Spain

Our last day in Barcelona was a mix of of being a tourist and running around like a local. Kezia started the day off at a local coffee shop recommended by her instagram friend @piluro (check out her beautiful feed!)

Later on, Kezia, our new German gal Theresa, and I touched based to do the most touristy thing you could possibly do in this city, visit La Sagrada Familia. Previous to visiting Barcelona, my knowledge on Gaudi and his architecture was almost non-existent, which is kind of pathetic with the amount of art history classes I’ve had to take. However, his architecture truly amazed me in how much variety is found throughout his work, that really gives this city it’s charismatic appeal. The Sagrada Familia was no exception.

Not only is this attraction particularly large, each facade is completely unique. The story behind it’s construction has allowed many different artists/architect’s to interpret Gaudi’s work from his original plans and sketches. Because of his unfortunate death, the church has yet to even be completed, and may not be for a few more decades.

After seeing the sights, we met up with Malte again who suggested the best way to spend our last night in Barcelona was with a band from Catalunya called Txarango (to really get you in the spirit, press play). The crowd of tourists from the day turned into a crowd of locals, squished together on the metro as we headed to the beach. We could not believe how many people were at this concert, and we still aren’t even sure but want to say more than 30,000. The vibe at the beach was filled with excitement and pride, and I couldn’t think of a better way to end our time in Barcelona (at least for this trip, there is no doubt that I’ll be back)

It’s crazy how long the day can feel when you accomplish so much. We got an earlier start this morning and were out of the hostel by 9 so we could meet up with Theresa at St Josep Mercat de Boqueria for breakfast. We meandered through the aisles of fresh fruit and juice, meat and cheese, pastries and candies. I love food and grocery shopping so I could’ve been happy there for hours just looking at all the different types of food. We each bought a fresh juice, fruit, and an empanada (a Spanish calzone style pastry). Mine was ham and peas, but I thought there would be more ham than there was…turned out to be mostly peas with a couple bits of ham, and it was dry…wasn’t a big fan of that particular one. We ate lunch on some random steps and then went to a nearby cafe for a cup of coffee. We just took our time sitting there, talking. That’s one thing I love about this trip so far. The ability to relax and enjoy something without having to rush to work or be somewhere at a certain time afterwards. It’s so different from what I’m used to: if I’m not working or doing something, I feel like I’m wasting time.

After finishing our coffee we headed to Parc Güell to check that off our tourist to do list. As much as I hate doing touristy things, there’s a reason they are touristy…Gaudi’s work is really quite amazing and nothing like anything I had ever seen before. I just wish there weren’t so many people around! As we meandered through the park, I heard my name called, “Kezia?!” I turned around to find Alexa, a high school friend standing behind me. What are the chances?! I didn’t even know she was in Barcelona and besides that, we were both only there for a few days. What is the probability of both being in the same place at the same time, halfway around the world. Crazy. She was there with a friend she had met in Portugal and we all explored for a bit together before parting ways.

By then we were starving and it was time to find a place to eat! We wandered through small winding streets until we came to a place called Atu Bola. We passed it once and continued looking for somewhere, but then decided to make our way back. The interior, delicious looking food, and price drew us in. The restaurant served “gourmet street food” that consisted of deep fried balls of amazingness. I don’t even know how to describe them and I forgot to take photos because I was just so excited to eat, but if you are ever in Barcelona, I recommend checking it out. We each got different types of balls so we could all try different ones. Chicken, beef, and shrimp were our choices and they were each accordingly accompanied with hummus, potatoes, and noodles…but they were so much more than just that. We also had some fresh squeezed lemonade, and for dessert, more balls. These ones were of the chocolate sort and were delicious with a cup of ‘cafe con leche’. All that for an amazing price of about 10 euros.

Now we had to start walking it off…

We explored the area of El Ravel, admiring the graffiti art and shop fronts. We made our way back to Maltes apartment and then made a quick trip to the grocery store. I only mention this because Megan and I were both amused by the fact that they felt the need to keep the shampoos refrigerated, but not the eggs…anyways that was our Monday!

After a late night of photo organizing and editing, I took it easy and slept in. There was nowhere in particular to be at no certain time. It was nice. I headed to the Gothic Quarter on my own in the late afternoon, while Megan stayed to get some extra rest. As soon as I stepped out of the metro on that side of town, I was in awe. With the beautiful architecture and facades and narrow winding allies. I began to walk aimlessly, allowing myself to get lost in the maze. As I finished buying some postcards from an Indian man, he told me a few days in Barcelona was not enough. I would have to come back for a month, but could stay at his house instead of paying for a hotel. I turned around to leave and saw to two familiar faces. It was the couple I had sat next to on the flight to Barcelona, Kirsten and Jeff from San Diego! It was crazy that they had found me, although my hair and height does help me stand out a little I guess. I walked around with them for a bit chatting about our first impressions of the city.

My next plan of action was to meet up with Megan at Casa Batllo, a masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi, and a remodel of previously built house, redesigned by him in 1904. I didn’t know much about Gaudi or his style of architecture before heading to Spain, but as soon as I saw this house I was amazed. So unlike anything I had ever seen, it is only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. I won’t go into detail describing the building, but it was incredible! So many thought out details, from the functionality to the appearance of light and colour. After our audio tour, we headed back to the Gothic Quarter and from there, La Verde Umbria for pizza with Megan’s friends Malte and Theresa as well as a few others. There were at least 20 different topping combinations and the more options, the harder it is for me to decide! I didn’t go with the 10-cheese pizza (yes that was an option), but the one I did go for was delicious! It was a thin crust pizza with just the right amount of crispiness. After some good laughs and conversation we made a group decision to go for gelato just around the corner. Despite already being stuffed, it’s apparently some of the best in Barcelona so I couldn’t miss out. The coconut and passion fruit combination I got was worth every bite! We called it a night there and headed back to the hostel.

First breakfast in Spain. Toast piled with delicious brie and bacon…enough said.

A mix of anxiety, excitement, and running around crossing off my to do lists led me to begin to feel a little under the weather a few days before setting off. Who doesn’t love a lack of voice and sniffling before spending hours on a plane?

Luckily, packing was a breeze and I was more than happy to put both my pack and backpack on and walk to the sky train, as Vancouver’s weather became more and more dreary with rain in near sight.

I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure the cure for how I was feeling is Spanish sun.

Because the travel time is quite long from Vancouver —> Seattle —> Amsterdam —> Barcelona, my mind focused more on how I was physically feeling and less on the fact that I was actually heading to Spain. Unfortunately, that meant absolutely no sleep, so I was beyond happy to finally make it to my destination. However, that meant waiting a few more hours until Kez’s flight (delayed flight) made it’s way here. Even just waiting in the arrivals terminal gave me the sense of what Spain was truly about. A few friendly folk even sat next to me and started up various conversations on travel, their great country Spain, and thoughts on Canada while I waited.

Seeing a familiar face when Kez arrived made the trip feel even more real (leaving the airport terminal also helps) and then we were on our way to the hostel. Every transit system takes a little getting used to, and the train into the city seemed to move at a particularly slow pace (much like this wifi). We decided to do the walk from the station to our hostel rather than figure out a bus.

One of our first encounters walking to the hostel really opened our eyes as to how different it was here and that we really needed to be aware of our surroundings. We almost believe we were lucky it happened right away so we could really smarten up for the rest of our trip. Disclaimer to our ‘rents, everything is all good.

While we we were walking, a man informed us that there was something all over our back pack, and I turned to see Kezia’s pack and back of legs were covered in a beige, paint-like substance. The same man, in Spanish, offered us napkins and tried to describe it coming from the trees and birds (this was accompanied by him flapping his arms like a bird). He walked ahead, but not too far until Kezia noticed that my stuff was covered as well. He came back and handed us more napkins (which seems suspicious in itself… who carries that many napkins?) and it became aware that he was hoping the next series events would include us taking our bags off, and his accomplice being able to swipe them. We realized the next course of action for us was to just take everything, ignore them, and walk away.

We’re still not sure if this is their tactic or exactly what happened, but it made us realize that we really need to be aware of our surroundings and belongings. Luckily from there, we made our way to the hostel and did the one thing I’ve been waiting to do for literally days, catch some zzz’s.