My Final European Adventure... for now!

So where was I? Oh, that’s right… BARCELONA!

This past weekend was my last trip in Europe, at least for the foreseeable future.  While it was not my favorite place that I have visited over the past four months, it was still a good trip.  Honestly, the best parts were the amazing food and spending several hours just sitting on the beach in the sun. 

We started off the trip kind of rough, considering we had to get up at 5 am to catch a train to get to Bologna to catch our flight.  Quite the adventure, right? By the time we got to Barcelona, we were already exhausted.  After checking into our hostel, we went to get some lunch at a local restaurant and it was AMAZING.  If you’ve never had paella, I would highly recommend it, especially if you are in Spain.  It’s a really simple dish, but it was sooooo good.  I had the Chicken Paella, which is basically just chunks of marinated chicken in rice that cooked in tomato sauce with all sorts of vegetables and juicy goodness.  Totally worth all those starch-filled calories. 

After we finished eating, we hopped on a bus to go to the beach, which was amazing.  We sat on the sand and just watched the water for a while before getting up and walking down the boardwalk.  There were a ton of Indian men selling mojitos, beer, and these gorgeous squares of linen that had really beautiful patterns on them.  I purchased on that has a green mandala on it that I absolutely love, although I really wanted one with elephants on it.  Oh well.  We did have a bit of a shock when we saw this older gentleman walking down the beach completely naked.  I wouldn’t have been that surprised other than the fact that he was literally the only person that was walking around naked.  And he wasn’t even going in the water, he was just walking down the sand and occasionally pausing to just look out at the water.  Rather odd, if you ask me.

We eventually left the beach and headed back into the city center, where we saw a Flamenco dance.  All of the singing was in either Spanish or Catalan, I honestly don’t know which, but it was still really cool.  From what we could gather, the show was about a love triangle between a woman and two men.  The dancers were really great.  The woman was amazing, especially when she wore this dress with a long, fluffy train.  She was whipping it around and up and it looked really cool.  The men, on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic.  The skill that they had and the speed that they moved at was phenomenal.  Most of the singers were really great too, although the one woman sounded like a dying goat, which was a bit unfortunate.  Overall, a really cool experience!

The next day, we went on a Modernism walking tour of the city.  Definitely not the highlight of the trip, but we did get to see a lot of the city and some really cool buildings.  For a while, the buildings in Barcelona could not have any color on them.  I can’t remember exactly why this is, but it was still really interesting.  After this color ban was lifted, the buildings were covered in mosaic tiles that are absolutely beautiful to see.  At the end of the walking tour, our guide took us to a local restaurant for some tapas, which are basically just appetizers.  However, they were absolutely delicious.  We had a bit of a variety, including Bravas potatoes, croquettes, meatballs, and chorizo.  It was all so good, although not quite enough food.  On the bright side, by the time we ate, it was almost three o’clock, so we didn’t have that much time until we could eat again. 

For dinner, we went to the Hard Rock Café.  I know, we ate American food in Barcelona, but we’d already eaten all of the typical Spanish food and it sounded really good.  And it really was, although it was a surprisingly small restaurant.  We had met an Australian kid on our tour of the city, and he came with us to Hard Rock café.  He didn’t entirely understand why Hard Rock is such a big thing, although to be honest, neither do I.  However, it’s good food and the music is great.  He was a really nice guy doing his gap year in Europe, although he was also a bit of a baby since he had just turned 19 in February.

Next, we went to this really cool fountain show in the main square of the city.  It’s kind of like the show in Vegas, but it changes colors and is set to different kinds of music, including rock n’ roll and classical.  It was absolutely gorgeous to see, although we only stayed for about 20 minutes.  Honestly, how long can you admire a fountain changing colors and making different shapes? And at that point it had changed to classical music that didn’t quite fit with the fountain’s colors and movements.  But who am I to judge! Afterwards, we just headed back to the hostel since we had been out for most of the day.  No, we did not hit the nightlife that Barcelona is famous for, but I do not regret it in the least. We did, however, see a group of break dancers near the fountain show.  They were really energetic and fun to watch, definitely a great part of the Barcelona culture.  

On our final day in Barcelona, we just went back to the beach.  We spent a while just sitting on the sand and enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves.  There was a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot so it was absolutely perfect.  While the others slept, I read what was left of my book and enjoyed the sights.  Eventually, we got up and headed to a fresh food market that was just down the road.  We ate some empanadas (they were cold but delicious), some fresh strawberries, and some amazing churros.  They were fresh and delicious and completely bad for us, but oh my god were they good.  We got some traditional sugar coated churros and some chocolate ones as well.  Afterwards, we walked along the harbor, looking at the various people selling random things.  They had everything from knockoff shoes and purses to keychains and Flamenco fans.  Unfortunately, it was then time to head towards the city center again to catch the train to the airport. 

I know it sounds odd, but the Barcelona airport was my favorite one this entire trip.  It was enormous, but still very clean and quiet.  When we walked through security, it was like we were walking into a mall.  There was an enormous circle filled with various shops for clothes and food, and there was even an entire wine store! Despite the size of it, it was practically silent.  Alright, that’s all I’ll say, since it is just an airport, but still!!!

Overall, it was a pretty good trip.  There were a few downsides and it certainly wasn’t my favorite city, but I definitely enjoyed the time on the beach.  It was nice to have a little bit of relaxation considering all of the work that I have due in the next two weeks.  Why they made this a free weekend is beyond me, but whatever.