Having been now to many parts of Europe we thought we had experienced everything. We were wrong. Barcelona is a completely different type of city. It comes alive at night and is filled with young people, night clubs, tapas, and bars, with some trannies and drug dealers thrown in on the side...ok, maybe more than just a few. It really was a fun and unique place, just a little more shady than most of the other places we have been.
Our first night there, we walked to the marina, down Las Ramblas (the main street filled with people eating, street performers, tourists, and people trying to get tourists to buy drugs or come to parties). We ate at a tapas bar a little bit off Las Ramblas, and had a really good first meal. In case you were wondering tapas are just small plates of food, and they are very common in Spain. You will be hearing much more about them if you continue to read about more cities later. The best thing from our first night was the spicy churizo flambe. They came and lit it at our table, and we put it out when we decided it was done.
The second day we walked up to the area called the Eixample. It is a big area of the city that was thoroughly planned out during a major expansion of the city in the late 19th century. There are many wide boulevards and smaller streets laid out in a grid pattern, and buildings designed by the architect Gaudi and his contemporaries. Gaudi is huge in Barcelona, and with good reason, since he designed so many really cool buildings throughout the city. The highlight of the area is definitely Gaudi's biggest work, the Sagrada Familia. It is a huge cathedral that rises up in the middle of the city. It is still under construction, and though it looks very impressive, it is clear there is still a lot of work left to do even after over 100 years of construction.
Our next stop was a place called Parc Guell. It was supposed to be a futuristic housing development, planned by a guy named Guell, and designed by Gaudi. As a business venture it was a failure, but it was turned into a park around 1920, and has some really odd and interesting architecture. There were also some stunning views of the city, as it is up on a big hill. That evening we all went out to a really great Tapas bar, and then 7, Lauren, Trillion, and I went out for a few drinks. We passed a club with a line to get in taking up the whole city block.
The next day, we went to the market off of las Ramblas for breakfast, and then we walked around the gothic quarter, which is the old town area. There is a big gothic cathedral, but is wasn't open when we got there, and a lot of the outside was undergoing restoration. Then we walked down to the beach and walked along it for a while. It was actually a very nice beach for a big city, and it stretched for miles. Then Trillion and I walked more around the port area, and shopped in the mall on the water. We all had dinner at a place called Sinatra, which was fancy and had old Frank Sinatra movies playing. The free champagne was nice too.
The next morning we had to say goodbye to the rest of the gang, which was very sad, but it is also nice to have some time with just us. Jim, Lynda, 7, and Lauren left early in the morning, and Trillion and I went to the market for some more fresh fruit juice, and we got to walk around the city one last time. Barcelona was great, but I was excited to see what else Spain had to offer...
Goodbye for now, more will be coming soon
No comments:
Post a Comment