Barca Barca!

Just when you start to get a little full of your American self thinking that these European countries are pretty small and can´t even compete with the amound of diverse culture we have among the states...you go from Madrid to Barcelona and you discover you´re wrong.  And a little stuck up.  (And should probably stop expecting the whole world to speak English, but that´s another story).

Barcelona and Madrid are the two most well-known cities in Spain, but Barcelona is definitely the tourist trap winner, and it´s obvious why.
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach
Barca is a city
Barca is a beach...
No no no.  You´re both right.  Barca is 2, 2, 2, destinations in 1!  (cheers from the symphony audience).

A city on a beach.  Can the world get more perfect?  Yes.  Because on my trip, there was perfect sundress and flip flop wearing weather.  Nice work, world, nice work.  I went with two friends from my program and three from another (all Cal kids except one).  It was a lovely group of 6 lovely girls in a lovely place.

Barcelona also has the most interesting and beautiful architecture by Gaudi.  The first Gaudi extravaganza we witnessed was the Sagrada Familia.  This is a Cathedral and although it does have the aforementioned Jesus style like the other cathedrals, it is also a totally different experience.  The walls almost look like foam, a bit reminiscent of the Dr. Seuss hoo-ville set you see on the Universal Studios tram.  The stained glass windows are full of interesing shapes and vibrant colors.  You could probably stare at them forever.  There are random figures of fruit and reptiles all over the ceilings outside.  Everything is alternative and captivating.  There was a wedding party downstairs and, I have to admit, if it wasn´t still clearly a cathedral, I wouldn´t object to getting married in the Segrada Familia.  At this point, we also renamed our travel crew the segrada familia (which means sacred family) because we´re really adorable. 

Another Gaudi work we got to see was Parque Guell.  It´s a breathtaking site that is not to be missed in Barca.  The combination of the nature and the architecture and the tiles was simply perfect.  We walked around the park and had a picnic snack on the tile benches.  We also each bought earrings inspired by the tile patterns for a special deal of 2 euro each!  One of the most famous parts of the park is the tiled lizzard which I must say was pretty cool but certainly not the only thing to see.  Add a gorgeous view of the city and you´ve got one great place to be. 

And then there was the beach, of course.  We were very lucky to have such beautiful beach weather.  The water was definitely too cold for a swim, but the sunshine was perfect for laying in the sand.  We spent a fair amount of time at the beach relaxing and rejecting the various salespeople trying to sell massages (ok not everyone rejected that), drinks, sunglasses, and scarves.  A lot of the nightlife also takes place on the beach, and we actually went to a club right on the sand.  Kinda crazy but kinda cool. 

Oh, did I mention that our hostel was fantastic?  Everyone was super friendly and they organized fun events each night.  There was also a kitchen and we (and by we I mostly mean Emily) cooked a delicious taco salad.  It was delicious and a nice change to actually know exactly what we were eating.  The language in Barcelona is also very interesting.  It´s very clear that Catalan is a mixture of Spanish and French.  Por ejemplo, the word for exit in Catalan is ¨sortida.¨ Spanish salida+French sortie=Catalan sortida.  Everyone spoke Spanish though.  As a matter of fact, pretty much everyone spoke English.  Another sign that Barcelona is the tourist place to be.

Clearly, I fell in love with Barcelona.  But don´t worry, Madrid is still deep in my heart.  As much as I love the beach, the real city is where I belong.  Honestly though, if you have 3 days in Spain and have to choose one place to go, I may have to betray Madrid for a sec and recommend Barca.  Just make sure not to mention Christiano Rinaldo...

Spanish besos+French baisers=Catalan petons (ok that didn´t work so well...)

English kisses! :)