We navigated our way to Holly's apartment, where Ryan, Holly's hilarious gay roommate, buzzed us in. Holly, Michael and Peter were still on spring break and wouldn't be back until the next day, so Ryan showed us around the apartment and we made ourselves at home. Briana and I quickly realized we were starving, probably due to the immense amount of energy we spent trying to block out the annoying child we were seated next to on the bus. It was Easter Sunday, so we were worried about restaurants being open, but we had no trouble at all. We found a cute sidewalk cafe and ordered some delicious chicken sandwiches followed by a Spanish tradition: churros. We sat in the sun and enjoyed the weather and absence of screaming children. On the way back to Holly's, we stopped at an alimentación to grab some pasta for dinner and a couple bottles of cava, which is Spanish sparkling wine that the area of Catalonia is famous for. We practically sprinted home from the alimentación because it was about to storm. We made it back to Holly's just before it started pouring and unpacked, cleaned up and showered before figuring out how to meet up with Laura and her roommate from Boston College, Sarah.
Laura and Sarah eventually cabbed over to Holly's apartment and we just relaxed for the night with a giant pot of pasta and a few too many glasses of cava. Ryan, Holly's roommate, came back from a long dinner and entertained us with some hilarious stories of his time abroad. We could have listened to him all night, but we were all fighting heavy eyelids and decided it was time for bed instead. We made up the futon and all passed out until the next morning.
Since Sarah and Laura had been in Barcelona for a few days already, they had done most of the touristy things that Briana and I were planning to do, so Briana and I decided to push back our really touristy day and spent the day with Laura and Sarah in Park Güell, a famous park in Spain designed by Antoni Gaudí, who designed many buildings in Barcelona. The park looks like a mix between Alice in Wonderland and Candyland, all set on a huge hill in Barcelona. It is an absolutely incredible place full of mosaics and tons of stone. The park has many levels, and we hiked up near the top for some breathtaking views of the city. We could even see the blue wiener, which is actually the Agbar Tower, that we would always use as a landmark to make our way back to Holly's apartment. We also had some gorgeous views of the ocean.
Me and Briana at Park Güell
View of the Blue Wiener from Park Güell
Laura and Me in front of the house in Park Güell
Briana and Me in the entrance to Park Güell
When we were through with Park Güell, we decided it was time for a siesta by the water. We made our way to the pier, bought some Ben and Jerry's ice cream and sat in the sun, just relaxing. Michael, one of my oldest and best friends from St. Louis, decided to meet us at the pier to hang out for a little while. After a little confusion about our location, we finally tracked him down. He told us all about his spring break trips with Holly and Peter to the Canary Islands, Prague and Amsterdam and then told us about the plan for the night: Loco Lunes at a club called Otto Zutz. We had heard that the nightlife in Barcelona was crazy, so we were eager to gain first hand experience in that area. The pier started to get a little chilly, so we decided to end our siesta and go back to Holly's to get some dinner and get ready for a wild night.
View from the pier
All of us were in the mood for some comfort food, so we chose to forgo the traditional Spanish paellas and opted for the Hard Rock Cafe instead. The wait for a table was over an hour, so we went to the bar area and found a table there. About ten minutes after we sat down, we were joined by a surprise guest: Ryan, Holly's roommate. While we scarfed down our chicken fingers and mac & cheese, Ryan picked at his salad and told us all about his life. Our quick dinner turned into a two hour meal as we all nearly peed our pants laughing at Ryan's stories. By the time we finally made it back to Holly's, it was around 10:30 and we were rushing to get ready. Luckily, we were in Spain, where nights don't begin until 1 am, so we had no trouble getting ready to go and drinking our cava before making our way to Otto Zutz.
Sarah, Briana, Ryan, Me and Laura before Loco Lunes
Holly and Me before Otto Zutz
We walked into the club around 2 am and were greeted by huge hugs and shots from Michael. After graciously accepting both, we immediately headed to the dance floor, which was crowded with tons of people. I don't think we stopped dancing from the time we first stepped onto the dance floor until the lights came on in the club. We did, however, run into many different people from St. Louis, from Glasgow, and also from BC. The rumors about Barcelona nightlife were true. We had an insanely good time just drinking and dancing the night away. We finally got back to Holly's around 5:30 or 6 in the morning and were absolutely exhausted. Laura and Sarah were flying to Madrid the next morning, so they had to wake up around 8:30 to finish packing and leave for the airport. It was not a pretty morning, to say the least.
Me, Ryan and Holly at Otto Zutz
Michael and Me at Otto Zutz
Briana and I dragged ourselves out of bed around 11, when we got up, changed clothes and walked to Starbucks to get much needed caffeine into our systems. After waking ourselves up a little bit, Briana and I started on our tourist day. We began at La Pedrera, an apartment building designed by Antoni Gaudí, the same architect who designed Park Güell. Gaudí was very interested in organic shapes and gothic architecture. The outside of La Pedrera (which means "The Quarry" in Spanish) consists of tons of swirling and curvy stone, pretty much unlike anything I've ever seen. Briana and I waited our turn to go in the actual apartment and then to the rooftop of the building. The interior of the apartment was cool, but the rooftop was beyond amazing. I have no words to describe it, so the pictures will have to speak for me.
View of the Blue Wiener from La Pedrera
The rooftop of La Pedrera
Me with the rooftop
Exterior of La Pedrera
After La Pedrera, we walked to Sagrada Família, a Roman Catholic church designed by Gaudí. Sagrada Família has been under construction since 1882 and they don't expect it to be finished until at least 2026, which is the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death. The church is incredibly intricate and detailed. There are carvings all over the facade. Just like the rooftop of La Pedrera, it is unbelievably difficult to try and put Sagrada Família into words. It is beautiful and so hard to describe. Briana and I waited in the hour-long line to take an elevator to the top of one of the towers, where we had views of all of Barcelona. There are 18 towers of different heights in the church that represent the 12 apostles, Jesus, Mary and the four evangelists. I am not sure which tower we went in, but it was gorgeous. We got some views of the interior of the church as well. Unfortunately, the interior is under massive construction, so it was difficult to imagine what it might look like when it is finished.
View from the top of Sagrada Família
Interior of Sagrada Família
Me at Sagrada Família
Exterior of Sagrada Família
When we were finished at Sagrada Família, Briana and I headed to La Rambla, which is a pedestrian mall full of little kiosks and stands selling everything you can imagine from tourist souvenirs to live chickens. The street was insanely crowded, so Briana and I found La Boqueria, a public market full of different food, where we stopped for some treats. They had fresh food of all kinds, including the most delicious looking fruit I have ever laid eyes on. Briana and I got individual servings of strawberries and enjoyed them as we walked around the market. Right as we were leaving the market we came across a stand we simply could not pass up: the chocolate stand. They had chocolates of all shapes, sizes and flavors. We spent a while picking out which chocolates we wanted and then handed them over to the woman running the stand to weigh. I'm not sure how much our sweets weighed, but I will admit that we ended up spending €22. Yikes!
La Boqueria
La Rambla
We were exhausted after little sleep and a long day of touring, so Briana and I walked back to Holly's. After Loco Lunes, we weren't exactly in the mood (or physical state) to be partying until 6 in the morning again, so we decided to have a low key night with Holly. Holly took me and Briana to Pim Pam Burger for dinner, where we sat and talked for a long time, probably reminiscing about high school a little too much, but it was a great night. When we got back to Holly's apartment, we packed and attempted to watch Summer Heights High. Unfortunately, we were all too tired to keep our eyes open through more than one episode, so Briana and I retreated to our bed and fell asleep.
In the morning, Briana and I woke up early, said bye to Holly and took the metro to where we thought we could pick up the bus to the airport. It was a little more trouble than we had anticipated to actually locate the bus and we were a little short on time, so we just grabbed a cab and took it to the airport, where we got on our flight to London, where I was meeting my dad and Briana was meeting her mom. We were sad to be leaving such a great country, but we were also ready for a more relaxed break than the one we had been having in Spain. Plus, we were excited to finally see our parents!
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