Matt's and Heather's Excellent Adventures: Barcelona (1/4 Spain)

In Spain, we didn't get lucky with the weather, but we saw some really great, unique things. A quick overview:

Spain has (in no particular order): a) very tiny showers, b) showers with very little hot water, c) hardly any English speakers, d) beautiful, diverse scenery, e) cheap beer and wine, f) quite boring food, very ham-based, g) great espresso, h) crazy loud festivals at random times celebrating random things, i) no decent websites, j) fast (300km/h) trains, k) incredibly long siestas and incredibly late dinners, and l) some very nice people.

Barcelona, despite the dreary weather, was incredible. The city has a nice vibe. Full of mind-bending Gaudi buildings, tapas restaurants, and street performers, you will surely find something interesting to see or eat, no matter where you walk. (Although, we did find it difficult to order anything besides ham sandwiches, since everything and everyone is in Spanish.) :) We happened upon Park Guell, housing a lot of Gaudi's artsy, nature-inspired structures, above the city on our first day. From there you can see the whole city and the sparkling sea! After, we indulged on some scary seafood, drank a bottle of wine, and passed out, jet-lagged and exhausted at 7 pm. Yup. Except for waking shortly at midnight, we slept until 9 am the next day. A much-needed sleep!

The next day, La Sagrada Familia took up a good chunk of our afternoon, and it was well worth the time. Everything I see now, I compare to that. I haven't seen anything yet that holds up. It was AMAZING. Then, walking, walking, walking... That's what we do on vacation! :) Got some more ham on crunchy bread and transferred to our new lodgings in Barceloneta, a small neighborhood near the Gothic Quarter on the Sea. Our host was Australian, and it was so great to speak English! That night, we went to a sketchy local Flamenco bar she told us about, and, once inside, felt safe and very Spanish. The stage was at the front of this dark room under some stairs, where seats and/or standing room were first-come-first-served. However, no matter where you were located, it was easy to hear and to feel the passion of the music. I guess it's commonplace to interject from the audience, but it still took me a little while to get used to that. (Although at our last Flamenco viewing for Matt's work dinner in Granada I was the only one interjecting!)

Our last night in Barcelona, we got to watch FC Barcelona live at their massive stadium. The field looks gigantic from up there! Barca won 3-1, and my notes say they were good passing goals. Also, I remember finding it strange that they water the field during half-time. Taking the train home was quite easy, and it was off to Valencia the next morning.