Barca Barca Barca! What an amazing city. I’ve never been in a place with such attention to detail, I felt like everywhere I looked there was something interesting or beautiful that would catch my eye. I loved the contrast between the ancient Roman walls or Gothic cathedrals, and Gaudi’s entirely unique architecture found throughout the city. Plus, Barcelona is right on the coast so you have the ocean breezes and that ocean smell… really this might be my new favorite city in the world, it’s shame I only just discovered it now.
With the help of Rick Steves, my friend Nicole and I explored as much of the city as we could. The only place we payed to go in was the Picasso Museum, and that was mostly to escape from an extremely intense thunder storm. The rest of our time was spent walking down countless tree-lined ramblas to visit sites like the Parc de la Ciutadella, el Raval, Montjuic, the Olympic Stadium, and Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and Parque Güell.
One of the highlights for me was a visit Sunday morning to the Placa de la Seu, where we sat in front of the Cathedral to watch the Sardana Dance. Every Sunday groups of locals come out to perform together, as a symbol of Catalonian unity and pride. Even with the sweat streaming down my back, it was magical. (You can check out the video I made here.)
Taking the Long Way 