We landed in Barcelona at 7:30am, and it was just waking up. We were near the Art Museum, Olympic Park, the Botanical Gardens, and Mont Juric and explored them all.
The art museum
Statue at Olympic Park or maybe a missile, who knows?
Tree and Flowers at the Botanical Gardens, very Mediterranean
View of town
The town and the Med...I love the sea
Is that Gabriela Bundchen?
We went to Güell Parc one day. We got terribly lost off the Metro, and after about 60 minutes, finally found it. Once there, I have to admit I was disappointed. I enjoyed Mont Juric more. It was less crowded, no hawkers, and no hippie kids (more on that later). But I have to admit, that Gaudi is a crazy dude and I was glad to see his house and the lizard.
It's not a turtle, but it will do. I wonder what this represents? An acid trip?
And after Güell park, we stopped for a cappuccino and some flaky pasteries. Have I mentioned my additction to puff pastry filled with dark chocolate? I have to eat at least one per day while on vacation. And then headed to Gaudi's Temple. It was pricy to get in, and you had to pay to take the lift to the top, but it was totally worth it! The Temple is still being built, but it is very impressive. Again, I have to say, Gaudi was a crazy dude. His designs are inspired by nature and science. It reminded me of molecular gastronomy for architecture in the way he breaks down cell structure and then blows it up in a different form.
This is to give you a perspective on how high we were in the spiers.
This is taken looking straight down. I put my arm out and snapped. There is no hand rail. I gripped the outside edge and my heart rate was about 150bpm. SCARY!
And finally, this picture. We were several hundred feet in the sky and there are holes in the floor. I was scared, but then put both feet down on the holes and jumped up. The floor held, but my sunglasses fell out of my shirt and almost fell down the holes. And as some of you know, that is one of my irrational fears! I guess it isn't that irrational!
Another Gaudi house
One night we went out to the second best meal of the trip. It was on a recommendation from my friend BV who visited Barcelona last year. The tapas were great and the wine was delicious. And the price was very reasonable. I wish that we could have found that place and went every night!
The Arc de Triomphe in Barcelona
So now some of the gritty bits that I didn't enjoy. One night we were heading out of our hotel for a nice dinner. It was around 9pm (an early dinner by Spanish standards) and there was a group older teens/20's waiting by this market by the hotel. The market closed at 9, and we saw the workers bring out the trash. The kids were pawing through the trash and had bags and carts. They were "shopping" from the discarded produce and meat. It was both sad and disgusting. There were a lot of homeless young people, and it appears like a lot of drug use in Barcelona. I saw a few hard core drug users (based on the fact that they couldn't have weighed more than 90lbs and were 30 something men). It was sad. It made me realize the lack of drug use and street crime in Belgrade. Belgrade is a remarkably safe city considering that it has 1.6M and is the capital of Serbia and former capital of Yugoslavia. It's almost like a small town; I think I feel as safe in Belgrade as I do in Kendallville!
Also, on Thursday afternoon, my stomach began to feel unsettled. I worked through it and thought it was just a little something. Little did I know...
On Saturday morning, we headed back to Madrid on the high speed train. We were back around 1:30 and found our hostel. It was a little rickety, but mainly clean, except for an odd sulfury smell (not rotten eggs, more like old onions; I'm lexicon trained). We went out for lunch at a brewery, and all was well. After lunch, we went to the Madrid Botanical Gardens. They were much less impressive than Barcelona, but it was nice to be outside and they had some interesting sculptures.
But on the walk home, I felt weaker and weaker and like I might have to vomit soon. We didn't have a good map with us, but made it back. I collapsed on the bed and slept for a little bit. Then I woke up and was very sick. Apparently I had food poisoning or something. I stayed in bed until we had to leave for the airport the next morning. I still felt terrible and don't really know how I made it home on Sunday. But I did and I'm much better now. But between lost luggage at the beginning of the trip and food poisoning at the end of the trip, it wasn't the best vacation ever. It was still a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got to see my friend and get away from work for a while.
Hope you enjoyed my Spanish travelogue:)
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