Under the Catalonian Sun

6/4

Ohhh Barcelona. Little did I know, this city seems to be ready to secede from the rest of Spain and become its own little Catalonian country. 

We arrived pretty late on Saturday night, and decided to skip metro nonsense and just take a taxi. Splitting it 3 ways broke us about even to a metro ticket, anyway. Arriving at our hostel, St. Christopher's, was like a dream come true- finally a nice, young, clean hostel. W walked into a lobby packed with young people, including those hanging out around the bar/restaurant attached to the hostel lobby.

We dropped off our stuff into our room and explored what options were open for dinner at 10 on a Saturday. True to Spanish culture, pretty much everything was open. I even found a soy froyo place- first one thus far! Totally ate dessert before dinner that night.

We ate at a delicious Italian restaurant, and wandered back to the hostel. Looking for something exciting to do that night, we wandered around Las Ramblas, which were very alive. Including sketchy older guys who sit with six packs of beer and offer one to girls as they walk past. No gracias...

There are also a lot of club promotors that walk Las Ramblas, handing out fliers for deals on entry into their club. It gets pretty competitive! We ended up going to Boulevard, which is apparently quite popular, due to the mass and line out the door.

The next morning, we started off with a free walking tour provided by the hostel. We lasted for about an hour and a half of walking around the gothic part of the city, through cathedrals, and the Jewish quarter. We broke off right after seeing this beautiful public display of Picasso, demonstrating a Catalonian tradition where different groups compete to build the highest tower- of people! Little did we know, later that day, we would be seeing the real competition go on in front of the government buildings in Barcelona! 

Here's the Picasso:

And Greta's head. 

After we broke off from the tour, we ate tapas, and then enjoyed meringues and gelato. And that's when I stumbled upon the Catalonian tower competition. Unfortunately, I don't have an uploadable photo for you!

We then walked to Casa Batllo:

Then Casa Mila:

Then, finally. Sagrada Familia. Ayla and I decided to go in (going into any of the Gaudi structures is very expensive, so we decided to commit to one of the buildings). It was unbelievable- we had goosebumps the whole time. The beauty in that church, from the stained glass, to the tall pillars, spiral staircases, metal doors... It may sound like an ordinary church, but it's so much more. Walking around the Sagrada Familia, there are notations on Gaudi's inspirations, as well as reasons for his designs. For example, the massive pillars throughout the church branch off towards the top. Turns out, Gaudi wanted to create the feeling of being in a forest.

He also created all of the windows to direct the light almost equally throughout the church (natural light), but to also direct the most light towards the Jesus in the front of the church.

The shapes used in his designs are all inspired by nature. His love for nature comes from his childhood, which was spent almost entirely exploring nature and natural life. For all of his buildings, he wants to integrate the natural landscape into his architecture. 

Cool doesn't even cover it. 

After this adventure, we stopped at a supermarket, and made dinner back at the hostel.

Also, back at the hostel, we discovered we had new roommates. And they were all really cool! Finally. We spent the night getting to know each other.

And the random things one may bring on a Europe backpacking trip.

Like a batman mask.

Yesterday was spent at the beach, Playa de Barcelona, which was literally right next to the city. It was great to relax and people watch. Not so great? The burns on all of our backs. Mine is the most awkward looking... Half of my back is the lightest tan, while one uneven section is bright red. Still don't understand how that happened.

Anyway,

Hello from la playa!

And we built this awesome sandcastle!

We wish.

The day ended with us once again at a supermarket, making dinner, wandering the streets....

Then checking out Apolo club for "Nasty Mondays" which is "the hottest thing to do on a Monday night." 

The hottest thing for hipsters, we soon discovered.

The neat thing was the music though, for sure. The DJ played old Beatles music, the Romantics, and other older tunes that us youngsters could dance to. The change of pace was definitely refreshing! 

And way less nasty than other clubs/club music. The name is quite deceiving.

We got home quite early in the morning, just enough time to catch a few hours of sleep before hopping back onto a train.

On to Cannes! Bonjour, South of France!

First thing is first. Where's the sunscreen.