Friday Afternoon in Barcelona

Okay, so after my November trip to Toulouse, I didn't really do much by ways of travelling. However, when January rolled around, I had the opportunity to go to Barcelona with my mother! Yes, the mothership flew in with my younger sister and I met them in Paris, and then we took a plane from there to Barcelona, which was much warmer than Paris. We only had a single day in Barcelona, but we were able to maximize what we saw because of my careful planning.

No, really, it was my planning cuz my mom and my sister literally planned to wander around and see what was there. Not a bad plan either but I had things I wanted to see.

The evening we arrived we visited the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately cameras are prohibited there so I didn't take any photos, but I highly recommend it to anyone into Picasso, it includes not only his works, but works from artists who used similar style and ran in his circle. We also saw Spain's Arco Del Triumfo, the Spanish equivalent to France's Arc de Triomph (which also has a twin at Washington Square in NYC). It was a beautiful sight in the Barcelona night.

The next morning, after breakfast, we visited the Museu Xocolata, the Chocolate Museum which describes the history of chocolate and how it came to be so globally popular. It originated in Central America and was brought over by the Spanish, and from there chocolate spread like an epidemic. What's cool is your ticket in is an actual chocolate bar. A museum visit and a chocolate bar? Yes please! The museum features many chocolate sculputes in glass cases in order to maintain the temperature so they won't melt. There was even a Star Wars special exhibit! There are booths that talk about the history of chocolate as well.

After the Museu Xocolata we went to the beach because we could. We were in Barcelona so, even in the winter, we had to visit the beach. The water was pretty clear, although the winter made it look grey. In the summer I'm sure the place would be packed, so I'm glad we visited in the winter, even if it was raining. After the beach we found a gondola to ride to the Montjuic hills and saw the gardens there. Also, very worth it because the gondola gave a great view of the city skyline. Iono what happened to my pictures of the skyline. They ghosted on me.

After Montjuic, I insisted we visit the Sagrada Familia, the famous church that isn't even finished yet (but will be finished in about 10 years). To get in tickets had to be bought online, but once you enter you see that the church is even bigger than it looks like on the outside. The outdoor architecture is amazing enough on it's own and it shows just how long it took to build the church. Some parts were clearly very old, while others were brand spanking new. The inside shows the many multi-colored stained-glass windows and lights incorporated into the gothique feel of the building. It was very much worth going to and I recommend it to anyone planning to visit Barcelona.

We had dinner at the HardRock which wasn't far from where we were staying and it was pretty good as well. The portions were just as huge as normal and we took home extras to eat as breakfast or a midnight snack.

Lastly, just walking around Barcelona is an experience in itself. There is a walking street called La Rambla (which was the street our hotel was on) where you can just... walk. And shop and eat. During the night there are fountains that light up and put on a show as well.

Unfortunately we only had the two days in Barcelona, but we will definitely return one day.

All in all Barcelona is a very cool place to visit and it gets five apples. A full five.

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