Long Weekend in Barcelona

I am so glad that I chose to spend my long weekend in Barcelona! First off, it was so nice to fly instead of ride the train. No need to worry about when to get off and it was so quick! When I got to Barcelona I was a little unsure about where I was going but I found a bus to the city center and from there my friend Audrey (who I stayed with) told me to take a cab since it was far away from the city center. When I got to Plaza Catalunya I asked a tourist information desk where Hotel Campus was and they made it sound like I was on the complete wrong side of the country. I got a little frazzled since they made it seem like a cab would be incredibly expensive and I couldn’t find the place to buy the train tickets for the 45 minute long train ride they had said it would be. Finally after wandering down Las Ramblas and in circles around Plaza Catalunya, I just decided to ask a cab driver how much it would be for him to take me to the hotel. The price was not bad so I hopped in and was frustrated that I wasted 30 minutes trying to find my own way. Once I arrived at the hotel though it was all worth it. I was so happy to see Audrey!! We hugged, caught up and I met the friends she had made on her business program. Everyone in the program was really nice and they were just as excited for me to be there as I was! After meeting everyone we got ready and left for the city for the rest of the day. First we went on a Rick Steves walking tour and saw some really architecturally interesting buildings in the Block of Discord then got lunch at a little café. Afterwards we caught the bus towards Manjuk. Before going up the mountain to the castle at the top, we went into an old bullfighting arena turned shopping mall and went to the very top to see the 360 degree view of the city. Then we caught another bus that took us to the castle at the top of the hill. We took pictures and walked around the old castle that had been more of a place to keep the residents of Barcelona under control rather than defend them. After soaking in the view of the city and the Mediterranean Sea we took a cable car back down to the bottom. Once there we looked for a good spot to wait for the Magic Fountain show. We got a spot right in front and at 9pm the show started. Each show was around 15 minutes and had a different theme of music accompanied by the changing fountain and different color lights. It was so cool to see! Afterwards we met up with the rest of the group and went to dinner then walked around the city for the rest of the night. I was so surprised how late people stay up there! There were families with young kids at dinner at 11:30 and everywhere was busy and open until at least 2am. I was really happy to get to bed since I had been up since 4am and we all slept late the next day which was all for.

 When we finally did get up on Saturday we got ready and headed back into the city. The 45-minute train ride into the city made me appreciate the 15-minute bus ride I had in Bonn. Once in the city we walked down Las Ramblas and looked at all the people and souvenir shops. We decided we needed a snack before continuing so we stopped and got nutella and banana crepes which were delicious! We took our crepes and headed towards the cathedral where the castellers were supposed to be making a human tower at the Catalan Culture Festival. I was so excited when I heard that they would be performing that weekend! We were right in front and got to see them all prepare, hear the coach instruct as the tower was formed and see the expressions on the peoples’ faces at different points in the tower stacking. We were all amazed by this Catalan tradition and were so glad that we got to witness it in action! We were tired and hungry after watching all of that climbing so we decided to go have a nice relaxing dinner. We didn’t hold back when ordering and got 3 appetizers to share, a salad and entrée each and wine for the table. The food was so good and surprisingly cheap! My favorite thing that I ate in Barcelona was one of the tapas called Bravas, which are fried potatoes with a “spicy” sauce on them. At this restaurant there was also little pieces of sausage and they girls said they were the best Bravas they’d had. After dinner we got gelato and walked down to the beach. It was a perfect day in Barcelona.

On Sunday I was sad to leave. I packed up all my stuff and just Audrey and I went into the city. We shopped around and were very successful in finding all of the souvenirs we needed for people back home. I loved all of the paintings, pottery, and little crafts that the vendors were selling. I just couldn’t resist buying it all! After shopping we went back to the place we had eaten at the night before and got the bravas again! We obviously really liked them. After we did a little more shopping and then it was time for me to head to the airport. Seeing Audrey made me more homesick than I had been all trip but leaving Bonn for the last time this morning and giving my host family their key back made me even more sad! I can’t believe that this trip is coming to a close. I am looking forward to this week in Berlin as it is full of really interesting tours and trips but I know it is going to fly by. I’ve learned and experienced so much and I don’t want it to end.