The title of this blog post should be read in the tune of 'My Sharona' except replacing that whole bit with 'Barcelona,' broken up as in 'Bar Celona.' ...I thought it was clever.
So anyways, last weekend was my last weekend in Europe - which is completely depressing, by the way - and I decided to spend it not in London, but in Spain! I decided to go on a whim and knew absolutely nothing about the city... I wasn't even aware that it was coastal, sadly enough. (I'm sure all my past geography teachers would be disappointed in me. But they don't read my blog.)
But, even though I knew hardly anything about it when I got there, I fell in love with the city. It's absolutely gorgeous, the people are so friendly (with a few exceptions.. which I'll get to later) and each neighborhood is unique and beautiful in it's own right. With the hills on one horizon and the sea on the other, it's completely picturesque and plus, they have TAPAS.
The food wasn't completely what I expected (who knew that burritos were just a Mexican thing.. oops..) but everything I had (other than these bits of chicken which were served to me chopped up and fried with the spinal cords still attached.. yum?) was delicious and wonderful nonetheless.
Side note; don't ask for tap water there, because the waitress will just gape skeptically at you as if you had a festering pus sack on your forehead. It's really great. Side note to mean waitress who also doesn't read my blog; Just because you don't drink out of your faucet doesn't mean that I don't want to drink out of your faucet.
There's so so so many great things about Barcelona, it would be really dull for you to simply read my words about them. It's definitely a city that I will be going back to at some point in my life, hopefully sooner than later.
Take a look at the photos, you'll understand. :)
***WARNING: this is kind of a XXL post. You've now been warned. ***
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| In Barceloneta ("Little Barcelona") by the port. |
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| Fun fact: All of these palm trees were imported when Barcelona was preparing for the 1992 Olympics. |
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| So sunny and warm :) |
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| Boats floating. As they tend to do, a majority of the time. |
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| Look at this neat sculpture. |
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| Barcelona street. :) Part of Park Guell is wayyy up at the top. |
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| A naked, life-sized black Barbie (Nicki Minaj???) was on hand to greet us. |
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| Riding up the street escalator towards Park Guell. |
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| CACTI CAN I? |
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| The highest point in Park Guell, with wonderful views of the city. |
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| Barcelona! :) |
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| B-Town v2, but a million times better than B-Town v1. |
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| View of La Sagrada Familia.. yes. It is large. Good observation. |
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This guy was awesome, although a bit creepy. He stopped to blow a kiss at me and made a very loud
"MWWWAH" as he did it. The tunes he played were a nice accompaniment to the view, though. |
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| Longest bench.. IN THE WORLD. |
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| The bench is made up of a mosiac of broken plates and ceramics. |
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| Hi |
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:) :) :)
Also, Parc Güell was built by Gaudi as a housing development for the wealthy elite of Barcelona. |
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| More bench and horizon. |
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| If you're a fan of ANTM, the season 7 finale runway show was held here. (The season with Caridee) |
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| Underneath where the bench bit is. |
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| The "Gingerbread House" as we dubbed it. |
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| Oranges :) |
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| A street (which was basically the size of an alley) in the Gothic district. |
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Church in Cataluna Square. During the Spanish Civil War, a bomb exploded here, killing 30+ children at a
school in the square. Towards the end of the Civil War people were also taken against this wall and executed.
You can still see the marks from the bullets in the wall. |
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On a weirder note, this chap here is called Caga Tio (translated to "Uncle Shit.") Caga Tio is a log with legs, a face
and a blanket. Instead of Santa, children bring Caga Tio bits of food each day before Christmas and each day
Caga Tio grows a little bit more. Then, on Christmas Day, the children beat Caga Tio with a stick chanting a song
that goes as follows (translated)...
"Shit log, shit turron, hazelnuts and cottage cheese, if you don't shit well, I'll hit you with a stick. Shit log!"
Then the parents take Caga Tio's blanket off, and Caga Tio gives the kids their well
deserved presents.
I am not making this up. |
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| One of three Gothic cathedrals in the city. |
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| Artsy fartsy. |
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| Another Gaudi designed building. |
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| Casa Batlló by Gaudi |
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| Detail of the facade. |
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| Metro station in the morning on a Sunday.. completely dead. |
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| La Sagrada Familia! |
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| Close up of some of the exterior. It's completely excessive and elaborate and I love it. |
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| Stained glass window.. I'm a little obsessed and took a ton of pictures of the windows. |
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This is a picture of the ceiling. It is from Wikipedia. All of my pictures of the actual architecture didn't really express how
amazing this structure is inside. |
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| No editing at all. The colors were so vibrant and gorgeous.. I literally sat in here for an hour admiring everything. |
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| The organ, reflecting the light from the windows. |
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| Close up of the glass. |
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| Took an elevator up to the top of one of the spires! |
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| It was a little scary :( |
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| Looking down from the inside. You could take the steps down to the bottom. I declined. |
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How Gaudi designed the church; Nature influenced his designs completely, and he wanted to do things organically.
He hung weights and then took the mirror image of this and that's how the cathedral got it's shape. |
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| La Sagrada Familia by night. |
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| Cathedral del Mar, another one of the Gothic cathedrals |
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| Picasso inspired? |
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| Barcelona street. |
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| Entrance to Parc de La Ciutadella. |
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| This area was used in 1888 for a national exhibition. |
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| La Rambla at night! :) |
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| Arc de Triomf |
Wish I could go back.. there's still so much I wasn't able to see and do!
I also took a massive quantity of photos here, check Facebook for the album if you wish to see MOAR.
On another note, today I had a Steak & Ale Pie, which may or may not have had a chunk of liver in it. It could have also been a misshapen mushroom. But I did not eat it, just to be safe.
Stay tuned for my *FINAL POSTS* while being abroad. Because after Saturday, I will no longer be able to hold my title of "A Girl.. Abroad."
x