Weekend Trip #3: Barcelona

This weekend I went to Barcelona with two of my roommates (Caitlin and Kaitlyn) and three other girls.
Caitlin's friend from home (Izzy) is studying in Barcelona, so she was our tour guide most of the time, which was convenient because we didn't have to plan everything out on our own and we didn't get lost at all.


I was surprised at how different Barcelona feels than Rome. Overall, the city is much more with it than Rome. The typically stubborn Romans are happy in their old habits and don't feel the need to modernize themselves or their city. Barcelona has more convenient stores (instead of separate stores--tabacchi shops, farmacias, bancomats, small grocery stores) with more "American" brands like Lays, Pringles, Orbit and Trident gum (I stocked up on normal gum before I left). They have multiple subway lines, which makes it much easier to get around. Of course the architecture is much more modern, which means that stores have larger floor plans and it's not as cramped. 
The people were also very polite. They weren't overly friendly like in Palermo, just more polite. They certainly waited for everyone to get off the subway before they got on, which is much different than the Roman battle to make it inside, or out of, the metro car. They also have a sense of personal space, and will actually walk around you instead of into you, or give you a little room to breathe on the subway.
The streets were much cleaner than Rome's, even though you can see street cleaners all the time here. The women dressed much more fashionably than in Rome. There was a certain energy that carried over into the nightlife that was way more upbeat and seemed to attract a younger crowd. Lot of bars served popcorn, and I liked that. We drank lots of Sangria, and went to a "shots bar," which had a wall filled with the names of shots, but not their ingredients. Basically, you were blindly ordering drinks based on their names. Lots were served on fire. There were also nice clubs and bars all along the beach that were packed every night. It was a much more glamorous nightlife than in Rome!

The fancy popsicles!

The first day we had lunch at Bo de B's, a super famous and delicious sandwich place [they had seasoned and grilled chicken on a baguette, topped with fresh peppers, olives, lettuce, tomatoes, and some special sauces]. In the afternoon we got popsicles at a little place that had fresh fruit popsicles that they could dip in whatever you wanted--milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and different kinds of nuts. I had kiwi dipped in milk chocolate, which was interestingly tart and sweet. For dinner we went to a tex-mex place (interesting choice of meal in Barcelona, I know, but we're starved for good mexican food in Rome). I had the most delicious burrito of my recent life (I'm craving Chipotle so much right now). The next day we got some Starbucks! (which we're also lacking in Rome). That night we went out for a typical tapas dinner (kind of like a lot of plates of appetizers you share with the group). We had some seafood, some fried potato balls, some fried potatoes with fancysauce on them.


Here are some of the sights we saw:

The square where they apparently
welcomed Christopher Columbus back
from discovering America
(questionable).

The carrer del Bisbe, the Bishop's street,
a famous skywalk linking the
President's house to the Catalan
Government seat in the Gothic district.

La Seu Cathedral, also in the Gothic
district of the city.

La Seu Cathedral from the inside.

La Boqueria, a large market filled with
all kinds of fresh fruit juices, chocolates,
fruits, and meats.

The beach! Probably a little bit more
fun while it was still warm out.

The view from way high up in
Park Guell.

A beautiful fountain in Ciutadella Park.

The Arc de Triomphe

The square where they do the castell,
the human towers.

The Arenas Shopping Center

The "Magic Fountain," which dances
to pop music and changes color. I love
the silhouettes in front of it.

The second day I fell in love with Gaudi. I had no idea how many of the important buildings in Barcelona he designed. [Gaudi loved architecture, religion, nature, and Catalonia. He led the Modernism movement around Barcelona, and nature as an inspiration is very obvious in his architecture. He was interested in all kinds of crafts including ironwork, ceramics, carpentry, and stained glass, all of which are evident in his designs. He was influenced by the Gothic Revival and died in 1926, during the Arts and Crafts Movement.] Here are some that we saw:

These are from Park Guell. The entrance has two gingerbread looking buildings that you can see in the first picture. The roof line is very organic which is typical of Gaudi. All three pictures have the broken ceramic or mosaic look. The mosaic lizard is probably one of the most famous icons of Barcelona.

This is Casa Batllo (hiding behind a tree), originally built as a house that's now rented out as apartment buildings. It's supposed to look like a bone structure on the bottom with skull-esque balconies, but you can't really see those in the picture.

Across the street from Casa Batllo is La Pedrera, another Gaudi apartment building. Here you can see the building, again with it's organic, nature-inspired waves, the structures on the roof below that, the view from the roof on the right, and the view out a window of one of the apartments. The roof is like a double-figure-eight, with stairs going up and down and all around the pathways. There are arches inside these spiral structures, which are covered in mosaic decorations. Inside the apartment there are Gaudi-designed wooden chairs, iron floral balconies, and Art Nouveau furniture and decorations.

And, of course, Sagrada Familia:

The top left photo shows the BEST view of the whole thing, as seen from the roof of La Pedrera. Next to that is an inside wall and ceiling. What an optical illusion, right? To the left is a stained glass window, which Gaudi loved.

Below on the left is part of the facade, which has geometric, stylized sculptures on it. And next to that is the ceiling, which feels like a canopy.
I have to give some photo credits to Caitlin because my camera died.