Bonita Barcelona
Beauty, beaches, mountains, and sunshine....Markets, cathedrals and fairy tale parks. A weekend spent in Barcelona is a weekend of bliss.
One of the places I was looking forward to most was Barcelona, Spain. For years I’d heard of its beauty and culture, and for years I’d dreamt of seeing this city that looked like a Spanish paradise.
On a Thursday afternoon a few weeks back, I stared anxiously at the clock and couldn't wait until class was over. I was SO excited that I was going to get to try out my Spanish for an entire weekend, especially since I had been visiting countries that spoke French, German, Dutch, etc. It was nice that I would actually get to practice a language that I felt a little more comfortable with. Additionally, I have always loved Spanish culture, the food, and the people!
At 3 p.m. I ran out the front doors of my school building in Maastricht and walked happily to the train station. My sister Carissa was waiting for me there. Together, we caught the 3:30 p.m. train to Liege, Belgium, and from there, we would head to the Brussels Charleroi Airport to catch our 7 p.m. flight to Barcelona. We knew time would be a little tight, but as long as the trains ran as usual we would make it just fine.
Well, our train to Liege ended up being five minutes late, which to our dismay, meant we would miss the four p.m. train to the Charleroi Sud station and have to wait over an hour for the next one….We started freaking out.
When the next train came, we realized that we would be getting to the Charleroi train station one hour before our flight left, and we still had to take a bus from the train station to the airport! We started praying and kept stressing.
When we ran of the train to find the bus, we were informed that the buses weren't running that day....NOT GOOD! We saw a "Speedy taxi" across the road, and decided it was our last hope of making our flight.
We BARELY made our flight just FIVE minutes before they shut the gate, and we decided it was fate and God that willed us to make it to Barcelona!
We arrived in Barcelona at 11 p.m. and the metro was closed for the night, so we grabbed a taxi and showed him the address of our hotel. We don't normally stay in hotels, but after researching hostels in Barcelona, I realized that we could stay in a 3-star hotel in a nearby town called Barbera for half the price of a hostel in the city. Normally I wouldn't do this, but the hotel website said it was only a 30 minute train ride into Barcelona and the hotel was ride next to the train, so I figured it was worth it to save the money....WRONG.
Not only was the little village of Barbera 30 minutes FARTHER from the airport, but our hotel was NOT by the train, it was in the middle of a shopping center, so I had messed up big time. The taxi ride alone cost us 50 euro. I tried to argue that price with the driver, but my persuasion skills only get me so far when I'm attempting to speak a foreign language.
Well at least the hotel staff will speak English, right? They did advertise that on their website, too....WRONG again. But hey, it was midnight, I was tired, I was forced to speak Spanish, and I had a bed waiting for me, so Carissa and I were happy enough. After a stressful day of travel, we were happy with anything that had a bed and a hot shower.
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| On top of the bus! |
The next morning, Carissa and I got some coffee and croissants from the hotel and then were ready for our first day in Barcelona! The hotel staff working that morning spoke a little English... well, enough to give us a map and call a taxi for us to get to the train station. We took the taxi to the station, bought metro passes to Barcelona, and got off at the city center, the Plaça de Catalunya. From there, we bought tickets for the Barcelona "hop on, hop off" bus tour. This was the perfect way for us to see the city because we didn't have to figure out where things were, and the bus took us to everything we wanted to see!
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| La Sagrada Familia |
The Basilica was really cool because it isn't what you would expect a Catholic church to look like. It looked look like clay or mud on the outside, with sculptures surrounding the building that portrayed different accounts and events from the Passion of the Christ. Everything Gaudí did while designing the church was done to represent something from the Bible. For example, he originally wanted 18 spires on top of the church to represent the 12 apostles, the four evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and the tallest spire--Jesus Christ. It wasn't made of marble or stone, but it was beautiful in its own way. It's difficult to describe. Until that point, we hadn't seen any cathedrals like this one. Cathedrals like Notre dame and St. Peter's Basilica were so different from La Sagrada Familia.
After taking in the Basilica, we grabbed lunch as sat in the park before we got back on the bus and went to Park Güell, Gaudí's famous "fairytale park." It was built from the year 1900 to 1914. It was literally like stepping into a fairytale! There were dream-like little houses, serpent-shaped benches, colorful mosaic designs and fountains. Gaudí certainly was a brilliant designer, architect, and creative thinker! It was really fun spending a few hours there in the sunshine, taking pictures, and doing a little "street shopping" from some local vendors.
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| Park Guell! |
Next, we went back to the hop on-hop off stop and then enjoyed the breeze from the top of the bus as we rode around the city! We saw everything. The royal gardens, palace, the Barcelona soccer stadium, the marina, the beach, the zoo, EVERYTHING! The weather was perfect and we just soaked it all in. I particularly liked all of the flowers and the numerous parks and sitting areas. It looked like the city was made for young couples or friends or whoever loved enjoying the outdoors. It was just so happy-feeling everywhere you went!
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| Carissa, buying presents for friends at the park! |
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| Cable car ride up Montjuic! |
We got off the bus at the top of Montjuic mountain. From there, we paid 6 euro to take the Montjuic Teleferic ride (a cable car that takes you up the mountain) to see the views of the entire city from above: the beaches, the buildings, and the mountain! It was beautiful! Carissa and I really had a great time taking pictures and people watching from above.
After we got off the cable car, we decided we should take our last ride on the tour bus and start our journey back to our hotel in Barbera. (We thought it was a good idea to not stay out too late in the city, especially since we had heard pick pocketing was really bad there and it could be a little scary at night with just two girls).
We got back to our hotel and hit the sack: exhausted and satisfied after a wonderful day.
The next day, we went back to the same stop in the city center and wanted to check off the things we missed from the day before: Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, and the beach!
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| Part of Las Ramblas! |
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| Crazy stuff on Las Ramblas! |
Las Ramblas is Barcelona's most famous and most popular street, with street performers, vendors, shops, and artists. Everywhere you looked was fascinating! People line that street every morning and do crazy things for money! I had never seen anything like it.
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| La Boqueria Market! |
Also located on the Rambla was La Boqueria, Barcelona's most famous market. Locals and tourists alike go here to buy every kind of food you can think of. One local told us that there is a saying in Barcelona that says, "If you can't find it at La Boqueria, then it doesn't exist!"
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| The Market |
At the market, Carissa and I bought freshly made fruit smoothies and walked around and saw as much as we could. (Of course, "as much as we could" meant "as much as Carissa could handle," the squid, fish, snakes and such made Carissa uncomfortable.) They had EVERYTHING there! I was convinced: if it wasn’t at La Boqueria, then it really doesn’t exist!
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| On the beach! |
Then we walked down to the Port and then to the beach! We found a really cute cafe right on the beach with outdoor seating, and we got lunch and soaked up the sunshine! It was the best part of the whole weekend. After lunch, we found a spot in the warm sand and got massages for 5 euro each! (People make money in the strangest ways in Barcelona, haha). But it was AWESOME!
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| Carissa, loving that foot massage! |
After a long foot massage, Carissa and I reluctantly walked back to the metro in the city center and left Barcelona for the last time. We went back to our hotel, and got ready for our early morning flight and journey back home to Maastricht.
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| Exploring Spain with my sister! |
In Barcelona I got to see the sights, enjoy the sun, practice my Spanish and spend quality time with my sister. It was the shortest two days of my life, but definitely some of the best days of my life.
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