Happy Thanksgiving!! ~Unfortunately~ Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Europe (obviously) so we had to settle for some grilled chicken and my homemade attempt at mashed potatoes. But, I cannot complain at all because we are going to BARCELONA. Heading to Spain, not really knowing what to expect but very excited we are setting off on a Friday, and returning on a Sunday- trips were super cheap! We met up with one of our friends who lives an hour out from Barcelona and had studied there before, so she really knew how to show us around!
Our hostel was in the Gothic Quarter, so we walked around there when we arrived. From the airport we found a bus called Aerobus that was only about 5 euro and it took us straight to the center of Barcelona! We walked around and saw a bunch of shops and plazas. Barcelona was a very big city, with a lot going on! It definitely did not help that we were in a huge shopping center on Black Friday... which they do still celebrate..
After this, we went to some bars for dinner, where our friend, Bryn, showed us some classic Spain food like jamon y queso, and octopus. Honestly, some of the best food I have had. We also were there for the very first weekend of the Christmas market!! For those of you who don't know, I am OBSESSED with Christmas, and by this point had already started singing Christmas songs, so I was #pumped. We also went to the beach late at night, where I (you guessed it!) Put my feet in the water. So I have now also officially stepped foot in the Balearic Sea! Barcelona was wonderful because there were statues and sculptures almost everywhere that you turned. It was very artistic.
The next day we went over to La Boqueria, the Market of Barcelona. There were so many different things at this market, one of the best things around were the juices that were fresh squeezed. Solely fruit juice like banana and pineapple, or mango apple mixed together for a super fresh glass of juice. In addition, like most markets that we have been to, there were crazy things like full fish and pork legs hanging around to be bought.
After this, we went to Park Guell, which is a park well known in Barcelona. A lot of pictures can be seen with the tile structures above the city of Barcelona, where we got a truly amazing view. From here we walked down to Sagrada Familia, which was a real live castle from a Princess movie. I cannot believe how massive and fairy-tale like it was. It was under construction and still immensely beautiful, so I cannot imagine how beautiful it would be if there were no construction. After we got a little rest in, and when it got dark we went to Font Magica, where there was a light show throughout the big fountain. It was also raining, but this did not stop us, and the screaming lady next to us, from enjoying the show!
The next day was time to go home, or back to Milan, Barcelona was filled with fun times and lousy ~attempts~ at me speaking Spanish and then understanding that some people were speaking Catalan...
~ Adios Amigos ~
