After a very short and pleasant plane ride from Amsterdam I found myself in the city of Barcelona. At first I felt a bit overwhelmed as I had no idea where I was going and absolutely no knowledge of the Spanish language, but I hopped in a taxi, pointed to the address of my hostel and made my way there. I later learned that taking a taxi was an expensive mistake as the metro system in Barcelona is extremely easy to use and there was a metro stop just outside my hostel, this should be a lesson to you all, don't be afraid to take public transportation. Anyway, after the taxi driver stopped and gestured to a small and shady alleyway Rachel and I jumped out and walked down it to find the building of our hostel. The hostel was called Arco Youth Hostel and was actually quite nice. I didn't really know what to expect as this was the first hostel I ever stayed in but I was really happy with the experience. We stayed in a 16 person dorm that was mostly filled with sweaty snoring men, and just two other girls besides ourselves. At first this seemed a bit intimidating but I grew to see the humor in it as time went on. Here's some pictures of the hostel:
The kitchen
The beds
The shady alleyway
Our hostel was located in a touristy part of the Gothic District of Barcelona. We were right on the famous Las Ramblas, a tourist trap of a street where shady people try to sell you junk and pick-pocketers thrive. I actually liked being there, it was lively and interesting to watch and be apart of. The day after our arrival Rachel and I decided to take advantage of a free walking tour around the city. This was a very good decision as I learned a lot about Barcelona and the area is which I was staying, here's some pics:
A beautiful church that has taken 600 years to complete and is still under construction.
The images on this building are a style of art typical to Barcelona called sanscritti. Artists use sand to make images, you will find this throughout Barcelona.
Before discovering America Christopher Columbus was important to Spain so they constructed many monuments to him, here is the largest.
Barcelona for me was characterized by its small alleyways and close proximity of its buildings. It felt to me like living in the past, or how the "old world" might be depicted in movies. I loved how the sun shone between small gaps between buildings, it was something I wasn't completely able to capture on film but I sure did try.
The highlight of Barcelona was definitely Parc Guell. It was only a short 15 minute metro ride to an incredible, beautiful park designed by Gaudi. Rachel and I decided to hit up the famous St. Joseph market to buy some bread and cheese (in our usual fashion) and headed out to picnic in the park. The beauty of this place in indescribable, so I will have to say it with pictures as per usual.
The Market
The park was set atop a mountain which meant that in order to get up it, you had to take an escalator which was at nearly a 90 degree angle.
View of Barcelona from the top
Somebody carved my name into a cactus :I
The famous Gaudi building which has taken 300 years to complete.
So yes, as you can see the park was pretty darn amazing and quite whimsical indeed. This was definitely my favorite part of Barcelona.
After a lovely train ride through the Spanish countryside Rachel and I landed in Madrid where we were greeted by my friend Morgan, and this weird statue:
Creepy, no?
Madrid was absolutely beautiful and differed from Barcelona a huge amount. It felt a lot more modern than Barcelona, but a lot more livable. As Rachel, or maybe Morgan put it, Barcelona is somewhere you visit and Madrid is somewhere you live. Morgan was an excellent tour guide and took us to some wonderful places including the main park of Madrid, which again was beautiful.
ruins of some sort
The lovely lake
After a nice day in the park, Morgan brought Rachel and I to her favorite haunt, El Tigre. This is a bar that serves traditional Spanish tapas, but the twist is that you don't order your food, you order your drink and food, not of your choice, comes with it. So you order your drink and a free plate of food comes with. Awesome? I think yes.
Tapas, tapas, tapas.
me, a mojito, and a croquette (a fried ball of bechemel sauce)
Madrid was characterized for me by its absolutely awesome street art. It may have just been the area in which Morgan lived, but the street art was some of the best I've ever seen. Morgan informed me that it is a growing trend there and that some shop keepers encourage it.
Outside and ATM
Outside an optometrist
On our last day in Madrid Rachel and I visited the Prado Museum where we saw a really really cool exhibit of Goya's Dark Ages. The paintings were totally eerie but also completely awesome here is one of my favorites:
So after a wonderful stint in Spain Rachel, Morgan, and I loaded into a plane and left for Bologna, a story to be told next time. Speak to y'all soon, enjoy the Royal Wedding.
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