BarTHalona

One of my biggest guilt-trips during my semester abroad was feeling like I was cheating on Spain. Of course, we started by spending five days in Madrid, and our program did a great job of showing us places in and around Alicante, but there is so much more to see! I was pleased to make it to Granada and Cordoba, and later to Valencia, but I absolutely HAD to see Barcelona before returning home.

I finally made my trip up to northeastern Spain for Thanksgiving weekend, when my cousin and her family were stopping in Barcelona. I took the train up Thursday afternoon and had a conversation with two very sweet women, one in college as well, and one older, about universities and my semester here versus at home. It was one of the first times that I initiated a conversation in Spanish, and that I was able to contribute and understand what we were saying. My family met me at the train station, and after a quick stop at the hotel, we were off to our Spanish Thanksgiving Dinner.

After our night on the town, we began Friday morning with a walk by the Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi's numerous masterpieces in Barcelona. We continued on to La Sagrada Familia, which was absolutely STUNNING. We had seen many churches and cathedrals thus far in Europe, particularly in Spain, but this was the most gorgeous church I have ever been in. The architecture inside and out is amazing, but the stained glass, in my opinion, is what makes the church a work of art. The walls are stark white, but depending on the time of day and the angle of the sun, the church glows many different colors. All of the stained glass is being completed by one person, and there are still some sections of the church that are yet to be completed.

The outside of the cathedral displays numerous Facades. The doors are covered with words in different languages.  

White walls

Stained Glass

From there, we headed over to Parc Guell. We were quickly exhausted by the straight uphill hike and stopped at a cafe right next to the escalators (yes, there were escalators to get you up the hill). After some snack food and afternoon sangria, we made it to Parc Guell just in time for the sunset. You can see the entire city of Barcelona from the higher points of the park, and even Tibidabo behind you. We wanted to see the infamous benches, so that was our next stop. Everything Gaudi designed is truly a work of art. So much time and effort went into every little detail, and it shows.

Cousins take Europe, Round Two!

The detail is incredible! 

Katie, Allie, and I

We found the benches! 

We had a fun evening perusing La Rambla, the main market street in Barcelona, as well as a lovely dinner-turned-competition between the seven of us that were there. Sadly, this was their second and last night in Barcelona, as they had an early flight the next morning. Allie and I got up to send them off, and then snoozed in a little later before heading back to Casa Batllo, where we spent several hours learning all about his history and other masterpieces.

We causally ran into a friend of mine from my program, and the three of us spent the remainder of the day exploring every other part of Barcelona that we hadn't yet seen: the Royal Palace, Camp Nou, and my personal favorite, the Magic Fountain. It got pretty cold towards the end of the night, but it was a fabulous day and a great end to a great trip.

La Font Màgica de Montjuïc

We left early Sunday morning, Allie back to Florence and myself back to Alicante. T-3 weeks 'til we're home!