¡Barcelona!

This Spring Break was absolutely amazing! However, being that it was a full eight days spent in a completely new and exciting country, there is no way that I’ll be able to write about everything that I enjoyed and experienced. Anyway, the result is this highlight-reel style blog post.

Most of the Spain group flew into Barcelona on Saturday. I don’t really know what I was expecting; I think after a stressful week of homework and tests, I was just glad to get a little guilt-free naptime on the plane. So with pretty nonexistent expectations, I stepped out of the airport into warm, sunny, palm-covered Barcelona and was completely blown away. It was unreal, how perfect everything seemed. We didn’t waste any time, and after dropping stuff off in the hostel, a smaller group of us walked up to Plaça Catalunya where there were some really pretty statues and fountains. We also got our first glimpse of the giant outdoor market located on Las Ramblas really close to the apartment. They sold everything from fresh fruit smoothies to raw octopus.

On Sunday, we spent most of the day on the beach. Being that the majority of my ocean experiences center around Galveston, the clear seaweed-free water was even more exceptional! The funny thing was that it was a little bit cooler that day, and all the other natives and tourists were decked up in coats and scarves, but all the students who had spent the winter in Germany were traipsing around in shorts and t-shirts. Nothing like a little perspective to make everything seem a little sunnier. My favorite part of Monday was definitely going to see the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that was designed by Gaudi and began construction in 1908. Compared to the Dom Cathedral in Cologne, that’s practically infantile, but I loved it! The outside was impressive, but mostly for reasons of massive dimensions. (Personally, I think I prefer the Gothic style.) However, the inside of the church completely blew me away! Even compared to all the cathedrals and impressive buildings that I’ve seen in Italy, Germany and the rest of Spain, I think it might be my favorite. It was so open, airy and light—the branching columns and outdoorsy feel made it seem like we were walking through some kind of ancient, giant, preserved forest. Add to that the brightest and most colorful stained-glass windows, and it was pretty idyllic.

The next day, Andrea, Megan, John and I decided to take a day trip to Tarragona (just an hour away). It was kind of a spontaneous thing; none of us knew all that much about the city, just that it had some Roman ruins and a cathedral worth seeing. Although uninspired, the decision was a great one! It was a beautiful city, and we arrived just when everyone was on siesta. The whole city had that kind of sleepy-town feel with almost no one in the streets to enjoy the wind blowing in off the beach. It was so different from the bustling Barcelona activity, and it was a refreshing change. We mostly wandered around the town, seeing some ancient Roman ruins, hiking up a few hills and finding and impressive portico overlooking the ocean.

After spending the whole previous day out and about, we decided to take it easy on Wednesday. We went to see the Picasso museum, which was okay. I feel like it’s kind of blasphemous not to love such a famous artist’s work, but I’m just not a huge fun of all of the abstract material. I do, however, have a newfound appreciation for how he got his start and branched off so creatively. I guess I always assumed that he started out with all the crazy, cubism style, but I guess what makes it impressive is that he was a recognized, distinguished artist in other styles as well, and he chose to branch off as a thematic statement as much as an aesthetic one.

On Thursday, Megan and I visited the Santa Maria Del Mar, another cathedral. Unlike the Sagrada Familia, this one was Catalan Gothic and more of what I’m used to seeing throughout Europe. Then we hiked up some impressively steep roads on Montjuïc, which is the main mountain-hill hybrid that you can see from pretty much anywhere in Barcelona. On the way, we stumbled across the most amazing palace, fountain-spotted gardens until we reached the castle perched on the highest point. The view was spectacular—houses and buildings in every direction running right up to the beach. Anyway, all too soon it was Friday, our last full day in Barcelona. Andrea, Megan and I spent a lazy afternoon traveling to Park Güell, another Gaudi creation. What I loved best about the park was that most of the landscaping, walkways and accompanying arches were all shaped out of stone that made it seem like part of the hill we were on. There was also a hill that looked over most of the park that had three crosses on the top. It was perfectly picturesque. With our flight out just before one o’clock the next day, all that was left to do was pack and come to peace with leaving Spain. You can guess which was harder.

Looking back on the trip, the thing I loved the most was the independence we had for an entire week—being able to balance amazing sights and experiences with some well-deserved relaxation. Megan and I started waking up early (“college” early, normally not before 10 am) to run from where we were staying up along the beach. I think it was this routine, not any of the impressive cathedrals, museums, or squares that I enjoyed the most. Absolutely nothing compares to being able to do what I love in perfect weather along the most beautiful ocean view you can imagine. The last day, we even worked up the nerve to jump into the Mediterranean just long enough to lose our breath and justify lying out on the beach to dry before heading back. Beautiful, breathtaking, Barcelona.