You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
Barcelona is next on my list to be crossed off and let me tell you, Barcelona is beautiful! Beautiful weather, beautiful food, and beautiful scenery.
After my last adventure, I was ready to relax for the week. I had so much to do with my online classes since I had been gone for week. Towards the end of the week, some friends and I decided to go explore the hills outside of Vallendar since the weather was so beautiful out. The weather here is much different than typical Illinois weather. In Illinois, it will be sunny and 75 one day and the next 25 with snow; however, here it is progressively getting warmer each day (which is amazing!). We ended up hiking for about 2 hours. We discovered a cool hang out place on a roof of an old water storage building in the hills. As we were walking down the stairs, we realized that the actual path started there haha. We thought we were hiking in the trails but it hadn’t even started yet! We are going to have to go explore again since we didn’t even make it to the real trail. After hiking, it was time for yet another WHU cellar party. This theme was Valler Crime. Since this was after the exams, most WHU students went home so the place was pretty dead but we all still had fun.
Tuesday 3/14/17
Tuesday after my German exam at 18:00 (6:00PM), it was time for me to board a train to the airport where I would fly to Barcelona. I went on this trip with another Tauschie from Canada. Over 800 miles later, I finally arrived in Barcelona around 23:30 (11:30PM). The Barcelona airport is located pretty far outside the city so I had to take a 1 hour bus to the city center. Finally, we made it to the hostel and checked in around 1AM and went to bed after a long evening of traveling. Barcelona is the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia in the Kingdom of Spain. It is the second in terms of population in Spain with approximately 1.6 million people. Unlike most of Spain, people in Barcelona and the region of Catalonia speak Catalan (they also speak Spanish but Catalan is the main language here). Barcelona is a major European city famous for the Sagrada Família, Gaudí architecture, and the beautiful weather.
Wednesday 3/15/17
The first real day in Barcelona began bright and early at 8:30AM. After eating breakfast at the hostel, it was time to make our way up to some of the homes designed by Antoni Gaudí. Casa Batlló was the first one we saw. Casa Batlló was designed by Gaudí and you could tell because of the architecture. Gaudí uses a “funky” style that combines various shapes, colors, and sculptures. He uses geometrical forms and is known as modernism architecture. At the Casa Batlló, there are unusual tracery, irregular oval windows, and colorful mosaic ceramic tiles. The roof is supposed to look like the back of a dragon or dinosaur. It was initially constructed in 1877 but was renovated in 1904-1906 and has had several refurbishments since then. Right next to Casa Batlló stood Casa Amatller. This one was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Although it is not like Gaudí’s work, it is still important for the three most important buildings in this region. It was originally constructed between 1898-1900. A couple blocks away was another building designed by Gaudí. Casa Milà is a modernist building and the last civil work from Gaudí. It was constructed between 1906-1912 and is famous for its self-supporting stone, twisting balconies and sculptures on the roof. After observing the architecture, we decided to make our way down to the beach and stopping at places along the way. The Avinguda Diagonal is a road that cuts the city in two, diagonally. It is also followed with trees. We stumbled upon the Palau de la Música Catalana, which is a modernist concert hall. Unfortunately, we did not go inside but the outside was still stunning. Next, we went deep into the Gothic Quarter (the old city of Barcelona) and found the Catedral de Barcelona. This cathedral is a Gothic cathedral and was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries. At the time, we did not go inside; however, the next day we came back and took a look. The catholic church is unique since there is steps that lead down right in front of the alter. It was cool too see the details put into the church. Outside the church, there were street entertainers, like musicians, and on some days, there is a market. There is also the BARCINO sculpture, the original name to the colony, in the courtyard (Plaça Nova). Also located in the Gothic Quarter, Plaça del Rei is a 14th century medieval square surrounded by the Palau Reial Major, which was the residence of the Kings of Aragon in the 14th century. La Rambla makes the border for the Gothic Quarter and is a tree-lined street covered with vendors, markets, and restaurants. It is approximately .7 miles long. On this street, we came across the La Boqueria, which is a large public market. It had everything in it from fresh fruits and vegetables, to meats, and candy. Of course, I had to try a strawberry smoothie (it was delicious). Plaça Reial lies next to La Rambla and it means the Royal Plaza. There was a fountain in the center with palm trees surrounding it. I don’t know why but this square reminded me a lot of Miami. I just loved the atmosphere. The last home we visited was Palau Güell, a mansion designed by Gaudí. It was constructed between 1886-1888. Apparently, high society guests entered on horse-drawn carriage through the arched gates. At the end of La Rambla stood the Columbus Monument. The monument serves as a reminder that Columbus reported to Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona after his first trip. Before eating lunch, we decided to go see two more things, the Parc de la Ciutadella and the Arc de Triomf. The park is 70 acres and contains a zoo, small lake, a gorgeous fountain, and some museums. The zoo once was home to the albino gorilla who died in 2003. The Arc de Triomf is similar to that in other cities like the one in Paris. It was built in reddish brickwork that served as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair.
Finally, it was time for the thing I have been waiting for since over a year. BRUNCH & CAKE! Brunch & Cake is a restaurant in Barcelona that serves unique and healthy foods. There are around 3-5 locations in Barcelona (the one we went to was Brunch & Cake by the sea). I ordered the house made Nutella pancake with sugar free cocoa sauce and a chocolate chip cookie. I also got a strawberry passion smoothie. Let me tell you, it was delicious and I am definitely going back whenever I make it to Barcelona again. La Barceloneta Beach was next on the list. Barcelona had such beautiful weather when I was there (it was 65-67 each day). Although the weather was nice for tourists like myself, the permanent residences of Barcelona were still wearing their winter coats. Once at the beach, we made our way to a man-made rock formation to stop the beach from eroding and sat there for a while soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful day. (I LOVE THE BEACH!) Finally, the last thing was the Parc de Montjuïc. Montjuïc is a hill overlooking downtown Barcelona. The Olympics were held here in 1992 at Montjuïc. The climb to the top was a workout but definitely worth the view. You could see everything from the Sagrada Família to the Barceloneta Beach, and everything in-between. We got there just in time because the sun was setting. To end a long day, we went to the bar in the hostel and watched a soccer game and finally got some rest for anther busy day. We walked to all these places (around 17 miles) so we were exhausted.
Thursday 3/16/17
Day 2 in Barcelona began at 8AM since we had to be somewhere by 10:30 and the walk would take over 1 hour. When we finally left the hostel, we went to Chök the Chocolate Kitchen for breakfast (this is another place that I have been waiting forever to try). They are famous for their kronuts. A kronut is a croissant donut. It has light flaky layers of a croissant that is fried and topped like a donut. Kronut can be spelled multiple ways (cronut), but they are amazing. I wish I bought more than one. The one I got was salted caramel. The croissant was topped with an icing shell with a caramel whipped topping on top and a spoonful of melted caramel in the middle. It was also topped with some sea salt. YUM! After eating the delicious kronut, it was time to walk a long trek uphill to Park Güell. Luckily, when the streets became too steep, escalators were hidden behind bushes. Park Güell is a public park located on the outskirts of Barcelona on a hill overlooking the city. The park is famous because Antoni Gaudí was the architect. Inside the park, there is a nice balcony with a curved bench all the way around. Colorful ceramic tiles cover the bench too. At the entrance, there is two buildings that you can tell Gaudí designed because of the unique curvature, use of ceramic tiles, and unique sculptures. After observing the city on the balcony, we decided to
walk through the trails and head for the next Gaudí masterpiece, La Sagrada Família. The Sagrada Família is a large Roman Catholic church that has been under construction since 1882 and it will not be completed until 2026! That is 100 years after Gaudí died. I cannot believe how long it has been under construction. The detail on the church was breathtaking and the inside was unbelievable. Gaudí’s unique touch was present everywhere and it was not hard to tell. A dream I have had since I was younger was to come here and now I can finally say I have seen it in person. I am definitely going to have to come back after 2026 to see the finished product! After visiting the cathedral, we headed for the Picasso Museum, or Museo Picasso. At the museum, we were able to see the different stages he went through during his painting career. Located in the museum were The Old Guitarist (blue era) and his version of Las Meninas (from Diego Velázquez). Pictures inside were prohibited but luckily, I was able to capture the Las Meninas painting. Next up, we headed back to the beach. One day was just not enough. Finally we made our way back to the hostel for the last time.
Friday 3/17/17
Day 3 in Barcelona started around 10:30AM. We made our way walking to the bus stop by Montjuïc and went to the airport. We arrived around 13:00 (1PM). Our flight left at 17:55 (5:55PM) but we wanted to work on some school work since we had seen almost everything in the city. Our flight landed around 20:30 (8:30PM). From there we boarded a bus to Bonn, where a train would take us to Koblenz. Once in Koblenz, we boarded the 23:20 (11:20PM) bus to Vallendar. 4 days, 3 nights, over 1600 miles, 4 busses, 2 trains, 2 flights, and 1 amazing and sunny city later, I had finally arrived at my apartment in Vallendar around midnight. Overall, I am glad I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona and I cannot wait until I can go back in the future. I was sad to leave Barcelona. I really loved it there and the weather there was perfect. Barcelona made me question why I didn’t study abroad there. Oh well, Germany is pretty great!
See you soon, but not too soon
-E