It's Adam today. This post is my first attempt at contributing to the family blog..... Which probably explains why it is approximately 2 months late.
Yes, this was our first trip to....Barthelona. We used the phonetic spelling to pronounce the word the entire weekend because we seemed to fit in better this way.
In an excuse to celebrate both our birthdays (and Valentine's day), we made a weekend trip to Espana. That's "Spain," for you Anglo-phones. Combining holidays seems to be the best option considering these holidays just keep coming more frequently every year, and considering limited funds. Anyway, I digress. Unfortunately, all of the holidays mentioned land in the middle of Winter of 2012, which was apparently a particularly cold year. In Geneva, it was especially cold and unusual. Check out our friend S's blog to check out some pictures she got from around the lake in Geneva. It will give you a visual of how cold it had been.
Since it had been too long since we had "gotten out of dodge" and because Barcelona is generally warmer than Geneva and close enough for a weekend trip, we chose the Catalunyan city of Barcelona for a Winter weekend. Wondering what Catalunya is? Me too, this should help. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia).
So, now for a summary of the trip.
- We flew out Friday morning and arrived around 11. Barcelona has a really nice airport... huge... modern... clean... and it smelled like cake batter.
- Found our hotel/hostel, which was a 10 minute bus ride from the center of town (I think we were the first residents in this house turned hotel, that was obviously still a work in progress). Turns out we had reserved one room in a three-bedroom apartment. Kind of unexpected but not a big deal. Just had to tiptoe around at night to avoid waking our "neighbors". One of the "neighbors" told us he had been pick-pocketed on his way from the airport. Not cool, but not unexpected because our buddy "Rick" (short for Rick Steves, who basically decides our itinerary whenever we go all these places - it's kind of like Simon says, but "Rick" says), says that Barcelona is the pickpocket capital of Europe. Awesome. Thanks Rick Steves for instilling anxiety in my wife, who has had two personal pick-pocketing experiences so far in Geneva.
... And the place had a SWEET rooftop terrace that we took advantage of when we came back from our daily tourism activities.
- Once we got settled, and failed at figuring out how to work the heater in our room, we ate some Mexican food across the street from our hostel. Not necessarily authentic, but close enough, and in hindsight, soooo necessary.
- First, we learned the hard way that Barcelona is larger than Geneva. We took a bus for like 30 minutes, didn't really know where we were but figured we were close enough to Park Gruell to walk the remainder. Unfortunately, got off at the bottom of a giant hill. Walked for long enough to feel exhausted, then gave up and turned around. I mean, how cool can a park really be anyway? Headed over to Antonio Gaudi's (a famous architect/artist) most famous building, a church called the Sagrada Familia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia). Apparently, it's been under construction for 150 years, and will supposedly be done by 2026, which probably means never.
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We decided to forego the 40 bucks to see the inside, and just check out pictures online.
- Continued exploring the city. Rick says walk "the Ramblas," which is the most happening shopping district in the city. It was impressive, very long and wide. The coolest part was the fresh market (with SANGRIAS!!!).
- Got some TAPAS!!! They were good, but we got ripped off - $10 for a COKE. This is what happens when you don't follow what "Rick says".
- Barcelona (and I think Spain in general) are known for their work schedule, which includes a midday SIESTA, and then going back to work in the late afternoon, eating dinner at like 10PM, then staying up or out late and doing it all over again the next day. Ashley and I decided we were only good at the siesta part. Hard to stay up late with these young kids these days!
INSERT PICTURE OF NAPPING?
- Went back to our place and spent some time bundled up on the rooftop with some awesome carbonated red wine that we picked up at the local grocery store.
- Next day, we went to the beach. Although it was only 13 degrees (about 55 farenheit), it was sunny so we decided to walk on the beach, which we imagine gets packed during the warmer months. The following "shout out" to our nephews was Ashley's good idea.
- Then we went to the old bull-fighting stadium, that has been turned into a pretty sweet mall with an observatory deck that let us see the rest of Barcelona. Bull-fighting has pretty much been banned in most of Spain at this point... Probably a good call.
- Next up was Montjuic (Jewish mount) and the Olympic stadium, home of the 1992 games, and the most memorable basketball team of all time.
-Stopped by a little bar to have a beer... great view.
- Rick says Picasso museum. Okay, why not? Apparently Barcelona has the best collection of Picasso's early work, which was less eccentric than the stuff he was famous for where he rearranged people's faces on canvas. My take from the museum, Picasso is overrated. The art we saw in Amsterdam (Rembrandt, Van Gogh) and in Rome (Raphael, Michaelangelo, and Da Vinci), was much more impressive.
- Rick says eat dinner at Restaurant la Gardunya. Thanks Rick, great choice for some fresh seafood behind the famous market.
- When we got back to the hotel/hostel, I convinced Ashley to go watch the Barcelona futbol game at a local bar. We went back out to the mall across the street and got front row seats to watch Barcelona lose in an away game 3-2. It was pretty awesome to see such passionate soccer fans. No one was there to have fun, they were there to watch the game. Dos cervesa, por favor.
Other stuff I forgot to mention....
- Check out these other cool buildings Gaudi did.
- I never knew I could get so tired of seeing David Beckham half-naked on H&M billboards and at bus stops ALL OVER the city. Oh wait, yea I did. Anyway, Ashley and I joked that he was following me. I'm not sure how much they paid him for this, but pretty sure it wasn't enough to alienate an entire city.
Oh, Hai David!!! {this is Ashley... Adam doesn't know how to insert pictures, so I'm doing the work}
- We stumbled upon a crazy parade with a bunch of people in "Giant" costumes.
- Found a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing to the "New World" at the same time I was pointing to the gelato stand. Coincidence? I think not. Rick says, this is the spot where Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed him back from his first journey.
-Found this old church.
Overall, we loved Barcelona. We'd love to go back when it's a bit warmer. It seems to be a 'beach' city.
Check out our album for more pictures!
"Ya'll come back now!" -says the happy lobster
Adios!
