Friday March 13th – Sunday March 15th
After a crazy busy Thursday, we made it even crazier and
left Italy for our second free weekend! We had ended up at Rome Termini after
our group site visit, so from there it was on us to get ourselves to Fuimicino
airport in time for our flights. Luckily though, they were late ones, and with
a little guidance from our professor, we found an awesome bus company called
Terrivision that could take us all the way to the airport.
We made it to the airport in plenty of time, and we joked
that something was bound to go very, very wrong later on because everything had
gone so smoothly so far. But in all honesty, the worst thing that happened was
that our flight got a little delayed. Our first night couldn’t have gone
smoother! We arrived in Barcelona around midnight, took a bus to Plaza
Catalyuna, and then walked the rest of the way to the Rodamon hostel, which, I
might add, turned out to be far better than we could have ever expected. We got
to the hostel and literally all crawled right into bed and fell asleep… We were
exhausted!
It was interesting to wake up the next morning and then have
it hit me that I was in a whole new country!! It was hard to believe that with
just a two-and-a-half hour flight we were really in Spain! After the initial
shock wore off, we went to the common area of our hostel and enjoyed a
wonderful breakfast and had to step outside and into the Barcelona sunshine on
our rooftop terrace! (Let me just say, it was one fabulous way to start the
mornings).
On Friday, we mainly did some exploring of the city. We
figured out the metro (which, contrary to what we had heard, was easy to figure
out and we all felt very safe!) We went down to the coast because, and let’s be
honest, it was 65 degrees and sunny, so who wouldn’t have wanted to be on the
beach? It was truly one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. The
water was a little cold because it’s only March, but I really enjoyed walking along
the water and looking at the beautiful stones that washed up onto the shore. They
were almost like the seashells we are used to seeing on the Atlantic coast!
We found a delicious seafood restaurant along the shore and
we got to sit outside and enjoy our meal. I’m pretty sure I ate some of the
best cod and calamari I have ever eaten, and we got to try flan, a traditional
Spanish dessert pudding. How delicious!!
Friday night we got to experience the crazy nightlife of
Barcelona! And while we were definitely excited to have a fun night, I’m pretty
sure the night clubs were what the boys in our group had been looking forward
to the most! Ironically enough, we started our night out at McDonalds… and the
boys convinced me to eat my first ever McDonalds hamburger. I thought it was
rather funny that my first one was in Spain of all places, but I digress. After
our snack, we made our way down to the shoreline again and basically just
followed the crowds of people and the sound of music all the way to the main
strip of bars and nightclubs. We started at a place called Ice BARcelona. While
this place wasn’t very busy, it was definitely and awesome experience!! (It was
already about 11pm, however people in Barcelona don’t really even start going
out until 1 or 2 in the morning!!!) The bar was made completely out of ice and
kept at a temperature of about 5 degrees Celsius. They gave everyone little
parkas and gloves and literally let us brave the cold! And let me just clarify,
when I say everything was made of ice, I literally mean EVERYTHING: the chairs,
the tables, the bar itself, and even the glasses were all carved out of ice!
After reluctantly leaving the Ice Bar, we walked the whole strip of clubs and
made our way into about half, drinking and dancing the night away, and before
we knew it, it was going on 4am and we had to call it a night! Those
Barcelonans sure know how to party!!
After our late night, we all slept in a little and decided
to go to the world-renowned aquarium on Saturday afternoon. We had such a great
time and especially enjoyed walking through the tunnels that go through the
largest tank. After leaving the aquarium, we got ourselves some lunch (and some
Nutella crepes!) and went check out Parc Guell. Parc Guell was absolutely
amazing, and words cannot even begin to describe how incredible it was to get
to see the whole city from a birds-eye-view. We also got to see the world’s
longest bench and we did a little hiking before heading back for the evening.
That night, we went out to a fancy restaurant and had yet
another amazing meal. I got a lobster risotto with muscles and clams and a
delicious dark chocolate truffle for dessert. It doesn’t get much better than
that, or so we thought until our walk back to the hostel brought us right past
a Starbucks! Yep, that’s right, there are Starbucks coffee shops in Barcelona.
We all agreed that we had to go in and get something, and it was surprisingly
very similar to home! I joked that you could have turned away from the door and
almost forget that we were in Spain. I must admit though, after the amazing
coffee we have been spoiled with in Italy, Starbucks really just isn’t the same
anymore! (But not to worry, I’m sure I will still enjoy it when I get back
home)
On Sunday, Brandi and I were enjoying some coffee out on the
terrace and ended up talking to two college students who were life-long
friends, studying in Dublin for a semester together, and traveling to Barcelona
for their spring break. Before long, we learned that they were also both
studying psychology and before we knew it, we were all going to lunch together!
We brought them to the restaurant where we had eaten on Friday and enjoyed a
great meal with even better company. After lunch, we said our goodbyes to our
new friends, returned to the hostel to grab our bags and thank the wonderful
staff at Rodamon, and make our way back to El Prat to head back to Rome.
Overall, Barcelona was wonderful. The weather
was gorgeous, there was something to please everyone, and the food was
exquisite. The thing I appreciated most about Barcelona was that it was truly a
multidimensional city. There was literally something for everybody – a calm
road with bakeries and clothing shops was just a few blocks away from the wild
nightlife strip, which was really just a step away from the beach, and you were
never more than a few minutes away from a really good restaurant. I definitely
see myself wanting to visit Barcelona again in the future, and we were very sad
to leave, however, as usual, it is always nice to come back to our own beds at
our Rome Home.
No comments:
Post a Comment