In my last post, I mentioned how I was going to Barcelona, Spain to celebrate my 21st birthday...and what a birthday it was. Lets start with how my flight was at 8 in the morning, so I had to wake up at 5 to pack (because I'm always last minute). Everyone was half asleep and groggily packing in order to get out the door and take a 30 minute taxi ride to the airport on time. This is me and my roomate Sarah right before we left. You could say I was a bit more enthused than everyone else.
We arrived at the airport on time and everything went rather smoothly. The plane ride was only an hour and a half. When we got to the airport in Barcelona it was beautiful out and the sun was shining. We got in a cab and our hostel was only a few minutes away. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a girly girl, but I tried to be adventurous being in another country and all, hence the hostel idea. Usually I would be totally against it but aparently its what you do when you study abroad to save money. Me and my friends tried to pick the best hostel we could find, but being this was our first time booking one, we were ammatures. When we got to the hostel I was a bit hesitant, and when I saw the jail-sized room and learned that it was mixed dorms, I had a full on panic attack. We stayed there for all of five minutes, and then checked into a hotel right down the street. This is me rejoycing.
After the hostel dilemma was fixed we went right to lunch. Being my adventurous side of my accomodations had failed, I decided to be adventurous with my meal choice. My taste has been acquired to seafood only within the last year. I still dont eat most fish, but I will sometimes venture into the shrimp and tuna area. Being Barcelona is right on the water, fish is there food of choice. I was also told that the Paella is out of this world. Paella is a mixture of rice and seafood and it is infamous in Barcelona. We all sat down and ordered Tappas which is almost like appatizers in America, but better. They had spicy potatos that were absolutely to die for. I ordered them with literally every meal. There Sangria is also out of this world. The second night we were there, we all went out to a nice dinner at a place called Cachitos. If anyone ever visits Barcelona, I definately reccomend this restaurant. The food was excellent and you could pick what kind of wine you wanted and add whatever fruit you wanted to it. The possibilities are endless! Below are pictures of our first lunch and dinner at Cachitos.
The meals were only one of the many things Barcelona has to offer. We also went to the Picasso museum which was really interesting. You're not allowed to take pictures, but you can only imagine what it was like. The highlight of the trip for me was the Christopher Columbus monument. It is at the end of the main street called La Rambla, and it is GIANT. There are statues of lions surrounding it that you can actually climb on! And of course I had to do it. You can also take an elevator to the top of the monument and see the entire city of Barcelona. So of course, we did just that. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The sea, and the entire city is right before your eyes. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is afraid of heights, but it was unreal. These are some pictures I took from the top of the monument.
Overall it was a great time. We all loved it, but I have to say, my heart is set on Rome. Once the trip was over I was excited to return home. The atmosphere in Barcelona is much more fast paced and frantic then Rome. Everyone here is so relaxed and that's what I love about it. One time in Spain was enough for me, but I could spend a lifetime in Italy.
Refreshingly new article. I must applaud your creativity dude…how can you ever think that something as common as this can do
Posted by: Barcelona Apartamentos | March 27, 2012 at 12:50 AM