Barcelona

We didn’t think that our trip could get any better after Paris but we were proved wrong when we got to Barcelona. On our first day there we walked around a street known as Las Ramblas. It is one long street that has all kinds of shops on the sides and vendors throughout the center divide. Next we headed to La Boqueria market to get some lunch. I tried some seafood paella which was delicious. Although it did look like they grabbed shrimp fresh out of the ocean and put the entire thing on my plate(shell, claws, eyes, the whole thing), so it was a little difficult to get the meat out of the body. We continued walking towards an area called the Gothic Quarter. The architecture in this area was really beautiful. We got to see the Barcelona Cathedral and then headed over to the Picasso museum. It was really interesting learning about Picasso and seeing his work as he grew as an artist. We continued on exploring an area called Born and got to have a wonderful Tapas dinner. Tapas are small plates of different kinds of food. Garrett and I ordered some chicken fingers as well as steak tartare. We learned very quickly that steak tartare is raw meat, so that was an interesting lesson. We decided not to go for that part of the dinner but ate everything else and it was delicious along with some house made sangrias. On our second day in Barcelona we started out with an early morning in Park Guell. This Park featured amazing buildings by Antoni Gaudi. His architecture is the reason why so much of Barcelona is famous. After we explored the inside of the park, which was actually pretty small, we went over to Antoni Gaudi’s house where we got to do a quick tour. This was also pretty small ,but it was interesting to see where he lived. Once we were done at the park we headed over to LA Sagrada Familia which is a massive Cathedral near the center of Barcelona. Garrett and I got audio guides as we walked through the cathedral and learned so much about i. There was so much symbolism in every single part of the cathedral, it was truly amazing to learn about it. Gaudi wanted the cathedral to be just shorter than the nearby mountains because he believed Manson achievements should not surpass that of God’s. He also wanted the outer towers to draw people’s eyes up towards the heavens. There were so many amazing facts and details about the church, Garrett and I couldn’t get enough. Since Gaudi also designed most of this Cathedral it has become very famous and the architecture stands out for that reason as well. We were at the cathedral when the bells went off and got to hear the music playing from inside the cathedral. It was truly beautiful. This was probably the sight that Garrett and I liked the most while we were in Barcelona. Once we were done with dinner we got some food and then headed over to the magic fountain. This fountain during some nights of the year plays music and has a water show that goes along with it. It lasts for an hour and I enjoyed every minute of it! By the time the show is over we were both exhausted and ready to go to sleep. Finally day 3 in Barcelona came along and we started off cruising through the town and wandering into some local shops. While we were still in the heart of Barcelona, we went to a churro shop as well and had some amazing ‘churros con chocolate'(you dip the churro in what is basically chocolate pudding that is hot). I could eat them every day! We then headed over to the beach for some time to relax and ate dinner there as well. Finally we ended our night at the Palace of Catalan Music. A beautiful theater where we got to watch a flamenco show. It was a perfect way to end our time in Batlrcelona. The next morning we get up early and head to Amsterdam!