O, The Places I'll Go...: City of Whims and Wishes

The greatest surprise I have had yet in a city was Barcelona. I am not sure what I expected visiting there but it sure wasn’t it turned out to be. Wide palm tree lined trees, fountains, colorful buildings, and architecture by Gaudi that is unreal. We were blessed again with terrific weather which made it a lot easier to take in the city. I had researched how to get to “HostelOne” hostel from the airport so after we got off the metro and headed toward HostelOne to check in the guy at the reception desk informed us that we were at the wrong HostelOne-there are three in Barcelona. How on earth were we supposed to know? So we hauled our stuff to the right HostelOne. We were lucky because the one we booked turned out to be the nicest Hostel I have stayed in yet and was in a better location. We freshened up and headed out for dinner and to take in the infamous Barcelona nightlife. We enjoyed some delicious tapas then headed to find a bar somewhere. We stumbled on a Sports bar that seemed to be busy only because all the Americans were in there watching the UConn game. The bartender told us about this place called the Catwalk and stamped our hands so we could get into the club for free. The Catwalk was a lot of fun, they played good music and every once in awhile bubbles would come from the ceiling. Despite the ridiculously priced drink we had a lot of fun dancing. The next day we slept in a little bit then headed out to take in the sights of Barcelona! We got tickets for a hop on hop off bus so we could take in as many sights as we could in the short time we were there. We saw various works by Gaudi which were so whimsical and colorful it made me feel like I was in Disney World or Candy Land. The mosaics all over the places were amazing. It was hard to believe architecture like that actually existed in a city and not just an imaginable park. We hopped off the bus when it went by the beach- I didn’t realize how much I missed the water and sand. We found a place to eat near the water and enjoyed some Peallas which are huge skillets of rice and various types of food- Brooke and I shared a seafood one. We walked along to beach for a while then got back on the bus to see some more things. We also saw where the 1992 Olympics were held. That night we headed to a bar that was recommended to me called Dixie which had a different crowd but it was a ton of locals which I prefer. After we headed to a club called Razzmataz which had different rooms with different types of music in each of them. The next day Jessica and I had an early start since we had to catch a late flight. We headed to a Basilica that was started by Gaudi and has yet to be finished. It is scheduled to be finished in 2025. It was really neat that this was the biggest structure in Barcelona and we were able to see it in its building stage. After that we headed to Parc Geull which was originally planned to be a residential area with gardens and the works but now has turned into a tourist attraction which tons of beautiful mosaics, one including the famous mosaic lizzard of Barcelona. We walked around the park for a little while taking in the views and side entertainment such as musicians, puppet masters and bubble pros. We headed back to the hostel to get our bags and head to the airport. In the airport I ran into Torie, a friend from grade school and high school, which gave us a good chance to catch up. We also met some guys from our school in Florence and while we were on the train from Pisa to Florence we met two guys in the military that were stationed in Italy. They just got back from Afghanistan in November so we thought it would be a good idea to show them a good time in Florence that night. Elizabeth and I made some new friends that night and had a great time with all of them. It turned out to be a terrific spring break- one that I will never forget.