This weekend was a holiday, five day weekend, called puente and my roommate and I went to Barcelona. It took us 6 hours on a bus but was so worth it. The first night we arrived in Barcelona we met up with some old friends of my roommate from when she did a study abroad program here a few years ago. They took us to this pizza place that had the best (or the only good) pizza I have had since being in Spain. The bar was cool, with decorations of graffiti and peeled off beer bottle labels all over the wall. After that we wondered around some very old neighborhoods filled with people of all ages wondering the streets and drinking and socializing throughout the night as normal throughout Spain. We went to a very very hold absinthe bar after pizza. The bar was packed full of people drinking absinthe and the bar itself was really worth seeing but I felt a little strange being the only one with a beer in my hand (absinthe is gross). Around 4 am we met up with some friends of ours from Logrono at the plaza barcelona, which is the center of the city. After eating a memosa from one of the many Pakistani guys who walk the streets selling food and beer, I headed back to the hostel while the others continued their night.
The next day I headed to the famous Gaudi church called Sagara Familia. It was beautiful to look at from the outside but I was reluctant to spend 12 euros to enter. Once inside I realized it was well worth the 12 euros. This church as unlike anything I have ever seen before. It really showed why Gaudi is such a famous architect. The pictures I have do not do it justice but they do more justice than any description I could write. Later that night we walked on the beach where many homeless people build sand castles on the boardwalk and people give them change for their art. The sandcastles were actually very impressive. We called it an early night returning to the hostel at 1 AM to get ready for a full day on Monday. Monday me and my roommate met up with Pera (one of the guys from the first night) and he showed us the entire city. I cannot remember all the names but we saw the famous park that Gaudi designed, we went to the beach in the daytime (my camera had died at this point), and we walked around a popular night area in the evening. I ate some VERY fresh muscles near the beach at a small diveish type bar. They were very delicious but maybe too fresh with all the barnacles and weird sea things stuck to the shells. At night (or the Spanish afternoon around 7 pm) we drank something called Leche de Pantera, which apparently no one knows what is in it and they only make it in 3-4 places in the world (all of which are in Barcelona in this neighborhood). This stuff was really sweet and made me feel ill but I guess it was interesting to try it. This night was another early evening because my roommate wanted to get lots of sleep for her big day shopping before our 10 PM 6 hour bus ride back to Logrono on Tuesday.
Tuesday started out with a trip to this famous market where you can buy what seemed like just about anything. We had a coffee, some fresh juice, some chinese pot stickers and some fresh fried calamaris. I also took lots of photos of all the different strange meats, fish, veggies, mushrooms, drinks spices etc. that you can buy in this market. My roommate then headed off to do her shopping while I wondered around the center of this busy city taking photos and observing more famous sights. Our bus left at 10 PM and we arrived back in Logrono at 430 AM. A long fun weekend.
I am back in Portland in 2 weeks and I look forward to seeing everyone. Hope you enjoy the photos.
