Barcelona!

Hey there readers!

I have returned from my weekend getaway to Barcelona with Brynn. Barcelona must have known we were coming, because the weather was beautiful (although in pictures you will see I am wearing my windbreaker - but I always wear my windbreaker.). I met Brynn at 4:30am on May 4th to get to our flight which departed at 6:50, so I woke up at 3am. The exhaustion conquered me for most of the day and I felt sluggish and dizzy at times, but we accomplished so much during the trip.

Day 1: 
The bus from the airport drove us to Placa de Catalunya, and we had a bit of a walk ahead of us to find us our hostel. Good thing Brynn had a map - she is incredibly direction-savvy! Here is the first thing we saw when we stepped off the bus:

Along the way, we stopped at Starbucks because I desperately needed coffee. I think I met my Barcelona soulmate in the form of a barista at Starbucks:

We found Black Swan Hostel, which I highly recommend for future travelers. It was accommodating and inexpensive. Since we arrived before check-in, we were allowed to keep our stuff in the basement for the full day.

After securing our stuff in the basement, we walked to the metro station, where we purchased 2-day passes, and rode the metro to MNAC, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. I must say I was highly impressed with the art and architecture, and glad it was free admission.

Outside

The Fountains

This really fascinated me. 

We then took an elevator up to the roof! The view was spectacular!

We walked around for a little trying to find a pathway to somewhere, and ended up here:

Note: bear in mind that I don't really remember the names of these places, or how to describe them because I was so exhausted during the first day of traveling. Being an ex-cross country runner who hasn't run in so long, these stairs were difficult for me.

I was joyous because I purchased a Kinder Joy treat, but I cannot build the prize that came in it because some of its pieces went missing. They don't have Kinder Joys in Ireland, or at least I have not seen them.

It was difficult to order food in Spain because I know zero Spanish. I did community service in Costa Rica for a month, yet the only thing I really remember is that the "ll" in "pollo" is pronounced as a "y". Rookie mistake of teenage me. In Barcelona, I would mostly just point to the item I wanted, saying "this thing...por favor", and if someone spoke Spanish to me I probably had a petrified look on my face.

We hopped on the metro to La Sagrada Familia, or the Church of the Sacred Family. We had been debating on going to the aquarium, but when we found out it was 20 euros for our "height we changed our minds.

La Sagrada Familia

We tried to go to the Picasso Museum because it is free on Sundays, but the line was way too long, so we went to a church and sat in it for a while instead. This was something new for me, but Brynn really enjoyed it and it was peaceful.

After, we walked up a hill, grabbed sandwiches for dinner, and made our way to Park Güell. This was one of my favorite moments of our trip!

Day 2: 5/05/14
After waking up and eating the hostel's free breakfast (cereal and water - but no complaints because it was free!), we walked to a street where people sold lots of little ceramic mosaic statues, similar to the statue above. I bought three! One for myself, one for my family (we'll probably display it in the living room), and one for me and my future roomies in the apartment we are living in next year.

Next we went to St. Josep's La Boqueria market, where Brynn and I both bought fresh fruit juice and chocolate covered almonds. Delicious!! My fruit juice was kiwi apple flavored.

Next, vamos a la playa!! hehe. We sat on the beach for a while, while people intermittently approached us asking if we wanted massages, hair-wraps, henna tattoos, etc. I had not been to a beach in so long, so this intimidated me a little. This tourist-recruiter guy named Scottie came up to Brynn and me and had a long conversation with us, trying to convince us to go on a bar crawl with them later that night, but I was waaaay too paranoid and anxious (talking to strangers...ya know...). Scottie seemed really nice though. He found us again later after we had moved spots on the beach, and he sat down and talked to us again.

 

I was angry because I brought sunscreen with me, and forgot to bring it with me on the beach! So I purchased sunscreen at a nearby store - and STILL managed to get a little burnt. What a waste. 

After the beach, we dropped our beach stuff at the hostel and took the metro to a park (I really don't remember the name of this one), where we relaxed a bit before dinner at a buffet place. 

The Hostel: 
It was a totally different experience from my first hostel in Prague because I had a friend with me this time. Brynn and I were still very open to meeting people, and we met my bottom bunkmate (yes...I was on the top again), named Hela from Norway, and Brynn's bottom bunkmate, Ruth, a 60 year old lady from China who had more energy in her than the 12 people I came abroad with, combined. They were both so sweet, and I appreciate hostels so much more after this experience. There was only one mixup when on the second day, I left nothing on my bed, so when the cleaning people came in, they assumed I had left and they got rid of my sheets and blanket, so when another girl arrived, she took my bed. We sorted it out though and it was all grand.

Also, the hostel had lockers that needed a deposit of 1 euro to take the key out of the locker in order to lock up your stuff. Every time you opened the locker, you got your euro back. My belongings were in good hands!

I'm really thankful I got to experience a whole other, non-English speaking culture. Maybe I will learn Spanish some day!