Barcelona

After another great Blablacar ride, this time with amazing driver Daniel (???), I arrived in Barcelona.

Hightlight 1 - Walking the city

As usual, the first highlight was just enjoying the various parts of the city.  While Barcelona does have an “old city” with old, traditional buildings, Barcelona is really a modern city.  The majority of my time was spent walking through urban area that would remind one more of New York than the other places I’d visited in Spain.  That being said, there’s still plenty of beauty to be found if one knows where to look.

Highlight 2 - Park Guell & Gaudi

Barcelona is home to the greatest works of famous architect Gaudi.  The most notable of which is the Sagrada Familia (another “Highlight”), but there are numerous others.  The first one I saw was Park Guell, which was part of a tour I did with my hostel.  The park was designed by Gaudi and contains various surreal pieces of architecture.  I also stopped by a couple of buildings in the urban center that were designed by Gaudi.  They stick out from your average building quite significantly, and contribute greatly to Barcelona’s unique atmosphere.  

Highlight 3 - Eating

With a larger city comes greater attention, and Barcelona is big enough to be honored with a post in food blog Eater’s “Eater 38”.  I took the opportunity to go to two restaurants that were featured in this list during my stay.  The first of which was a traditional Spanish restaurant that looked out over the ocean.  It was a bit expensive, but luckily my friend Nils was there to split the bill.  We enjoyed oysters, wine, and paella.

Another highlight was a trip to a local Ramen spot.  I had some excellent soup dumplings and a rather strange bowl of Ramen that was flavored with peanut.  Next time I’m in town I’ll go for a flavor that’s less unique.

Highlight 4 - Nights Out

Following the pattern of many other Spanish cities, Barcelona is an excellent place to go out drinking and dancing.  My hostel made this especially easy with organized trips out on the town each evening.  We visited a variety of excellent clubs playing reggaeton, hip-hop, EDM, and 80s pop.  Hostel staff members Charlee and Alex became my best friends in the city, and we enjoyed staying up extremely late!

Highlight 5 - La Sagrada Familia

While I must admit I’ve become a bit desensitized to a large church, I really enjoyed La Sagrada Familia.  Designed by Gaudi, the church has under construction for over 100 years, and is still unfinished.  It is the prime example of his unique style, and is the jewel of the city.  While it looks quite odd, it is both breathtaking and unique from the inside.  While expensive, it is a must-see.

Barcelona was an excellent way to end my time in Spain.  It is a fantastic city, and is remarkably different from many of the other places I went in the country.

Next stop, Rome!