Viva Barca!

I woke the others up at 9:30AM to grab breakfast, but everyone was so sleepy! While they got ready, I strolled down Las Ramblas to the flea market. To my surprise, the merchants sold a variety of "goods" from fish to rabbits! The floral market and the H&M were fantastic as well!

La Familia Sagrada, Gaudi's most famous work, is a must see for anybody in Barcelona. Construction began in 1882, but is not expected to be finished until 2026. The privately-funded Roman Catholic church sits with intricate detail and draws thousands each year. La Padrera and Casa Batllo are more aesthetically pleasing though as they are not under complete construction (perhaps the beauty of La Familia Sagrada!).

Gaudi's most-detailed and famous work, La Sagrada Familia

I then headed off to the Caixa Forum. With its modern space containing several rotating exhibits, locals find this art gallery popular while tourists never know about it! Hence, it is quite a treasure for a traveler!

As it was a sunny and clear afternoon, the cable car ride up Montjuiic was beautiful! The shallow hill allows a panaromic view of the city along with a 17th century castle atop. Although a scary and sketchy ride up, it was definitely a sight to remember.

Gorgeous view from Montjuiic

The hike to Parc Guell is long, but not too steep (as escalators will help if you go the back way! Here, one can walk around the enormous garden complex and find Gaudi's many artworks dating back to the early 1900s. It was nice as tourists and locals would all congregate together to enjoy the park!

The entrance of Parc Guell

Next step in this busy day was to pick up the FC Barca tickets! It was only 18euros for the cheapest seats - good deal! Unfortunately, the metro stop was on the complete opposite side of the stadium (Camp Nou), so it took me a good twenty minutes just to walk around the entire stadium! It did provide a nice little tour of the city though.

Walking back to the hostel, one could easily find all the Barca fans celebrating in and out of their cars while blasting music and cheering down the streets. So much pride!

We then headed off to Placa Reial Square for a flamenco show at Los Tarantos! It was worth the trip as the thirty minute show was only 5euros. For some odd reason, the only shoes I packed were my leather boots, so I borrowed Pauline's ballet flats. Unfortunately, they were too big, but we all had a time making them fit with tissue paper!

Flamenco show time!

Tip: If you go to Barcelona and need a hostel, stay in Kabul! It's a great, loud, and fun hostel located right in the square of Placa Reial, where there are great restaurants and nightly flamenco shows next door. It's less than a minute walking to Las Ramblas - great location!

Adam and Pauline left to catch their bus to San Sebastian while Jess and I took off to the futbol game. Luckily, our seats were right behind the keeper and only three minutes into the match, Barca scored! The Belgium boys we met at the hostel texted us and we met up with them at the end of the game.

Viva Barca! Cheering on Messi and Barcelona at Camp Nou

On the way to Port Olimpic, we found an amazing, giant lobster statue with a smiley face drawn on it! Thus, I made the driver pull over so I could take a picture. Looking at it, the lobster could possibly be my favorite attraction in Barcelona!

We started off at the Australian Bar and danced the night away going in and out of the sixteen clubs and bars by the harbor. Arriving back at the hostel at 7:30AM, I took a thirty minute nap before waking up to catch our flight to Madrid.

VIVA BARCA! I'm tired!

No Time for Siestas in Spain!

Since we had an early flight, Pauline's friend Emelie let us stay over at her place in Paris. Ironically, her other friend was stranded in Paris because of a strike (not too surprising in France) and it was one big sleepover!

Tip: Taking RyanAir from Paris to Barcelona is NOT worth it! Paris Beauvais is one hour outside of Paris and Gerona is an hour and a half outside of Barcelona. With the time you lose plus the fees for ground transportation to the each city, it is NOT worth it!

As opposed to the rain and gloom of Paris, Barcelona was beautiful and sunny! First stop was to La Padera by Antoni Gaudi. Amongst the most talented architects of the Art Nouveau style, Gaudi's unique buildings lie apart of Barcelona's culture as much as flamenco shows and tapas. The building was designed for Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà, thus, the building is also referred to as Casa Milà. The apartment complex was very interesting with its inside arches; however, it was the rooftop that was utterly breathtaking!

The gorgeous rooftop of La Pedrera

It was appropriately time for another photoshoot. We also came to the conclusion that I also like to climb everything that I see.

Typical picture of me in Europe

Next on our stop was Casa Batllo. Upon instant viewing, the building has quite a complex arrangement resembling a skeleton. Hence, the locals refer to it as Casa dels Ossos, translating into House of Bones. This time, the INSIDE of the building was a dream! If only somehow, La Padera's roof could be put onto Casa Batllo!

The inside of Casa Batllo - notice there are rarely any straight lines!

On the way to the Picasso Museum, Jessica and I found FB Barcelona futbol jerseys for only $25euros! We were all set for the game later that night! Unlike other countries, shops and attractions in Spain stay open until 8PM (due to siestas and the later lifestyle), thus, making life for a tourist convenient! The Picasso Museum houses over 3,500 of Pablo Picasso's works in its permanent collection. As one looks at Picasso's early works, bits and pieces of abstract can be found. It was interesting to see his progression and it was in his "Blue Period" that Picasso developed himself to the painter that we know today. A talented man, he even made linoleum into art!

Tip: The Barcelona Card is only 25euros for unlimited travel and discounts and is well worth the purchase! However, a student may not necessary need one as there are already great discounts in the city!

Pauline took us to her favorite paella restaurant and although tasty, I was not too much of a fan! We then tried going to the Magic Fountain, a grandiose display of water, lights, and music! Unfortunately, it was off (and empty dry) because it was wintertime...sigh.

Back at the Hostel Windsor, we got ready for our night out! First things first, take a siesta! Although we planned to sleep from 11PM-12AM, we ended up sleeping until 2AM! Our friend, Borja, a native Catalonian called us as they were "drinking in the streets before going to the club." We grabbed a cheap taxi and met Borja and his friends at the Razzmatazz Nightclub. The girls definitely saw the love from the Spanish boys as they just love to hug and put their arms around you!

The Americans and the Catalonians

At 3AMish, we entered the club (wow, what a fantastic nightlife already!) and danced, danced, danced! Xavi, the futbol coach, and I took a break from dancing and walked around the city a bit. Back at the club, the others hit the 6AM mark and decided to go home. By the time I hit my bed, it was 7AM! Oh, goodness, Barcelona!