Day in Barcelona

The french schools have a two week long break for all saints so I am currently on vacation! I just got back from spending a super long day in Barcelona with some teaching assistants (my roomies, Melissa, and her friend Debbie). Sunday night, we took a train to Lyon and then from Lyon we took a bus to Barcelona. The ride was pretty long (about 8 hours- but we did start late and we took a 45 minute break at a truck stop). It was hard to get some sleep but I managed to get a few hours in. We got into Barcelona around 7am Monday morning. The first attraction we headed to was Sagrada Familia. It was designed by a famous architect named Gaudi. His work is all around Barcelona.This massive cathedral is really breathtaking inside and out. Its a shame it is not finished yet, but so far its looking good. 

Outside of the cathedral

Ceiling inside

Awesome stained glass

cool reflection of the stained glass

So much detail!

It’s a good idea to get to this cathedral early in the morning so you don’t have to wait too long in line to get in. I have also heard that there are a lot of thieves around so you have to watch your bags carefully. Luckily for us, we didn’t encounter any thieves during our stay in Barcelona.

Next, we went to Parc Guell (also a work of Gaudi). This park is huge! I really wish I had more time to explore the park. Next time that I am in Barcelona I definitely want to revisit this park. It was also pretty crowded when we got there. There are so many tourists in Barcelona right now! I can’t imagine what it’s like during the summer.

Here's the whole gang at Parc Guell

Parc Guell

I wanted a picture with the sculpture but it was too crowded, maybe next time!

For lunch, I had tapas for the first time! Tapas are a variety of appetizers. We all picked out different stuff and shared it all. I tried all of them but I had to say my favorite were the mushroom croquettes. They reminded me of a polish food that my mom makes sometimes. I also really enjoyed the potatoes, chorizo (special spanish sausage), and tomato bread.

Some of our tapas

more tapas

After lunch, we walked around Barcelona and then took the metro to see two casas (Casa Mila and Casa Battló) designed by Gaudi.

Casa Battló

We walked along the port in Barcelona and got some delicious ice cream. I also got a picture on one of the lion statues nearby!

Port in Barcelona

Lion Statue

Yummy ice cream!

One of my favorite parts of the day had to be the time we spent on the beach in Barcelona! This was my first time in the Mediterranean Sea! The water was a little cold but it felt nice to dip my feet in the water. There were a lot of people sunbathing and swimming. The weather was really nice and warm all day. I wish I brought my bathing suit with me (I willl have to remember that for next time). We were pretty lucky to come to Barcelona on a day like this. 

Beach in Barcelona

Hanging at the beach

I also enjoyed sitting on the beach with the others and just resting because we walked so much. Sometimes it was difficult to relax though because there were people offering random stuff like every few minutes (massages, drinks, towels, coconut pieces?). It was the same people who would come every few minutes to ask the same thing... it got a bit annoying, but I still enjoyed the beach nonetheless. 

Afterwards, we headed up to Montjuïc where we took a cable car and got a cool view of the city!

Barcelona

After this short ride, we caught a bus down to the Magic Fountain. Unfortunately, the magic fountain was not turned on tonight (so yet another reason why I must go back to Barcelona at some point). We ended up having a picnic type dinner with baguettes, chips, cheese, and salami...yum! We sat on the steps in front of the Palau Nacional which is situated pretty high up overlooking the city. On the way up, there are even escalators lol. There was a special art event going on in there Monday night so we even had some classical background music while we ate. At night, we got an awesome view of Barcelona! It was a great way to end the day! 

Roomies in Barcelona

It was really strange to be in another country and to hear a language spoken that I do not really know. I luckily remembered a few spanish phrases, but most of the time I spoke in a mix of french/spanish/english to the people...haha. In Barcelona they also speak Catalan which is different than the spanish I am familiar with so this created another little language barrier. Most of the people here are probably accustomed to tourists though so they are probably used to hearing mixes of different languages. 

Before heading back to the bus station, we explored a cool mall for a bit. 

Mall in Barcelona

After the mall, another long bus ride home awaited us. This time it was a lot easier to fall asleep because we were all exhausted! In Lyon, we took a train to Roanne and I am resting at the apartment. It’s still hard for me to believe that I was in Spain! I really enjoyed this trip and I hope to travel more soon!

Enjoying my vacation,

Magdalena