Throw your hands in the air if you's a true playa.

Barcelona from the Olympic hill.

A few weekends ago, our ISA group made the trip to Barcelona. It was only about 3.5 hours by bus (plus stops) and the ride was filled with stellar views of the Mediterranean and mountains, including the sunrise over the sea (Nothing that compares to the fields of South-central Minnesota, of course). When we arrived, we took a short guided bus tour of the city which took us up a pretty immense hill that is near the coastline. It was where all the Olympic stadiums were built for 1992 when Barcelona was the host city. We stopped and took some scenic panorama shots of the city and continued to our hotel. 

Spain is nice.

The rest of our day was free, so we walked a few blocks to the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is unfinished (Construction started in 1882 and isn't expected to be completed until at least 2026). It was huge and beautiful (There are multiple architecture styles due to time passing) and the picture we saw of what it will eventually look like was unbelievable. It is considered the masterwork of Antoni Gaudí who seems to be Cataluña's favorite son. The rest of the evening was spent gathering sandwich supplies at a grocery store (You can eat for crazy cheap if you enjoy sandwiches as much as I do) and walking a bit to explore the city.

Tourism.

That night, we went to check out a bar that is based on the New York Stock Exchange. It was such an awesome concept. There were 5 categories of drinks and the prices varied depending on popularity. If someone bought a Guinness, the prices of all the other beers would go down. It became a waiting game where we tried to watch for the lowest possible prices before buying anything.

La Sagrada Familia is gigante.

The next morning we headed to the Gothic quarter and had a guided walking tour. Our guide was from Barcelona but when she would repeat phrases in English to make sure people understood, she had absolutely no accent. She sounded like she was from America, it was unreal (I hope someday I can become that good at Spanish). We got to see cathedrals and buildings that have been around for centuries (There were even marks in the walls from when the soldiers used to sharpen their swords). This area is often used in movies to portray medieval cities. There is also a set of pillars that are encased in a building that are from the Roman era (It is so crazy to see things and realize how old they are as well as the quality of the architecture). In one small plaza we encountered, there were still holes in the wall of a church from bombing during the Spanish Civil War. Franco, the Spanish dictator died in 1975 and the wounds are still very fresh. My host-father actually almost shook Franco's hand when he was young (That recent).

The Passion façade.

After our tour, a few friends and I headed down to the beach. Throughout the weekend, we constantly compared Barcelona to Valencia (Valencia wins) but I must concede, the beach in Barcelona is slightly more gorgeous. There were awesome sandcastle artists and lots of overpriced food along the boardwalk. Next, we headed up Las Ramblas, which might be the most touristy few blocks I have ever walked in my life. It is known for pickpockets and so I was in turbo guard-my-stuff mode and had my camera in a kung-fu grip. However, there were some pretty sweet caricature artists and street performers. There were people dressed up as demons, princesses, painted entirely gold, and juggling soccer balls (Unfortunately not all at once). One guy could keep juggling a soccer ball whilst climbing up and down a ladder, ridiculous. After lunch, some street performers picked my friend Chris to be in a group of 3 that a guy was going to jump over. He is well over 6 feet tall and yet no blood was shed, it was impressive. Before dinner that day we watched part of "¿Tío, Dónde está mi coche?" (Dude, Where's my car?) It was still a really terrible movie, but we learned new words like mola (sweet) and it was a good way to rest our tired feets.

The Nativity façade.

One really interesting thing about Spain is that it is made up of 17 autonomous regions which are similar to states but with more power. Historically, Spain was united by combining kingdoms and there are some groups that are not very happy with the arrangement. Two of those groups are Basque separatists from Pais Vasco and Catalan separatists from Cataluña. There is even a Basque terrorist group called ETA that does political motivated bombings and killings in an attempt to pressure the government (They are far north of me, don't worry). In Barcelona, the Catalan culture is very evident and people prefer to speak Catalan more than Castellano (Spanish). This led to people speaking English to us because they would rather not speak Spanish. Nearly all the signs in the city and on store fronts are in Catalan, which is similar enough that we could normally understand them. From what some Spaniards have told me, the Catalan separatist movement gains a large amount of support due to the fact that it is a wealthy region and they don't want to pay taxes to the central government when other regions don't contribute as much (Sound familiar?).

The tallest towers aren't yet completed, but it is crazy tall.

The next day, we had a guided tour of all things Gaudí. We started out by visiting Park Güell, which was originally supposed to be a housing development within Barça. It is incredibly awesome. The colors he used and the mosaic style is so unique (It was build between 1900-1914, I can't imagine what people thought). It features the longest continuous bench I have ever seen (Which is crazy comfy). There are two buildings that are beautiful and multiple sculptures of reptiles that are part of the incredible water system. It collects rainwater from the bench area and holds it in a giant chamber before it is used in the  fountains.

A vertical view from the area next to the Roman ruins.

After the park, we headed to see two houses designed by Gaudí. The first was Casa Milà which has beautiful curving lines and although we didn't get to go inside, the roof looks like it has some sweet surreal designs. It was almost demolished back in the day because it broke construction zoning rules. Next was the Casa Batlló which is only a few blocks away and was superguay. It has a lot more color and has a skeletal aesthetic. Our guide described the roof as being built to resemble the back of a dragon and the turret being the sword of Saint George (Gaudí was very religious and Saint George is the patron saint of Cataluña).

I really dug this guy smoking a pipe and selling art.

Like a boss.

We were once again left to our own devices for a few hours before the bus ride home. We crossed through Las Ramblas once again to the giant statue of Christopher Columbus and the port area. There was a really cool little used goods market going on and so we checked that out and walked around the port. We stopped at the beach for a few minutes and there happened to be a guy, just totally naked and strolling along the beach. No one else was even in swimsuits (It was quite brisk), but this dude was just living it up. Things are a bit more laissez faire here.

Catedral de Barcelona which started being built in 1298.

It was a lot of fun to see Barcelona and I am excited to spend a bit more time at the Gaudí buildings with my mom when she heads across the pond in late March. There are also Dalí and Picasso museums there that I didn't get to see. However, upon arriving back in Valencia, I was very relieved. I hadn't realized how much I enjoy this city until I had another to compare it to. When we got back, Valencia felt like home. I am going to miss this city and its semi-small city vibe and the fact that even though it attracts some tourists, it is not touristy at all. I am never spoken to in English and actually a few weeks ago, I was asked for directions in Spanish by an American and I was able to help him  out and he thought I was a Spaniard (Bonus).

The boardwalk (Note the guy doing the Abbey Road)

Las Fallas is coming very quickly (< 2 weeks) and Valencia is already changing. It is the city's biggest festival  and the population of the city doubles for the week. It is essentially all about fire and explosions (Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds). More on that next time.

¡Fotofiesta!

This sandcastle had a working fountain.

The Mediterranean is a good place to be.

This is my buddy.

He was absurdly good at juggling.

The guy throwing him kind of looks like the Green Goblin.

Passionate.

I didn't see that person until later and then it was full of folks. Bummer.

Gaudí was a crazy tío.

Park Güell was so beautiful.

This picture makes it look like the girl is famous. Paparazzi.

This bench is way comfortable and gives an excellent view of the city.

Casa Batlló, unfortunately without a view of the roof. Still chulo.

This man's face looked like a mask.

This was below the Columbus statue. Choice.

Hitchcock tried to warn us.

Lines and tourists.

Overall the trip receives: Two thumbs up and an overenthusiastic smile.