Oct

16

Barcelona!

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Last weekend in Barcelona was so fun because we had a huge group there! Kara’s best friend from home is studying abroad there so we spent the weekend with her and her 4 roommates who also had several guests so it was a packed house!

Kara and I left Thursday night and got into Barcelona around 11:30pm. We stayed up chatting and getting to know her roomies then went to bed so that we could wake up and see most of the city the next morning. When we got up we first headed to the main square of town where the main shops and road are. We walked along looking at crazy street performers, tents selling cute little bunnies, chicks, and ducks, and then stopping at the coolest food market I’ve ever seen. It had all sorts of exotic fruits, veggies, baked goods from around the world, fresh seafood, and lots of other great stuff. We walked around the whole thing sampling different kinds of fruits and exploring all of the different stands.

Next we walked to the gothic district where there were a lot of artists tents set up along the road and I decided to buy a piece from one of them that was really interesting and reminded me of Barcelona. It was a picture, framed in a wide frame of a Gaudi building with the windows cut and pushed back to make it look 3D, it’s a little hard to explain, but I’d never seen anything like it so I really wanted one!

Next we wandered and saw some local sites before stopping at a delicious tapas restaurant where we ate friend camembert, chicken, mushrooms, mussels, and the most amazing lemon sorbet with sage. We also obviously had to try our first Spanish sangria which was also very good. At this point I was very content with my trip to Barcelona and was surprised by the food because everyone always says that Spanish food isn’t very good!

After lunch we headed to the Picasso museum, which was interesting, but I’m not too into modern art so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have something else. But the fact that the museum was opened within his lifetime and he got to see it was pretty cool to me.

Next we went to one of the coolest museums I’ve ever seen! I’m not sure of the name but it was all about manufacturing textiles and all of the exhibits were mind-blowing! It only cost us 3 euro to get in and they gave us the fanciest digital guides I’ve ever seen which explained each piece and how it was made. They had so many things I never would have even thought possible! There was a chair and lamp constructed from some sort of digital pen that draws in thin air and is transcribed into a 3D printer. There were also little balls that showed the different kinds of sounds that music makes in 3D form, shoes that were scanned from peoples feet to fit them perfectly, 3D ultrasounds, and so many other cool things! I was in awe.

At this point we met up with Jacqueline’s roommate Alicia and went to get a delicious mojito and then I found a store that sold Dr. Pepper! You can imagine my excitement so I obviously had to buy 3 of them.

After my great find we walked down the port down to the beach and watched some surfers for awhile. It was a little cloudy and cold to go in the water, but it was fun to see the beach since we’re landlocked in Arezzo. Then we got some chinese food and headed back to prepare for the evening because the night doesn’t start till 12 or 1am in Barcelona.

Going out in Barcelona was so fun but there is no way I could live there! People stay out till 6 or 7 in the morning and then sleep till 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It was not my lifestyle but was fun to experience once!

Needless to say we got a late start the next day. We headed over to Park Guell where Gaudi did all of the construction and looks out over all of Barcelona. It was really pretty and quite a hike to the top. There were all sorts of artists and musicians playing and there was this one instrument that I’m not sure the name but looked like a big turtle shell and I made the most gorgeous sounds!

After this we got a little lost and just wandered the city for about an hour in the general direction of Jacqueline’s apartment till we found the antique district with lots of cute shops and places to eat. Again I found Dr Pepper AND nerds! Another great find, then we looked through the shops and went to eat at a Lebanese restaurant. The place had great tea and delicious food so again I was very happy with it even though this wasn’t technically Spanish food.

That evening we went back to the Gothic district where all of the locals go and danced at a local club called Magic where all they played was literally music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s in America! So funny, we had a great time dancing around to music that they would never play today in the States.

On our last day we went down the fancy shopping area and looked at the different buildings, then we went to the Barcelona cathedral and the main street but this time it was really empty because it was a holiday so it was weird to see it that way! Eventually after walking half the city we found our other friends and ate some more delicious tapas (best fried artichokes I’ve ever had!) then we got some sweets and Kara found Horchata (some non-alcoholic dessert drink that she really wanted to get ever since she heard we were going to Spain) then we went to the biggest American pub I have ever seen and I legitimately felt like I was back in Norman because every single person there was American (probably around 2-300) and they were playing all of the football games on huge screens around the different levels of the bar with people singing karaoke on the first floor. It was really fun to feel at home again, but Kara and I had to be on a 5:45 bus to the airport so we headed back to get a little bit of sleep before we left!

Barcelona was so fun but it also made me appreciate my small town of Arezzo where things aren’t so big and crazy and cheaper also!

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