Current Mood: That I wish I would have been more productive on Sunday, Monday feeling.
Music Currently Playing: Wildheart By Miguel
Paris left us tired. We were enjoying our trip, but I think the idea of having to find our way around another huge European city was wearing on us. Especially a city in which the language truly was foreign. We were told that Catalan is some beautiful mix of mostly Spanish with some French and Italian mixed in, but I wondered how beautiful it was going to sound when your trying to find your way to your apartment via subway after an eight hour train ride across France (super gorgeous BTW). Luckily we arrived to find that our fears were unfounded. I could live in Munich, but for a vacation destination Barcelona is going to be tough to beat.
The heat, vacation fatigue, and the threat of pickpockets caused me to make the decision to leave my camera behind for much of our our stay in Barcelona. Now that I am home I do regret it some, but at the time it was just nice to experience the city without having to worry about if what i was looking at would make a good photo. Also the beaches were topless so I wasn't about to be that guy.
Highlights:
- Les Rambles- This was a huge pedestrian median with bars, restaurants, and vendors running the length of it. This street was always busy and made it easy to find our way around. It ran from the center of the old part of the city all the way to the ocean and beaches. If we were hungry or wanted to grab a drink all we had to do was find La Rambla. The room we stayed in was also only a couple of blocks off of this street. Just try to avoid the dudes trying to sell you whistles.
- MACBA- Skate Mecca. This is a world famous skate spot that was 3 blocks away from where we were staying. It has a wonderful long granite ledge that attracts skaters from across the globe. The skaters there were super friendly and were nice enough to let me borrow a board so I could get the full experience. Once the sun goes down it turns into a hangout spot of all kinds of people. Just hit up the local convenience store and buy some cheap beer grab a spot on the steps and enjoy some people watching.
- KINO- A tapas place that is in the same square as the MACBA. You can sit outside and watch the skateboarding while eating some amazing ceviche with a cold Estrella(beer).
- The Beaches- After Traveling across Europe all I wanted to do was nothing. I wanted to go to a beach, drink beer, work on my tan, and do nothing. The beaches in Barcelona let me do just that. They even have little cafes right on the sand that you can grab lunch at. The relaxed beach attire and body positive attitudes of the beachgoers was really refreshing. The main beach Barceloneta was said to be really crowded and dirty so we went up the shore a bit and went to Nova Icaria and La Mar Bella and both were wonderful.
- Pasta Bar- This place served us Katie's favorite meal of the trip. It was in the Gotic neighborhood and they served fresh pasta cooked perfectly with your choice of sauce and meat option. Super simple but they did it right.
FCB vs Roma at Camp Nou- Walking down Les Rambles on our first day there we walked past the FC Barcelona stand and they were selling tickets to promote the upcoming friendly match (which wasn't so friendly) against ROMA. Katie and I decided that we couldn't pass it up. We met up with my friend Haan at the hostel he and his girlfriend work at and he grilled up a delicious meal for us and then we were off to the game. Camp Nou was huge. We didn't have the closest seats, we apparently missed Messi head-but one of the ROMA players after an argument, but we were close enough to see both Neymar Jr. and Messi score goals in FCB's win over ROMA. The atmosphere in that stadium was unlike anything else I have experienced
