Barcelona, España

Yesterday morning, Janet, Liz, Benji, Brian et moi woke up at the crack of dawn to take the RER out to Charles de Gaulle to catch our flight to Barcelona. It was my first EasyJet experience, and it was a pretty good one, except for not being able to sleep well. Who knew they sold lotto tickets on airplanes??

Barcelona's airport looks awesome on the inside, and the whole Spanish thing made it exciting. We took Barça's equivalent of the RER train downtown. We were in some serious countryside for a while, nothing but farms and shack-style houses. Then we got into a banlieue feel, which honestly looked pretty Latin American and pobre. Once in the city, we transferred to the metro and went to our hostel.

The hostel we're staying in is lovely and clean, with a friendly, helpful staff. And no curfew. After settling in, we set off around noon in search of our first Spanish meal. Noon is actually almost too early to eat lunch in Spain, where people eat much later than in the U.S. or even in France. We found a place with sandwiches and had a great time explaining to the server that Benji doesn't eat carne. Once i pointed at him and said "No Carne", she informed us of Benji's lunch selection: the vegetarian sandwich that represented the only non-meat selection on the four page menu.

After lunch, we took the metro to the marina, which is fantastic and wonderful and makes me homesick. They have a really cool wooden pier/bridge deal going on down there, and basking in the sun was like seeing an old friend. We then walked into town, admiring the pretty buildings and cool architecture. There is an area full of gothic architecture, which is my fave, so that was extremely exciting. They also have an arc de triomf (approximation of the Catalan spelling). Then we checked out a really cool apartment building designed by Gaudí, Barcelona's most famous architect. Photo ops galore.

After wandering around at length, we bought a tub of gelatto and ate it on a bench. Excellent idea. Then it was time for a nice siesta, we went out to get tapas for dinner. We didn't end up being seated until 23h. Yeah, 11 at night. That's pretty late. But it was worth it. The food was good, the atmosphere was really fun.

Next morning, we got up decently early and grabbed some croissants and café nearby. Ordering in Spanish is surprisingly NOT as easy as ordering in French. And when I say surprisingly, I mean unsurprisingly. Our interactions with the employees at the café were comical.

From there we stopped by the city museum of Barcelona, which includes an audio tour of the Roman ruins under the site. Similar to learning about Lutece (Roman Paris), but nonetheless very interesting. Next we went to a place called the Sagrada Familia. REALLY COOL. Apparently, since the end of the 19th century they've been building a massive naturalist, art nouveau cathedral in Barcelona, also designed by Gaudi. WHO KNEW? Probs tons of people, but not me.

That night, we decided to head to the Carnaval parade. Carnaval being the celebration, before Lent starts on Wednesday, where everyone goes crazy and wears strange costumes. Can't miss that right? Because Barcelona isn't a main international Carnaval tourism destination, the parade was actually very local, which made it really cool. They had a series of groups representing neighborhoods in Barcelona. One of them was a cool Colombian theme. One of them was some freaky naked people and red paint. One of them was "Thriller." N.B. When in Spain, buy churros. Or xurros as they say in Catalan. They're the crêpes of Spain, and they rock.

After a chic Barcelona dinner, we met up with a group of people staying at our hostel's sister hostel across town and followed the hostel guy into a club for free, where he then bought us each a glass of champagne. The music was all Spanish/Latin, which was fun but nullified our American dancing skills. Luckily, our information was correct and the metro was still running around 3:30 when we got tired.

Next morning, after a delicious croissant con chocolate, we trekked to Park Guell, beautifully designed by Gaudí and absolutely swarming with tourists. The trip involved the metro, numerous outdoor escalators, and a great deal of hiking up and down the big hill the park crowns. It was worth it though, since the park gave us panoramic views of the entire city and had interesting architecture to boot.

By the time we finished there, it was time to head to the airport for our flight to Granada. Description of Granada coming soon!