It's certainly been a while since my last post, but, like usual, I have an excuse: Finals and a weeklong visit from Nicole. I'll start back on March 5th since that is when the busy times began. That Friday, Nicole (my girlfriend) made the journey from Atlanta to Salamanca for Emory's spring break. We stayed in Salamanca for a week, then travelled to Barcelona for the next weekend where she caught a Sunday morning flight back to Atlanta.
The week in Salamanca was great. Even with the inevitable setbacks (the weather was bad, her phone unexpectedly didn't work, I had to study for finals, we had to find a hotel for 3 nights) we had an amazing week seeing sights, partying with friends, eating some great food, and enjoying the city. But the real fun was our last weekend in Barcelona.
I had heard some great things, but I was completely blown away when we actually arrived there. It was in the top three of coolest cities I've ever seen in my life (maybe even number one.) Our journey began with a 6:40 am train from Salamanca to Zaragoza. Though it wasn't the Ave (the Spanish high speed train) it was super nice and comfortable for the 6 hours trip to Zaragoza where we switched to the high speed train for the remaining two hours to Barcelona. A long trip I know, but there 's no convenient way to get from Salamanca to Barcelona.
We arrived in Barcelona around 2:40 pm and within minutes we had figured out their metro system. With luggage and all it took us no more than 20 minutes to navigate ourselves to our hotel at the bottom of La Rambla.
ASIDE: As a city person, I am used to taking subways and trains, but I would rank the Barcelona metro as the #1 easiest subway system to use even, though the majority of the signs are written in Spanish or Catalan. ( Catalan is the peculiar, regional language spoken only in the Spanish region of Cataluña where Barcelona is the capital.)
Our hotel was right on the water in a great location five minutes from the Drassanes metro stop at the bottom of La Rambla. I better take the time to explain what "La Rambla" is since I've mentioned it now twice.
"La Rambla" is the main avenue, or strip that constitutes what most would consider the heart of Barcelona. It runs from the water (where our hotel was, a giant Christopher Columbus statue, a clubbing area, and a generally beautiful area) to Plaza Cataluña. La Rambla is divided into two lanes of traffic in opposite directions divided by a huge pedestrian area in the middle where there are street performers, vendors, and cafes with outdoors seating areas. And I forgot to mention it's absolutely gorgeous.
After arriving , we put our bags down and went sightseeing at our first stop Park Guell. Antoni Gaudi, the park's architect, may as well be the patron saint of Barcelona. His handiwork is seen everywhere in parks, buildings, houses, sculptures, and, most importantly, La Sagrada Familia (but I'll get to that later.)
The park is situated high above Barcelona and offers beautiful views of the city below. It's constructed like a labyrinth with winding and curvy paths, high foliage and unique houses. It's hard to describe his style but here are some pictures of the park and some houses within so you can get an idea of his work. After an hour in Barcelona, it becomes pretty easy to spot a Gaudi work.
After a stroll through the park, we took the metro to the center of town to La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia, I can safely say, is the most impressive and jaw-dropping structure I have ever seen in my life. La Sagrada Familia is a cathedral designed by Gaudi which began construction in 1882. To this day, it is unfinished and will not be completed until the earliest 2026. I'm already making plans to return to Barcelona when it's done. I can't even describe how amazing this building is is but you can look at my pictures and judge for yourself. I know this is kind of a cop-out, but I will attempt to describe it better in a later post since I have since planned two more trips to Barcelona before I head back to the U.S.
That night, we met my friend Jesse and his girlfriend Grace for a night out on the town. Jesse is studying in Barcelona for the semester and has a great apartment in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona right off La Rambla, 15 minutes away from our hotel.
First we went to an absinth bar which was fun even though absinth tastes like death mixed with black licorice. However, this was the first time I have ever drank absinth prepared the "correct" way so it actually tasted good. To prepare absinth correctly, you melt a sugar cube on a spoon and mix it into the iridescent green drink. Here's a picture of us preparing the drinks.
After that, we went to a crowded bar called nevermind with grafitti on the walls, unique seating and expensive drinks. Later we went to a seemingly cool Jazz bar with live music, but we got there at a bad time when they were switching between the early and super late sets so we headed home inebriated and satisfied despite not having seen live music.
The next day, Nicole and I had a busy day walking La Rambla. We first stumbled upon a cool exhibit which was an homage to Dalí. It was very surrealist, melting clocks and naked bodies and stuff, but we enjoyed it. Then we found the Mercat St. Josep which we both loved: An outdoor food market filled with raw fish, troves of candy, tons of people, and the best slice of pizza I've eaten in Spain yet. After the market, where most of our pictures were taken, we headed to the modern art museum (MACBA) which we decided we both hated. The building and the skateboarders outside were more interesting than the exhibits themselves. We then shopped around the Plaza Cataluña area and met Jesse again at night for a tour of the gothic quarter and a super late dinner at a cool Italian restaurant near an old opera house. We were too tired to go bar-hopping again.
The next morning was a sad goodbye as Nicole had to leave to catch her plane but at 9:30. It was so early in the morning I could barely get up to say goodbye, but I know she had a good time and will have a busy and fulfilling rest of the semester in school. Plus, she just got accepted to Birthright this summer so I know she'll be excited for that.
I departed with my luggage an hour later to see my other best friend Alex who has an apartment in Barcelona with five friends from his fraternity at Colgate. It was a quick and hurried reunion, but we enjoyed a great breakfast and I got to see his huge, but very dirty apartment.
My train was at noon, so at 11:20 Alex pointed me in the direction of the closest metro stop and I left. A series of unfortunate events conspired against me to make what should've been a 15 minute trip a 38 minute trip and as I frantically ran through the train station to catch the one train that would get me home in time for my finals. I vowed to never be unprepared while traveling again. Finally, as the clock struck 12, I was in my seat, sweaty from running, heart racing, and out the 10 euro it cost to grab a cab from the metro stop I ran off of, to the train station.
I'm sorry for the rushed nature of the post, but I have one day to get all my affairs in order before I leave for spring break tomorrow morning. In addition, I travelled again this weekend to Andalucia and want to write about that too while the experience is fresh in my mind. Trust me, there will be a much more thorough Barcelona post when I go again in May, but for now I'm off to my last class for nearly 3 weeks. Expect the Andalucia post later today.
Ciao, ciao
-Corey
Spanish phrase of the day:
Esta de bote en bote- That place is full
Estoy hecho polvo- I'm dead tired
Estoy a dos velas- I'm broke
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