Barcelona

Getting into Spain was quite hectic. Our last train in France ended up running 20 minutes late, which then made us late for the train from the Spanish border into Barcelona (it worked out ok though because the whole train (well a good majority) were going to Barcelona so they held it for us) and customs was just looking to see if we had a passport - literally everyone just held it up and walked by the guard (i.e. things that wouldn't fly in the US) Anyways onto Barcelona, the capital of Catatonia and the home of Antoni Gaudi.

I wish we had a month to spend in Spain! But since we don't we had to do Barcelona in 2 nights. Our train from France pulled up to the station about 7 or 8 (and i yelled to the cab yo homes smell ya later, looked at our kingdom and we were finally there... Sorry) and we had to find where our hostel was before we could do anything else so we set off on the metro, subway. The directions said that it was a 10-15 minute walk from the station. What they didn't mention was that it was all up hill, and that our hostel was literally on the top of a mountain. So after the up hill walk and the 8-9 flights of stairs (with our backpacks don't forget) our stuff was dropped off and we were both starving. So we webt to Las Ramblas to see the city and grab some food. We came across a seafood place that was delicious (and at 10 PM we may have eaten a little to early) but after getting a brief view of the city we set off for Grants favorite bar when he was in Barcelona, which ended up being a total flop :( (turned out there was a major music festival in town that drew all the young people away) so we headed back to our hostel on top of the mountain and made friends with some people in our hostel.

The next morning (Friday June 1st) we set out early since we had a lot to see. First stop tour guide Grant took us to was Parc Guell which was designed by Gaudi and was where he lived until he died. It also offered great views of the city and a good start to the day. From there we saw the Sagrada Familia which is considered to be Gaudi's masterpiece and has been under construction since 1882 and still won't be finished for another 25 years. From there we walked towards the beach stopping to grab some lunch in the park, which was near the zoo and the Barcelona Arc de Triomf, and the fountain in the pictures. After lunch we made our way to the beach and hung around the ocean to relax for an hour, then we were back on our way to check out some Gaudi (Casa Batllo) buildings. As we crossed the street to see one Michael noticed a guy wearing a Kansas shirt and then realized it was two of his best friends from high school. After talking to them for a few minutes we parted ways, and went to see another Gaudi (La Pedrera) building that we actually went in. He designed the whole building without any load bearing walls so the occupants could rearrange it as they pleased. Cool. After that it was dinner time again so we grabbed something quick on our way back and then trekked up the mountain to our hostel where we showered and got ready to go out. Try #2 at the black sheep, lame again. Oh well, we walked from there about 1.5-2 miles to chupitos, and had a drink there before climbing the mountain for bed.

The next morning we decided we had enough time to check out some more sights, so after breakfast we went to Plaza España and the National Museum of Art of Catalonia which was cool and offered great views of the city and was a good place to end our trip to Barcelona. So we rushed back in a mad fury to grab our bags (running up and down the hill to the hostel wasn't fun) but we made our flight and are now in Granada!