A few months ago Marissa and I were looking into our winter break plans when we decided that maybe we should take a mini-trip at the tail end. Spain is a lot bigger than it seems, and so we decided to head for the Northeast to Barcelona. I had heard really great things about the city, so I didn't want to miss it! Maybe it seems a bit premature to already be worried about not getting to see certain cities and places during my time here, but we don't have many breaks left this year, so more of our trips are going to need to be relatively local.
Anyways, I arrived in the middle of the night, about an hour after Marissa's flight got in. It had been a long day, and I was glad that she had already sorted out checking in to the hostel. It was strange because the hostel's reception was in a building a couple of blocks away from the actual rooms. The room, at Hostal Eden, was acceptable, nothing great but functional. The only real problem was with noise. There was a happening club downstairs that really gave a special beat to my sleep that night, and then in the morning around eight someone was doing construction right outside our window. At least it was somewhere to sleep, and it was relatively warm.
Because of our late night, we were slow going in the morning and didn't leave until around 11:30 for Plaza de Catalonia. We got a map and found a little cafe to eat breakfast. Finally we headed to the metro to find Parque Guell, a park designed by one of my favorite artists/architects, Antoni Gaudi. Too bad we made it all the way to the end of the metro line and exited before we realized that we were supposed to be going the other direction. Way to go, Ipod. We finally made it to Parque Guell around 2 and looked around. It had some beautiful views of the city and was a good first site as we made our way into the world Gaudi's buildings.
The only other stop we had planned for the day was to the Sagrada Familia. I don't know if I can even begin to describe its awesomeness. Of everything I have seen in Europe these last few months, this is probably my favorite thing I have seen. Designed in the early 1900s, it is a perfect unity of a sacred place (a church) and nature. Gaudi, a part of the Modernist movement, was fascinated by nature, and so his design is reminiscent of trees, making use of natural light as much as possible. He loved curves, spirals, and other fun things. His design was so ambitious that even now, much of the cathedral is not finished. The goal is a 2050 finish, which I would love to see. If you ever get the chance to see it, DO! Because it is worth it.
After going back to the hotel for some relaxation, we found a nice hotel for dinner where we enjoyed some paella marisco (seafood paella: a traditional rice dish from Spain). It was quite good, but probably not as good as the paella we enjoyed at Feria here in Zafra. For desert we got some ice cream, which was yummy, but mine had an unexpected addition of a piece of glass. Luckily I wasn't hurt or anything, but it was definitely a surprise. Spain is different from the US in that way, customer service just isn't the same, so I didn't say anything. Sometimes there is just glass in your ice cream; it happens.
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