The last time I was in Barcelona was July 2010. I was 17, going to be a senior in high school, and had recently discovered that I absolutely hate hiking. Now, it’s 2013, I’m 20, and I still have a dislike for major hikes. Barcelona has stayed the same, but I’m pretty different. I made sure to take specific photos for comparison.

This past weekend, about 30 of us (maybe more, I’m not too sure) decided to visit Barcelona. We took the over night train there and arrived around 7 am Friday for an early start! Though there were plenty of UF students there, my group was Alyssa, Kelsey, and Brianna. I call us the cuatros. We stayed at a hostel in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona which Kelsey picked perfectly! Our room had 2 bunk beds so we luckily didn’t have to share space with randoms. The rest of the UF group stayed closer to the beach. 

We thought that we could check into the hostel at 8 because they asked for an arrival time, but check in time was actually 11. The woman behind the desk said we could leave our bags in the common area of the hostel while we walked around, but that felt very sketch so we lugged our luggage (hehe) around the neighborhood until then. We grabbed a light breakfast of croissants and coffee from a local bakery and like all the previous bakeries we’ve hit up, it was delicious. We freshened ourselves up in the bakery restroom. Thankfully there was sufficient space to erase the I-slept-on-a-train look from our faces. 

We familiarized ourselves with the area after deeming ourselves human looking again, and located the meeting point for our walking tour at 2pm. There’s a company called Sandeman that gives free walking tours in various cities, Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, and Berlin to name a few. They range from 2-3 hours. Before our tour began, we wandered the streets and found the Cathedral of Barcelona. The 4 of us split up and checked it out at our own pace. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Eulalia and she is buried there. She was a 13 year old girl who during the Roman period was publicly humiliated and tortured, so she was deemed a martyr. 

A block down from the cathedral is Mercat de Santa Caterina. It’s similar to Mercat de San Miguel and Mercat de Maravillas, but it had a much more beautiful selection of fruits and pre-made foods. The four of us grabbed a delicious lunch and ate on a bench outside the market. The strawberries were perfectly red and the kiwi was so soft it melted in my mouth. I don’t remember when I had fruit that delicious.

Our walking tour starting point was a 5 minute walk from the market. We met up with James, David, Nick, and Sagar for our two and a half hour march down the narrow and uneven streets of Barcelona. Yes, I did trip a couple times, but thankfully I had Sketchers on. The tour was mostly about the streets and history of buildings. We didn’t go into any places but we did stop by a courtyard where we could see the damage from bombs dropped during the Spanish Civil War. There are indentations on the lower sections of the building and they’re still black with residue. Our tour came to an end, the four of us grabbed a quick snack, and made our way to Parc Güell. Gaudí designed this park and it’s very whimsical. There aren’t many harsh edges, and the park benches are mosaic and weave around the edge of  the park. After this, we headed to the hostel for much needed showers and went to find paella for dinner. Our night was laid back and we slept so well!

Saturday morning, we went to La Sagrada Familia.

Quick history:

- It’s been under construction since 1882 and should be done in 2041. I will be about 48 then and I *will* return to Barcelona.

- Antoní Gaudí, the architect behind La Sagrada Familia, died in a tram accident. He was leaving work one day, dressed in frumpy clothing because he cared more about his work than his appearance, and was unfortunately hit by a tram. He was taken to a hospital and was unidentifiable so he was placed in the poor wing of the hospital. Days had gone by, no one had seen or heard from Gaudí, and by the time hospital staff identified him, Gaudí had died. He is buried in the crypt within the basilica. 

- There are three different facades to La Sagrada Familia: the passion facade, the nativity facade, and the glory facade. 

Unfortunately last time I was in Barcelona, there was not enough time to enter La Sagrada Familia, But this time there was! It was so amazing. You walked in and were bathed in colored light. There’s stained glass on every side and no two windows were the same. Gaudí found most of his inspiration from nature and it was so evident when you walked inside. The pictures I took couldn’t effectively capture the beauty of La Sagrada Familia. Here’s a panoramic of some of the stained glass.

From here, we grabbed lunch at La Boquería. It’s crazier and more touristy than Mercat de Santa Caterina. The fruit selection was once again mouth watering, and there were tons of zumo flavors to pick from. Zumo means juice in Spain. I picked Tutti Fruitti. This isn’t even a picture of all the flavors this one booth sold! 

Alyssa, Kelsey, Brianna, and I also picked up some fruit to nosh on at the beach that afternoon. We spent a solid two hours enjoying the Barcelona sun and the Mediterranean breeze. We put our feet in the water to say we’ve been IN the Mediterranean Ocean, but the water was so freezing we didn’t go in further than our ankles! #floridaproblems We left the beach tan and happy. Saturday night, we met up with friends at walked along the beach and found an ice bar. It’s basically a bar in a freezer. You’re given a jacket and it didn’t feel too cold! I ran into my roommates, it was a pleasant surprise! We took some silly pictures in our marshmallow jackets. I’ve been to one ice bar, experienced the novelty, and have no need to go back to one. But it was a lot of fun and I’m happy I went in!

And for some comparison and laughter at 2010 Barcelona and me:

Then: This polka-dot woman

Now: This polka-dot woman and me with friends!

La Sagrada Familia then:

La Sagrada Familia now: It doesn’t look too different…