Abroad in Munich: ¡Hola Barcelona!

Day 1

At the end of week 4, we had a three and a half day weekend to travel around Europe. I went to Barcelona, Spain, along with Claire, Jon, Matt, Andrew, Elsbeth, and Zahid. We left for the airport right after class on Thursday, and we got there so early that check-in wasn't even open yet. The only ways we entertained ourselves for a couple hours were watching Despicable Me and playing Monopoly Deal. Finally, we got on the small, cramped plane to Barcelona. I had a little trouble sleeping in the beginning, but ended up having a nice nap on the plane. We arrived in Barcelona around 20:00, then took the train to our hostel. I tried asking someone for directions in Spanish, but it turns out she was a tourist too, looking for the same hostel. The name of the hostel was Twentytu, and it was brand new and had just opened that week. It was nice and clean, but it was not in a very nice neighborhood.

Once we dropped our things off at the hostel, we went to a Tapas bar a few blocks from the hostel. We ordered lots of tapas - Pan con tomate (bread with tomato), nachos, and patatas bravas (potatoes) to name a few. The food was amazing. It was the best food I had eaten throughout the whole trip. After eating, I was very content. Then it was off to bed for a good night sleep.

Day 2

Friday was the first (and only) day I slept in for the whole trip. Claire and I moseyed out of bed around 10. The boys were not very happy with us for sleeping so late, so we sent them to the store for soap and towels. The hostel, though clean, had no soap. While they were out, Claire and I went searching for a Western Union. Finally, we set off for the city center. The first stop was lunch. This is what I ordered:

Jokes. Well, I did order these sardines, but only as part of a meal deal. My main course was vegetable paella, a famous Spanish dish of rice, vegetables, and sometimes fish or meat. The paella was so so good. Another one of the best meals I had in Europe. I also tried a lot of seafood that my friends ordered - calamari, cod, shrimp, sardines, and octopus. It actually wasn't too bad.

After lunch, we walked around Barcelona and went sightseeing. Our first main stop was St. Peter's Cathedral.

Me in front of St. Peter's Cathedral in my "Hoy es viernes" shirt :)

View of the inside of the cathedral

Then we got to walk on the roof of the church. The view of Barcelona was amazing. The city seemed huge.

More "Hoy es viernes"

There was a German flag flying in Spain :)

After coming down from the roof, we walked through a fountain/courtyard area.

We walked by more churches, and then walked down a famous shopping street, La Rambla, The street was very crowded with tourists. Then we saw several buildings designed by Gaudí. We didn't go into any of the museums, but the architecture was very cool.

Next, we took the train to Parque Güell, which was also designed by Gaudí. There were more impressive views of Barcelona and a lot of beautiful mosaics.