Saturday, September 18th - Barcelona

lunch

Saturday was our big day in Barcelona!! We were all three tired from traveling and hanging out late the whole last week, so we ended up sleeping in until 11ish. Therefore we missed the first walking tour we were going to go to (of old Barcelona), but I certainly wasn't heart-broken. (For those who know you well-- you know how much I value my sleepy time :-D)

street entertainer - he's sitting on a toilet!!

When we finally all got moving and showering and ready for the day, we headed down the street to find a diner. We ended up eating at this cute little patio restaurant. I ate this Hawaiian pizza, which was really odd. Instead of having a "regular" red sauce, it had this funky cheese sauce. It was alright, but I definitely wouldn't  have ordered it a second time. 

Barcelona Cathedral

After lunch, we took the metro downtown to walk around for a while in the city center. There were all sorts of street venders and entertainers. I’ve never seen so many flowers booths in my life! I wish we had more time to shop around because they were selling some super cute, cheap jewelry too. I think there’s a market in Spain too. The only problem is that it’s on Sunday mornings, rather early for this sleepy head. ¡Una día de estos! (“One of these days!”) We also had to be super careful since the street was so busy because European cities are known for being full of pick-pocketers.

with my coffee and coffee ice
cream before our walking tour  

After walking around for a while, we found the Barcelona Cathedral. It was 7 euros to enter and we didn’t have a ton of time before our (free) walking tour started, so we decided not to go in. It looked really pretty though!

Since we were getting a little tired, but had 2 and half hours worth of touring ahead of us, we stopped at a little ice cream shop to get ice cream and coffees. The café con leche is AMAZING here! Naturally I use several packets of sugar, but they definitely give you your money’s worth of caffeine! I also am a super fan of the ice cream here! Especially the coffee ice cream! This one even had little chunks of coffee beans mixed in! YUM YUM YUM!! 

in front of Gaudí's Batilló House

in front of Casa Milà

in front of La Sagrada Familia!!!

 After our little snack, we walked to a nearby plaza to meet the walking tour. I'm not exactly sure what company it was through, but it was a "free" 2 and a half hour walking tour around the city to see different things that Gaudí had designed. (I say "free" because they ask for a donation at the end - we each donated 5 euros.) The tour was totally worth it. Our tour guide was awesome! She told us all sorts of interesting facts about the life of Gaudí. We saw the outside of three houses he designed, the only sculpture he ever designed for the city, and LA SAGRADA FAMILIA!! If you can't tell the Sagrada Familia was my favorite part. I've always wanted to see it in real life, and I was completely stoked to see it!! It was absolutely indescribable. The details of all the sculptures were incredible! The craziest thing is that the cathedral was started in 1882 and still isn't finished! In fact, it's not projected to be finished until the year 2026, but many people believe it will take much longer! It was so beautiful! I hope to go back some day and see the whole thing completed! :)

goofing around

After the tour we got some good old Mickey D's (which turned out to actually be absolutely nasty!! Whatever  spicy cheese sauce the Spaniards like on their bacon cheeseburgers - I DO NOT!) After we stopped by a little touristy shop so Nathan and Luke could get some souvenirs. Apparently the shopkeeper did NOT realize we were related because he advised Nathan to get me drunk and...... Not cool Mr. Shopkeeper. Not cool at all. 

at Park Güell 

After our little shopping spree, we went on a mission to find the Park Güell - the park that Guadí designed. It took us like a year ride in the metro and three hours to walk there. Okay so that may be a "bit" of an exaggeration, but we really did have to go up this MASSIVE hill. This time I'm not kidding. There were literally outdoor escalators to get to the top! When we *finally* made it there, we realized that we were basically the only ones in the park. After looking for a "do not enter or you will be locked in" sign, we continued to walk through the park. We ended up climbing up this mountain-ish thing and had the best view of the city skyline. It was absolutely beautiful -- minus the couple that shared the spot with us. Tone down the PDA please! 

at Guadí's Park Güell

We continued to make our way through the park until we found the famous lizard. Again, I've always wanted to see the mosaic lizard in real life. It's amazing how many dreams of mine are coming true on this trip. Cheesy, I know, but I've literally always wanted to do this. 


After making our way out of the park, we started our trek "home". Naturally we didn't make it all the way there without stopping for a couple of pitchers of sangria in a little side street restaurant. After sipping on our drinks and chatting until the place closed, we headed back to our hostel and went to sleep! :) What a wonderful long day! :)