and sat upon the world's longest bench (strange, I know).
We witnessed a police raid in the central market. Police men and women descended from all sides upon the street vendors, who packed up with lightning speed, managing to get away with only one lost backpack. It reminded me very much of the scene in Aladdin when the guards are running after the handsome street rat for stealing a piece of bread.

After we had our fill of the park and the sun's beating rays, we headed to the infamous Sangrada Familia.  Even after 100 years of construction, it is still being built but it is no wonder why. The intricate details are breathtaking. Words cannot describe what my eyes saw, so I shall only try to convey to you what it was like by posting some pictures.

The back of Sangrada Familia 

Front of Sangrada Familia

Photo by Clare Sweeney 

After the Sangrada, we were starving. We ate our weights at the Rosa Negra mexican restaurant, and consumed the most fantastic raspberry mojitos and passionfruit margaritas. 

At 10:00pm the Real Madrid v. Barcelona game began, which we watched at the St. Patty's (English speaking) club. Being surrounded by such die-hard fans was so cool. I love the Spanish simply for their love of fútbol. The game, unfortunately, was a draw. 

Sad that Barcelona had not proven victorious against the pretty-boys from Madrid, we turned our frowns upside down by hopping in a cab and heading to the Port, where we danced at una discoteca until the wee hours of the morning. 

We watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean as we chatted with new friends on the beach. 

At 10 am, we boarded our bus back to Valencia and slept the entire way home.