When we arrived at the Barcelona airport we took the Aerobus for 5 euros to get to Plaza Espanya where we took the Metro right next to where our hostel was located. We walked up to the street and arrived at the number where our hostel was supposed to be, but we arrived to just a simple door with no sign of a hostel. I panicked for about 5 minutes and then a couple arrived confirming that they were staying at BCN Loft as well and that we had to call the guy who ran the apartments. They let us up to their apartment, gave us access to their Wifi and allowed us to get in touch with Victor, the guy who ran the place. He took us down to our apartment, which we thought was just for us but there were actually three other rooms of two. That was the first disappointment and then when we let us into our room it was quite dirty, and just unpleasant. The bathroom was tiny, the shower as well and I definitely do not recommend this place. Spend the extra money to stay in a hostel! (I wish I had a picture to share the emotions with you buttt I forgot to take any.)
On our first night we decided to walk over to La Rambla which was about 5 minutes from our apartment and is a popular touristy area with lots of shops, vendors, people dressed up crazy, food, etc. We walked up and down the entire street checking out all the deals that each restaurant was offering since it is a huge area for tourists. We finally decided on a restaurant that didn't have pictures outside of their tapas (a tip that was recommended to me) and had a deal with an appetizer, entree and dessert. For our appetizers I had a tapas plate and Matt had pasta, and then we both got paella as our entree. Paella is a typical spanish rice dish that is much heavier than I remember from when I traveled to Spain in high school. We stopped at a chill bar, Queen Vic, and met some students who were studying abroad but the food wasn't settling too well with our stomachs... another strike for Barcelona.
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| Seafood Paella... only a quarter was eaten |
Matt's goal for the whole trip was to rent a scooter so we went to check that out when we woke up on day 2. The guy forewarned us that if the police stop you that you need to pay a 300 euro fine so we didn't get one. We got a metro pass for the day and walked along the water, and through Barceloneta, which is an area right near the water. This area was gorgeous, it was filled with sailboats and was just a nice place to chill and hang out.
We then took the metro up to Parc Guell, which is a park designed by Gaudi who is the main architect in Barcelona. The park was a large hike up a steep hill but it was beautiful in it's design and allowed us to see a great view of the city.
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| Parc Guell |
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| Parc Guell |
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| View from up top |
We went back to our apartment and took a nap since we were exhausted from walking everywhere throughout the day. When we woke up we took the metro back to the Barceloneta area to try to get some seafood for dinner, but nothing seemed like a good deal so we headed back to La Rambla. Well by that time it was approaching midnight and everything was closing so we wound up getting McDonald's for dinner. I couldn't believe I was eating that in Spain, especially since I haven't had it in about 3 years. That also didn't settle well with our stomachs so we basicallly striked out round two.
On the morning of the third day we went to a different scooter shop that we found a flyer from on another scooter that was parked on La Rambla. The offer was a full day for 26 euros, and the guy also gave us the forewarning about the fee that the cops could make you pay if you get stopped. A Spanish couple was in the shop and they basically told us that it was worth the risk and that if you follow the driving rules and drive the speed limit that nothing should happen. So we got our very own scooter and it was ASBOLUTELY awesome! It was the coolest experience ever and it allowed us to see so many areas of the city since many sites are up on hills and further away from the center.
On our scooter journey first we traveled around and then we went to Sagrada Familia which is a church designed by Gaudi, that was spectacular. We then went to the FC Barcelona Stadium, where the soccer team plays, and then over to the National Museum of Art that had a stunning view of the entire city of Barcelona. On our way back down from the hill we passed the Olympic Stadium and then traveled along the gorgeous beach. The scooter allowed us to successfully see everything that we wanted to see so this made Barcelona a lot more successful for us.
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| La Sagrada Famiglia |
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| At the National Museum of Art |
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| View from the Museum |
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| Beach side :) |
For our final night in Barcelona we got our final dinner, which was crappy pasta, so we completely gave up on the food! But I got to enjoy a nice big glass of Sangria so it kind of evened out... We then walked over to La Rambla just to hang out and look at all the crazy people who dress up in costumes and enjoy some ice cream. We wound up running into a market which was fiiiilled with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. We had a relaxing night since we had to wake up bright and early to fly into Milan. Overall Barcelona was disappointing in my eyes compared to the other trips I took to Spain (Leon & Sevilla) since it was much more touristy and because of the crappy place that we were staying. The people weren't all that friendly and the food wasn't good either, but we tried to make the best of it even though we enjoyed Amsterdam much better.
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| His new girlfriend on La Rambla |
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| Fruit and nuts at the market |
When we got to the Milan airport we took a 30 minute bus ride to the Milan train station (lots of little trips like I said before). We got our tickets to head back to Florence and then we walked around outside to find a little place to eat, which we successfully found a delicious pizzeria. We were instantly greeted by super friendly Italians who welcomed us and treated us so kindly which was an amazing feeling to return to Italy. I felt so at home that everyone was so nice and that I could once again speak the language, Italy is truly the best place ever. For our first night back in Florence we just relaxed and then went out to dinner at Dante's for some free wine and met up with Jessica to have some drinks in her apartment. Croton reunion! On Matt's last day we explored the rest of Florence, I showed him the infamous Duomo and then we just drank some coffee in Piazza Signoria like true italians do. All of my roommates returned back from their Spring Break and our host mom made us all a true meal which was a nice little bonding session. :) Spring Break come quickly to an end and Matt headed back to New York but it was absolutely the best week of the semester so far. Seeing new cities was a great opportunity but I definitely realized that Italy is amazing and I won't be going out of the country for the rest of the semester, only traveling around Italia.
Now it's back to the grind of our actual classes... until the next update, ciao bellas!
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