Barcelona is a city of culture and passion. So who better to explore it with than our undergraduate Notre Dame ultimate frisbee friends on study aboard. Heather, Pat, Jonathan and Ian provided great companionship, perspective and entertainment. We took this trip in mid-October.
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| Airport Shenanigans |
Walking the walk
We arrived mid-morning Friday and quickly caught up with Pat and Heather. Jonathan and Ian would end up joining us later as they bozo booked flights for 8pm instead 8am. Our Friday goals were quite modest with the intent to drink sangria, eat tapas, and explore Barcelona.
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| One of the many beautiful streets in Barcelona |
We started off to visit the Bari Gothic museum near the medieval quarter. While wandering we stumbled upon a museum which we thought was it. It was not it. Instead of learning about the Roman origins of Barcelona and seeing the ancient ruins, we visited what could be described as a museum of hoarding. A rich gentlemen decided to collect many things: pipes, seashells, crucifixes, maps, weapons, printing presses, etc. which then were showcased as a museum posthumously. An example of the curiosities is this bizarre naked child on an ugly fish sculpture.
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| Did not make my Christmas list |
Park Guell
Saturday with the whole squad assembled we visited Park Guell. It's one of the highest points in Barcelona and provides amazing views of the city and ocean. The park was designed by the famous Barcelonian architect Antoni Gaudi. It's a cool blend of nature and architectural design.
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| Great view of Barcelona |
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| On top of the Guell. |
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| The psychedelic part of the park designed by Gaudi |
La Sagrada Familia
No visit to Barcelona is complete without visiting La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia was designed by Gaudi and has been under construction for over 133 years. It's an awe inspiring blend of art, architecture and engineering. It towers over the neighboring construction and yet is elegant with it's impressively detailed sculptures and stained glass. The project is just over 50% finished and has a planned completion date of 2026 but many challenges still exist. It was amazing to see and is inspiring as a truly unique piece of art. I recommend the
wikipedia page to learn more.
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| The Nativity Facade |
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| The Nativity Facade |
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| The Glory Facade |
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| Interior details of the columns that support the roof. |
The Beach
After a day of sightseeing on Saturday we hit the beach near the center of the city. The weather was sunny and delightfully warm. The beach was packed and as we walked to a more empty spot we realized public nudity was accepted. While none of our crew decided to engage in suitless bathing, we did test out the chilly Mediterranean waters.
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| Look closely and you may see a naked old man. |
Delicious Food
While in Barcelona we had plenty of delicious food. Being on the coast, Barcelona is heavy into seafood and the seafood paella was delicious. It had a great blend of fresh seafood, Spanish spices, fresh veggies and rice. The paella was a nice compliment to the cervezas and sangria.
We also had flavorful tapas (small appetizer dishes). The most memorable was
Can Paixano which served delicious cheap jamon sandwiches. Heather, Pat, Megan and I shared four sandwiches and complimented them with tasty white wine.
The Nightlife
No trip to Bareclona would be complete without sampling the legendary nightlife. Things in Barcelona start to get busy around midnight. On Friday night we tried an 80's bar around 10pm only to find it empty and full of unpleasant bouncers. At one point we got stared down by a bouncer, who was making sure we didn't have too much fun too early.
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| Selfie in the club. |
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| Pat, Heather and Ian Doing their best to have fun |
We left our first club of pessimism and journey in search of the epic Raz-Ma-Tazz. Our journey was a bit Odyssey-esque in nature as we zig-and-zagged and ran into numerous hold-ups and distractions. When we arrived we realized our Oz was less than we hoped for. We found a line an hour long and a cover charge the size of small nation's GDP. In a move we will never regret we headed back to the hostel to grab a kebab before the local shop closed.
Saturday night was wildly more successful. We joined the Be-Sound Hostel pub crawl. We frequented an Irish Bar (with some of the worst Karaoke), a Turkish hookah bar with exotic dancers, and a techno bar where they encouraged pants sagging. During the pub crawl we made friends with two fellas from Texas A&M and a couple weird French dudes. The last stop on the pub crawl was an Asian techno club that opened out onto the beach. The crew soon tired of the club scene and spent the majority of the night drinking beers and relaxing on the beach until the wee hours of the morning. Some of the group got separated but eventually by early morning we all made it back to the hostel for at least a few hours of sleep before our flights back to the real world beckoned.
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| Exhausted at the airport |
My major takeaway was that Barcelona is a cool place full of life, art, and the interesting! I highly recommend a visit.
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