¡Viva España!: Barthelona

Last weekend, I hopped on a plane and jetted over to Barcelona! (FYI...went by plane because it was cheaper than taking the train. Thank you Vueling Airlines.) I was so pumped to ~~sit my butt down at the beach and not do anything~~ experience all the culture the city had to offer.

First thing you notice upon getting off the plane is the Catalan. People from Barcelona don't speak Spanish, they have their own dialect that is surprisingly different. I had no idea just how different it was until I saw the spelling and heard pronunciations of words that sounded more French than Spanish. Second thing I noticed upon getting off the plane......it was raining. (I had a small panic attack, remembering images of misery from Salamanca...so I took a moment, collected myself and gave myself a peptalk saying RAIN WOULD NOT RUIN BARCELONA FOR ME.)

We got to the hostel.....and were slightly underwhelmed at the location. It was in the middle of what appeared to be a super sketchy area which was just wonderful. However, the hostel had wifi, air conditioning, and we had our own private bathroom, so I could not complain.

The first day, we walked around and explored parts of the city. We saw the famous Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, both designed by Antoni Gaudí. We then walked down Las Ramblas, a street famous in Barcelona for it's shopping, food stands, and little shops. At night, we went out to dinner at an Argentinian burger place and had the best burgers ever. We also drank mojitos with brown sugar, which made them a weird brown-ish clear tinted color. (delicious nonetheless.) We finished the day by trekking to the beach area (first time I had ever seen the Mediterranean!!!) and exploring the night life of the city. In Barcelona, a lot of the clubs are located right on the beach, which I am definitely a fan of. With the beach, there's a different attitude in Barcelona than in Madrid...it's more of a relaxed, beachy vibe as opposed to Madrid's big city vibe. (I'm ~~not biased at all~~ 100% biased, but I like Madrid better.)

The next day, we hit the big sites. We saw La Sagrada Familia (one of the coolest cathedrals I have ever seen in my entire life, pictures do not do it justice unfortunately) and then went to Parc Guell, again both of them designed by Gaudí. Parc Guell can only be described as a whimsical architectural place that looks like it's something out of candyland. It also has one of the best views of Barcelona, where you can see the entire city (including La Sagrada Familia) and the sea too. (Classic solo pics were a must.) After a long day of being tourists, we finally made it to the beach. It was a beautiful warm day and we got to just lay out, swim in the Mediterranean a bit, and relax. At night, we went out to a bar called Espit Chupitos, where they only serve shots. But they have a million to choose from. The names of the shots I took were: Boy Scout (you roasted a marshmallow on the bar and used it as a chase after the shot), Orgasm, Titty Twister, Son of a Bitch, we just told the bartender: "suprise us" (literally have no idea what it was...), and finally....HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!! I took a shot called Harry Potter so I think it's safe to say now that my life is complete; when I die I'll be a happy person. After that we went out to a club and then it was time to pack our bags and head to the airport at 6am to catch our 730 flight.