Barca, Barca, Barca (Dec. 1-5)

Well, with just 4 days left in Prague, here goes another update. 3 weeks ago I traveled to Barcelona with Elyse. I gotta say, it was so exciting to see her face upon my arrival at the airport!

So Thursday night we got in really late, so after finally figuring out where the bus was to take us to downtown Barcelona, we got to the hostel and passed the fuck out. Before sleeping we met Jandro, the owner of our hostel who was so sweet and helpful.

Friday morning we woke up and met with Jandro so he could give us an overview of the city. He pointed out to us where everything was we would want to see, and was extremely helpful. Then we were off! Our first stop for the day was Parc Guell. I always knew I loved Gaudi's work, but this weekend proved it all to me.

After wandering the park for awhile, it was off to the Sagrada Familia. I gotta say, at this point I am DONE with churches. Once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. LIES. The Sagrada Familia is entirely different than any church I've ever seen. My only disappointment was the construction, which is has been under for years, and will continue to be for years. But both the interior and the exterior are mind blowing. A true testament to Gaudi's genius.


After eating at a little cafe on the street, it was off to the Casa Mila. While I actually didn't find this overwhelming, getting there at sunset was unbelievable. The colors of the sky as we stood on the roof were absolutely breathtaking. It was as if this was the time of day Gaudi wanted people to see it.

Later that night as we were wandering Las Ramblas, we passed La Boqueria and decided to wander through. Oh my god, one of my favorite places. So many delicious looking foods, beautiful colors, and such vibrant culture! We stopped to get a cup of Sangria, in a plastic cup, straw and all. Delicious! Everything looked so fresh and yummy...heaven.

Before dinner we had a bottle of cava at some outdoor cafe on Las Ramblas, and then went for dinner. We had tapas, so we tried lots of different things. It was absolutely delicious!

After dinner, despite our valiant attempts to rally, we were wayy to exhausted to go out. So it was a night in the hostel, and a wonderful sleep to prepare us for the day ahead.

The next day it was off for some more Gaudi, and the Casa Batllo. Now THIS place, I loved. The outside of it is beautiful, and stands out amongst the other buildings on the street. The inside is fascinating, although I'm not quite sure that I could really imagine wanting to live there myself.

We did some more wandering, as well as another stop at La Boqueria. (We both seriously loved that place). We had a fantastic tapas lunch at a restaurant along Las Ramblas. Then we did some wanderings of the Gothic Quarter. We stopped in a really cute shop where I bought shot glasses for Ata and myself. Very Gaudi-esque. After a wonderful day of wanderings, it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and the night.

To make a long story short, the rest of the night was a giant fiasco. Fun at the start, but ended with me getting mugged on a side street by Las Ramblas. I'm fine, but lost my cell phone, hence less pictures in this entry than in others. The next day we were such wrecks that we stayed in bed all day, and at around 9 pm Elyse headed off to the airport. The next morning, I was off too, and back to Praha!