Mind Wide Open... A Weekend in Barcelona

What a crazy, busy, fun, adventurous, unexpected weekend I had!  Barcelona was fantastic and I spent this past weekend wandering around this vibrant city with my eyes wide open, literally.  As I reflect on all that I saw and did this weekend, I think I learned one important lesson.  The best kind of expectations, are no expectations.  It is best to go with an open mind and open eyes and let the city reveal itself to you, without having any preconceived notions.
 
I booked my flight to Barcelona on a bit of a whim.  It wasn't a city that was on my "I have to go there" lists, but I had a free weekend, the tickets were cheap, and I heard a lot of other students were going, and thought to myself, "Why not?"  I had no reasons not to and so Friday morning I arrived in Barcelona.

I had not done much research as to what the city had to offer, I knew of the Sagrada de Familia, and thought what the heck, I'll see what happens.  My roommate usually does enough investigating for the both of us and has an itinerary in mind, and so I say, I'm along for the ride and ready for whatever Barcelona has in store.  We wandered along as we pleased and got some good advice from some friends about purchasing a two day pass for the tourist bus that goes all along the city.  Normally, we don't like to be classified as "tourists" but it turned out to be the best way to see Barcelona's best.

Day 1


Sagrada de Familia: What a sight! This is such an interesting building, I could stand there for hours and not notice each detail of it.  The old part combined with the new and the ongoing construction make for an added curiosity, wondering what the final product will look like.  There are so many ornate figures, fruits, and words all over the building.  It is a little scary looking at first, but you cannot help but stand and look in awe of it.  The lines were too long to view the inside, but the outside was spectacular.  I stood there looking at all of the surrounding people, bustling about, and one thing came to my mind, "If you build it, they will come."  Yes, yes they will.

Siesta Time!!! Always important to stay rested. Some people always say, get out there, you can sleep when you're dead.  Yes, but you can't tour the city or have any fun when you are sick. So sleep for me, is always a number one priority.  And so far, I have not gotten sick. Knock on wood.





 

Fuente Mugica: The Magic Fountain!! At night, this giant fountain puts on an incredible show of lights, and truly magical colors.  It was pouring rain during the show, good thing I had my umbrella!



 Dinner Time: We scoured Las Ramblas for a reasonably priced and delicious dinner.  Many places were closed due to the holiday in Spain (The day that Christopher Columbus returned, I think). We did manage to find a place with lasagna and delicious sangria!

Out & About: I met up with some friends for a birthday and went to a specialty shot bar, Chupitos.  A popular one was one lit on fire. I didn't stay out late, because I knew I would have a long day, and I managed to snag a taxi all by myself! 

Day 2

Sagrada de Familia to Bus Turistica: We purchased our tourist bus ticket and boarded the Blue Line to discover what the northern part of Barcelona had to offer. 

Park Guell:  This gorgoues park designed by famous architect Gaudi was full of whimsical buildings, colorful mosaics, and beautiful greenery.  It had a spectacular view of Barcelona and you can see the colorful mosaic theme on everything in the souvenir shops all throughout Barcelona.

 Bus Tour:  We then returned to the tour bus that took us throughout the northern part of Barcelona.  It was a great way to see so many of the sights in limited amount of time we have.  We got to see the Barcelona Futbol stadium which is the biggest in all of Europe.

Lunch: It was about 4pm by the time we decided to have lunch.  We ended up in Plaza Catalunya and decided that The Hard Rock Cafe sounded amazing.  Many people may criticism eating American food while in a place like Barcelona.  However, I think that Basque food is way better than Spanish food, and I'd like to see anyone born in raised in farm country go 2 months without a decent hamburger.  This girl has gotta have some beef!


Las Ramblas Walk & Market:  After lunch we walked down the famous street of La Rambla, enjoying the many different sights and vendors along the way.  We stopped in at a giant market that had endless fruit, vegetables, meat, sweets, bread, eggs; anything you could want or think of, it was in there.

Chocolate Museum!!! From the La Rambla we walked to the Museo Xocolate. They gave you a bar of chocolate as your ticket, and it was full of the history of chocolate, and sculptures of chocolate.  If you know anything about me, then you know, I loved this place! And afterwards, we stopped in for some hot chocolate and churros. Great way to end the day, so we returned to the hostel to get some much needed rest for the next day in Barcelona!

Day 3

I got breakfast from a nearby bakery and met some wonderful people. The men at the bakery kept saying, Qué guapa! Beautiful beautiful! Probably just because they don't see many tall blondes walking around, but it is quite flattering ;) They had some pretty delicious fruit muffins and fresh baked chocolate crossiants. Yum! We had a big day planned out, and headed to the Cathedral to watch a dance they do every Sunday around noon.  However, I was not feeling very good at all for some reason, and was not up for walking around much at all.  So after seeing the people dance in front of the Cathedral, I hopped onto the bus tour.  I didn't want to miss out on everything Barcelona had to offer just because I wasn't feeling well!






Montjuic Funicular:  I opted out of many of the bus stops, but knew that I wanted to take the Funicular up to the top of Montjuic.  It was definitely worth it! You could see every part of Barcelona from the castle at the top. From the Sagrada, to the beach, to the ports, you were able to see all of the views of Barcelona!

 

 Le'Aquarium:  After a small sandwich for lunch, I was beginning to feel a bit better and wanted to do something fun.  I decided it would be great to go to the Aquarium to get a look at the different types of creatures under the sea! I loved the colorful fishies and the big sharks! 







Porto Olimpio: The next bus stop for me was the Port Olympia.  I saw many different boats and fun bars.  It was definitely a different feel than the rest of Barcelona.  I walked on the beach for a little bit, and dipped my toes in the water! It was pretty cold!

I made my last stop from the bus near the Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful church that I stumbled upon while walking.  I was planning on going to the Picasso Museum, but the line was so long I opted out.  I instead went to a small museum about the prehistoric times in Spain. Then I wandered around walking, stopped in for a napolitana here, souvenirs there.  I had dinner on La Rambla in a nice restaurant, chicken and potatoes, and a glass of wine.  It was a wonderful way to cap off my weekend in Barcelona.

The view from our hostel

I left Barcelona with a great feeling, it was so much better than I could've imagined.  There were so many great things to see and do, and a great diversity of activities for anyone. I went in with no expectations about the sights, and was definitely pleasantly surprised.  The important thing to remember is to always keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all the new experiences that life has to offer.

Look out, he'll getcha.

 

The Basque Language: Euskera

Before arriving in Bilbao, I knew that the Basque country of Spain was unique.  A culture of people who are proud of their unique qualities and characteristics found only in the Basque country.  One vital part of this culture is the Basque language.  Before I got here, I thought oh sure, it's just a different dialect or a couple words are different, like pop or soda, dinner or supper.  Boy, was I wrong.  Turns out Basque is completely different and has no connections to any other European languages.  The good news is, everyone here speaks Spanish, and the signs are written in both Spanish and Basque, but let me just give you a few examples of just how complicated it would ever be to learn Basque, or EUSKERA (ay-oo-scare-uh).  Now it is not easy to remember any Basque words, but one that will always come in handy is AUPA (oh-pa).  This is a common salutation or just can be said anytime.  It is kinda like saying "Cheers" or "Blessings."  Either way, it means good things.  I have also been able to remember how to say hello, CAIXO (kai-show), and the word for bathrooms, KOMUNAK (coe-moo-knock).  Usually, you don't ever need to speak Basque, but it is so interesting to see the words.  Euskera is definitely not similar to Spanish in any way. For example, Buenos días in Spanish, Good morning in English, or EGUNON in Euskera.  Buenos tardes in Spanish, Good afternoon in English, or ARRATSALDE ON in Basque. I go to the Universidad de Deusto, also known as DEUSTOUKO UNIBERSITATEA.  If you are lost and want to know, where is it?, ¿Dónde está?, or NON DAGO? You might need to remember which street, calle, or KALEA, you are on.  If someone tells you BAI, they mean yes, Sí, not bye.  Or EZ is no.  Instead of saying thanks, Gracías, you can say, ESKEMK ASKO or MILA ESKER.  But don't forget to say please, por favor, and MESEDEZ.  If it's someone's birthday, be sure to wish them Felíz cumpleaños, or ZORIONAK.  And if all of this becomes too complicated, just tell them AGUR, Adíos, and goodbye!! 

The Mullet

Well, I was Skyping with my mom and she continued to tell me, "You need to blog, you need to blog." And my mom also once told me to, "Listen to your mother."  So I suppose I should definitely be better at blogging.  It is difficult sometimes to prioritize either sleeping or blogging when putting off homework.  Sometimes I do not feel in a writing "mood" but if I let that stop me, then I may never blog.  So anyways, I have been here in Bilbao for about a month now and so I have begun to notice many different things about the people and the way things are.  Of course these are just a personal observation and may not be anything exciting, but for a small town girl some of the things are quite entertaining.  One of the most apparent things I have noticed while here is teenage/college boys and their hair styles: Two words are key here when describing the hair styles of Spanish/Basque boys around here, mullet and rat tail, okay I lied three words, also important, dread lock.  Yes, it seems like all of the worst hair trends experienced in the United States have become very popular here.  First, the mullet.  I have seen it on more than several occasions here, mostly at the university or when walking around shopping.  It seems very surprising to see it so often here.  Then the rat tail, is actually a sign of rebellion and independence in this area, so it is a popular accessory around here.  This is where the dread locks come in as well.  The rat tail, is usually one long, thick, unwashed dread lock, that hangs down from their either short, or mulleted hair cut.  It is quite a sight.  These actually seem normal compared to the half shaved heads in the front and full pony tail in the back.  Or then there is the shaved head in the front and a cluster or spike-like dreads sticking out from the back.  Let's just say there have been several occasions where I walk by someone, and have a double take.  It is always important to know who is business in the front and party in the back.     

Vino, vino, vino

Some grapes I found in a vineyard in la rioja. Love the colors!

The ISA group who I spend my time with. A great group of friends, in Pamplona!

Inside where they store all the barrels of wine. They never ended.

Sampling the vino. Es muy bien!

Just a couple photos from our excursion to Pamplona and Logrono for now.  We toured Pamplona, where the running of the bulls takes place, on Saturday.  After spending the night sampling tapas, we spent Sunday having a tour of a bodega (winery) near Logrono.  La rioja, is the specific region of Spain where the wine is produced.  It was an amazing tour, capped off with a sampling of wine, accompanied with bread, churizo, and cheese. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!