During the middle of February, I spent a weekend in Barcelona. My friends and I took the slow train from Estación del Norte on Friday afternoon. It took 5 hours to get from Valencia to Barcelona. Once we got to Barcelona, we went to find our hostel.
Our hostel was located right on the beach at a chain called Equity Point Hostels. This is the first time I've ever stayed at a hostel before, so I didn't really know what to expect. At around 10 or 11 pm we checked in and found our room. Our room consisted of nine beds all bunked to the wall like something you would see on a ship, and one small bathroom. Each bed had a tiny locker with no lock to put all your belongings in. The beds only came with a pillow and sheets that you
had to put together yourself, but since it was still February, it was a little bit cold without a blanket. Good thing I had a towel to keep me a little warmer.
After we checked in, we were starving, so we went to search for food. They have these Doner Kebab places all over Spain, and from what I hear, all over Europe. They are really cheap and perfect for when you are really hungry and its late.
Afterwards, we went to the middle of the city to find our friends that had gotten to Barcelona the day before. None of us knew anything about the city so we ended up wandering around for a while and ended up at the Sagrada Familia.
Sagrada Familia is a massive Roman Catholic church designed by the famous spanish architect,Antoni Gaudi. The construction started in 1882, but still hasn't been completed due to multiple setbacks including, but not limited to Gaudi's death, the Spanish Civil War, and it's reliance on private donations. It is not expected to be completed until the year 2026, the centennial of Gaudi's death. Even with the construction cranes hovering over the work of art, it was still spectacular. It looked amazing at night, so I knew I had to come back
during the day and see it again.
The next day we got up in time to eat the free breakfast that the hostel offered. The breakfast was simple: cereal, fruit, packaged croissants and of course coffee. I've noticed that less things in this country are refrigerated including eggs, and in this case, milk.
After a quick breakfast and a nap, we headed off to see La Rambla, a street lined with street vendors and performers. The street performers had a large range of creativity in their costumes, with everything from ladies in dresses to a man pretending to sit on the toilet. If you give them money, most of the time they do a little show for you and let you take a picture with them, and of course some are better than others. All the street vendors make a lot of money, but the good ones honestly know how to put on a good show.
At the end of La Rambla, near the water, a monument of Christopher Columbus stands where the historical figure first returned after his voyage to the Americas. The sculpture was supposed to point towards the new world but instead it is pointing the wrong way supposedly towards his home in Genoa.
After we explored the monument and walked around the main street of Las Ramblas, we found the central market, located on Las Ramblas. The market, Mercat de la Boquería, was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, and of course ham. If you go to Barcelona, this market should be on the list of sites to see.
The next day, we went to see Sagrada Familia during the daytime. We were going to go inside but the line wrapped around the other side of the building, so we figured it would take too long to get in. The next time I go back to Barcelona, I am definitely going inside. Maybe by then it will be finished. After taking lots of pictures and enjoying the nice weather, we walked over to the Palau de Musica
Catalana. This concert hall was suprisingly not designed by Gaudi, but by a man named Lluis Domenech i Montaner between 1905 and 1908. The concert hall holds about 2000 people and has had performers from all over the world come and perform in this beautiful hall renowned for its
acoustics.
I had a fun weekend, and got to see a lot of Barcelona, but there was still so much more I want to see. One weekend isn't enough, but I learned a lot on one of my first weekend excursions in Europe. One of the most important things I learned during one of my first weekends traveling was that one of the most essential things to bring with you is a towel.
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