Beach, beers, bars and beauty are 4 words that instantly spring to mind when thinking back to our time spent in Barcelona. On arrival, we discovered that once again, our timing perfectly coincided with a huge festival; Fiesta Gracias. On a number of nights we ventured to the center of it all where we stumbled across something none of us were expecting. ( 'We' in Barcelona, consisted of Charlie, myself and our good mate Lloyd who we convinced while drunk in Amsterdam to join us for the week).
The streets were filled with what seemed like thousands of people, and decorated with the most elaborate art. Down the themed back streets we found huge roosters made from squashed waterbottles, rubber flies hanging from balconies, papermache ghosts, under the sea creatures including a giant Spongebob Square pants and a collection of giant scissors. However one of our favourites was in the center square- from the ceiling hung huge matches; some with celophane flames, others burnt to a crisp and surrounding the tent were giant matchboxes. The effort that must have gone into the preparation is inconceivable and we were in constant awe of the scale of the event. After exploring we sat down near a stage drinking our €1 cervesa (beer) and €4 mojitos and listened to a spanish punk band play.
During the day we spent hours soaking up the suns rays and swimming in the calm Sea, while listening to the constant chant "cervesa, coca-cola, agua, beer?" by men trying to make a living off us poor souls who just want to enjoy a nice quiet time on the beach. However some of us did indulge in a few cervesas on the sand...
With some new friends from our hostel: Vancouver (we found out after he left his name was Max by looking at the name he wrote on his sandwhich he left behind) and Emma from Adelaide, we made the treck early in the morning to see the Sagrada Familia, the gigantic cathedral designed by the genius Gaudi. Words cannot describe the size or beauty of the building, its just something you have to see for yourself. But maybe wait until 2030 to visit as that is when they estimate construction will be completed (after more than 100 years of building). We also went on the free Gaudi walking tour and visited his famous apartment buildings which were also very impressive.
Taking full advantage of anything free on our very limited budget, we also went on the walking tour through the Gothic Center where we learnt about the history and creation of Barcelona back during the Roman Empire and saw some gorgeous old buildings. Many photos were taken, however you will just have to wait a little longer before i figure out how to upload them.
On two of the nights we were taken out on pub crawls from our hostel, the second night we went to a club called 'Cupcake', which we're pretty sure was a gay club...don't know why we didn't guess that from the name.
After 5 days we were not fully satisfied with our stay, so we went and moved to a more central part of town to one of the best hostels I think we will ever stay in. There was tapas, beer pong and free midnight feeds from new drunk friends. On our second last night we decided to commit to what we thought was a pub crawl, however once getting on the bus with fellow drunkards, we realized we were infact being taken to a huge pool party. I know what you're thinking- awesome, right? However not for me, who had decided it was uneccissary to wear my bather top on a pub crawl, or a bra seeing as my top was quite loose fitting (and I'm half hippe on the inside). So we rocked up at the pool to disover hundreds of people dancing, drinking and swimming around this huge pool. Charlie, being the good friend she is, leant me her singlet to swim in, so ot all turned out OK in the end. We met some delightful French boys and danced and swan the night away. When the music stopped we were outraged!- only to discover it was 5am and the buses were here to pick us up. Needless to say it was a pretty epic night.
Though it wasn't just the beer and mojitos we enjoyed in Barcelona, there was much Sangria to be drunk by those who enjoyed it and delicious tapas including traditional spanish potatoe omelette, chorizo, green peppers, meatballs in salsa and fried fish. Though one tapas that confused us was the 'cheese tacos' which ended up being a plate of cubed cheddar cheese with a green olive on top. Not quite what we were expecting but hey, who can say no to a plate of tasty cheese?
And there drew a close to our adventures in 'Barthelona', next stop: Valencia. But more about that later, my busy little typing fingers need a break.
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