So last weekend I went to Barcelona. It was a highly anticipated trip and I've only heard good things about the largest city in Spain. First off, going to Barcelona is like going to a totally different country. Not region or province: country. Why? Because Spanish is NOT their first, or preferred, language, and because Barcelona is totally different.
They speak Catalan which is kind of like spanish, french, and german. Yes, German. I did not like it all and couldn't understand anything for the life of me. And while everyone speaks spanish as well, I noticed that more people spoke english. Maybe it was because we were in alot of touristy areas but everytime I tried to ask a question or order something in spanish I got english replies. Eventually I gave up and spoke english the whole time. I think they speak english because they don't want to speak spanish. Barcelona is to Spain what Hong Kong is to China. Hong Kong doesn't consider itself a true part of China and has a different language. It's on an island and was under British rule for a few hundred years but in principal they're similar.
Barcelona is like all kinds of major cities combined. It's the capital of commerce in Spain and very important in the world in general. Everyone knows that Barcelona is one of the cities that should be visited in life. Architecturally it is on a totally different level. Barcelona is the place for Gaudi architecture. Gaudi was an architect who made the plans for the intricate Sagrada Familia, which to this date still hasn't been completed. It's so big (it's supposed to fit 10.000 people) and beautiful that the Catholic church has deemed it a basilica He also planned many other buildings around Barcelona. I really think Barcelona is famous in a large part because of the Sagrada Familia and the architecture of Gaudi.
Here's the Sagrada Familia:
Here's the famous Parque Guell:
La Boqueria is a famous market with awesome fresh fruit.
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| So many fresh juices to choose from! |
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| Kiwi coconut smoothie and a FREE coconut juice to go! |
We went to 4 museums: above the museum of contemporary art and the CHOCOLATE museum!
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| Chocolate Don Quijote..he follows me everywhere! |
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| Asian noodles for dinner (a break from spanish cuisine) |
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| Arc de Triomph |
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| This is the LINE to get into the Picasso museum (it was free on Sunday after 3) |
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| A sample of Catalan: I have NO idea what it says. |
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| The catedral (I think) |
The boardwalk
All in all it was a darn good time. Barcelona is a beautiful city and although we were always on the look out for people who wanted to steal our passports I really enjoyed it. I love that it's such a huge city. We took the metro a few times but it's severely extensive. We only had 2 days but it's def a place to go and easily spend a week just exploring the city and going to museums. My feet hurt so badly afterwards because we walked around the whole time. When I travel I like to make it worth my time so there wasn't a lot of resting. Also, we took as an opportunity to take a break from the
comida tipica espanola and ate fast food and other food (which also saved money).
