Barcelona: Words Cannot Describe.

If you are ever in Spain, Barcelona is a must. I knew this coming into the trip because that is one of the places we went in high school, but after this trip, I can say for certain that it is in my top 5 cities in the world.

We, my friends Jessica and Emily and I, left on Thursday night after class, so our flight got in around 8. Our hostal was right off of Las Ramblas, a pedestrian path that leads from the Columbus Monument near the Mediterranean Sea to Plaza Catalonia. It is lined with cafes, trees, human statues, little kiosks set up selling different things depending on which area you're in: flowers, animals, art, etc. Needless to say, we were in a great location. That night, we just got settled and had dinner of tapas so we would be able to wake up early-ish the next day.

Friday we went first to La Catedral de Canta Cruz y Santa Eulalia de Barcelona which means the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. This saint was 13 when she died, and there is a courtyard in the church where there are 13 white ducks to remind visitors of her age. Her crypt is also underneath the altar. It was a beautiful gothic church that had a great view from the top.

The Cathedral (under construction)

Saint Eulalia's Crypt

A few of the ducks in the courtyard

Inside

One of the views from the top

After that, we went to the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat, or the Muesum of the History of the City. This museum held the archeological remains of the ancient city Barcino, where Barcelona came from. The remains go back to the first century AD. We saw where people used to do laundry, the fish factory, and the winemaking facilities. It was crazy to think of all the history there and how people were there however many years ago, dyeing clothes, making wine. Boggles my mind.

Tinted blue from the dye that was used

Ruins

The wine facilities. Really interesting to hear how they made it.

We stopped to get lunch, which was very good (paella) and then took the metro to the Arc de Trimof. It lead into a really pretty sitting area, which was the start of the Parc de la Ciutadella. In a more central area, there was the Casacada Mounumental fountain which was designed in part by Antoni Gaudi. There were also many random art piece such as the elephant!

Arc de Triomf

Cascada Monumental fountain

Random huge elephant

Another area in the park.

Then, since it was a nice day (about 65 so still a little cool to swim), we went by the port and hung out near the water. The Columbus Monument was right there too so we got to snap some pictures there. After that, we walked down Las Ramblas back to our hotel to take a quick break before our next outing. That next outing was maybe the best part of the trip (tied with La Sagrada Familia).

We took the metro up to where the Olympic Stadium was in 1992 and saw the tailend of the sunset. It is on higher ground than the rest of the city, so there was a pretty awesome view. After that, we were heading back to another metro station when we stumbled across La Font Magica, which was pretty much magic. There was an amazing fountain light show. The first song was, of course, My Heart Will Go On. It went on for about ten minutes with different songs and then there was a second part which had a lot of American music. It was amazing. I took videos so if anyone is interested, let me know.

View. The big thing in the middle is La Sagrada Familia

Sunset! The tower on the left is the Montjuic Telecommunications Tower

Just one of manyyy of the fountain pictures.

On Saturday, we went to La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. But we'll start with La Sagrada Familia, tied for number one with La Font Magica. I knew coming into this trip that La Sagrada Familia would be the main attraction for me since I've been there before. It is a church that has been in construction in 1882 and is expected to be finished in 2026 and is designed by Gaudi. The stain glass and architecture in the church, as cliché as it sounds, literally takes my breath away. I was a major nerd this time and got one of the audio guides, but it was well worth the €3.50. It explained everything in the church and let me tell you, everything possible has meaning and most of it relates back to nature. There are going to be three facades. The Passion façade is done which represents the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s been done since 1986. The Nativity façade is all about the birth of Jesus and the main events in the lives of the Holy Family. The final one, the Glory façade is still to be built. It will be the main façade of the church. We took the lift up to the top and got another amazing view. Then we took this spiral staircase down the tower which had no railing. Even I was feeling a bit uneasy. My mom and friend Natalie would not have done it for about anything.

Nativity Facade

Passion Facade, artistically the opposite of the Nativity Facade

Inside

Love it.

Seriously, so many pictures of stain glass

Obsession.

View of the Montjuic Tower

Can't really tell, but the sea is there behind all the buildings.

To end the day, we went to Parc Guell which was completely designed by, you guessed it, Gaudi. This is another place that I've been to, but in high school we went through the park pretty quick if I remember. There is a lot of neat, different architecture and at the highest point, el Turo de Les Tres Creus, we had another pretty view. Would have been a very nice place to watch the sunset had it not been so overcast.

Pretty sure I'm sitting in a similar spot in our class picture

Jessica and I in a random area.

Hall of On Hundred Columns

Placa de la Nautralesa

Part of the bench. The entrance to the part is where the tower is.

On el Turo de Les Tres Creus

As if we hadn't seen enough, on Sunday we went back to the Olympic Stadium so we could actually go inside it. We also went to the National Art Museum of Catalonia where we saw a lot of neat art, mostly by artists I had never heard of. The building itself was gorgeous.

Inside the stadium!

Emily and I right outside of it.

The Art Museum. Gorgeous

To end our trip, we spent the afternoon walking on Las Ramblas some more, checking out the jewelry fair that was going on, and giving our feet a rest. My feet definitely hated me by the end of the weekend, but it was well worth it!