Adventures in England: Spain Part 2: Barcelona

On Tuesday morning, the three of us caught the train from Madrid to Barcelona (or BarTHelona, as they say in Spain - they pronounce "s" and "c" like they have a lisp, so gracias becomes "graTHias"). It was about a five hour ride, and very pleasant! The train was really nice, and we got to see part of the countryside. Spain is very green, and instead of rolling hills, like in England, most of the hills were sharp and pointed. We also saw lots of farms. When we arrived at the train station in Barcelona, we took a cab to our hotel, which was on a cute little street just off of La Rambla. La Rambla is the most famous and busiest boulevard in Barcelona. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and people selling items from phone cards to postcards to even birds! Barcelona seemed a little quainter than Madrid, but just as big! Barcelona reminded me a little bit of Florence, Italy - cute, narrow streets and fun little cafes. People in Barcelona speak Catalan Spanish, which is much harder to understand. It's like 2/3 Spanish, 1/3 French. Many of the words were spelled differently! After we checked into the hotel, we strolled down La Rambla and then went to the beach! The Mediterranean is beautiful! The weather was pretty chilly, but we still saw people surfing. We roamed around the beach for awhile, and then headed back to La Rambla and walked around some of the adjacent streets. Everything seems to be open pretty late in Spain, which is a nice change from England. We ate dinner, then headed to bed. On Tuesday morning, we woke up and walked along La Rambla to find the Canaleta Fountain, which is supposedly the purest water in Barcelona. Legend has it that if you drink out of the fountain, you will return to Barcelona one day. Mary Virginia, Tools, and I filled up our water bottles! Next, we went to La Sagrada Familia Church, or Church of the Sacred Family, which was designed by Gaudi. This church is unlike anything I've ever seen! Anton Gaudi designed the church, and was head of it's construction. They began building the church in 1882 and it's still not finished! Gaudi designed a lot of buildings and statues in Barcelona. Once you see one of his pieces, you can easily pick out the rest of them. His work is very modernist and colorful. We went to the top of La Sagrada Familia to see the aerial view of Barcelona. It's such a neat city! Next, we headed to see another Gaudi building, and walked around the posh business section of Madrid. We had a delicious, cheap, three-course meal at a cute restaurant called Mauri. We did a little shopping, and kept exploring the city. We went to the Gothic Quarter, and saw the big cathedral, which is under major recontruction. We stopped by a fruit market on La Rambla and bought some cherries and pomegranate seeds, and then went to Place Espanya, which has a big beautiful monument on an island in the street. We headed to a tapas (appetizer) restaurant called Taller de Tapas for dinner, and then headed back to the hotel. On Wednesday morning, I woke up and headed to the airport to fly back to London. Tooley and Mary Virginia caught the overnight sleeper train to Paris, and then I'm meeting up with them Sunday in Switzerland! I enjoyed the food in Spain, but it wasn't the best I've ever had. Spanish people eat a LOT of ham...you see ham and cheese sandwiches or ham restaurants everywhere! One day I had a bikini sandwich, which is fried egg, ham, and cheese - it was delicious! We ate paella one day, which is a popular Spanish dish made of cooked rice, olive oil, and sea food. Tapas are very popular in Spain, also. You order a lot of appetizers, and share them to make a meal. We ate scrambled eggs mixed with shrimp, fried artichokes, and cooked spinach with chickpeas. We ate a lot of delicious pastries, too! I enjoyed every meal that I had! One thing that also surprised me about Spain is how the people looked - I guess I had expected them all to be dark and look like Mexicans. You do see lots of dark people, but no one even resembles a Mexican! We saw lots of blonde hair, blue eyed Spanairds. I couldn't tell if some people were Spanish until I heard them talk! I had a wonderful time in Spain, and I would LOVE to go back! I highly recommend visiting there. I'll be in Switzerland from Sunday to Wednesday, and I'm so excited! I hope everyone has a great weekend!