Loca in Barcelona

Out on the town with our friends from the hostel!

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Stef and I arrived in Barcelona around 12noon on Monday after a four hour bus ride from Valencia. We took the metro to our hostel right on the main street of Las Ramblas. This street is one of the busiest and funnest streets to be on in the entire city--full of locals and tourists alike, the street is lined with entertainers, merchants, and street cafes. We are so lucky to have this street right outside our door! Because of limited time, we decided to take a bus tour of the major sights of the city. We were definitely the "ultimate tourists" being on the double decker bus and taking pictures like mad. It was a perfect way to see everything on the first day. Our favorite monument of the city was the Sagrada Familia--a church that was designed by a famous architect in the late 19 century. Unfortunately, Gaudi was unable to complete his work, and the city has been trying to carry on his work for the past fifty years. They predict that the church may be finished in 2085...definitely a work in progress! The entire tour took about four hours to see all of the sights. Afterwards, we grabbed some groceries to make ourselves dinner at the hostel.

Chels and I in Park Guell

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Later on that night, we met some Austrian and Australian people who live in our hostel. We hung out with them and had some drinks. We spent the night learning some german and strolling along Las Ramblas.

Today we woke up early and went to visit the famous Park Guell, that was designed by Gaudi. The area was originally intended for the elite who wanted to live in the area, but the project was never completed. We got to see some of Gaudis most famous work, including the longest park bench in the world that was made out of colorful marble pieces, his signature style. His architecture and imagination were unlike anything ... most of his buildings are colorful and really interesting to look at. Most of them have no straight lines at all like typical buildings and it is very easy to pick out  other buildings designed by Gaudi throughout Barcelona. We thought that his buildings looked like something out of Candyland or Dr. Suess... or even like gingerbread houses. Overall, we thought that the Park Guell was definitely worth the visit. Afterwards we stopped by two other buildings that Gaudi designed that were close to our hostal. It is really intriguing and almost mysterious to see his work and especially the ones that were not finished since he was killed in a freak accident by being hit by a train. After a quick lunch at the hostal, we hit the beach for about the rest of the day. We had some drinks and enjoyed the sun and watching all the beach goers. Barcelonas beaches are famous for being very beautiful and full of people. We are now back at our hostal and will haev a late dinner like the Europeans. Afterwards we are going to check out the crazy nightlife in Barcelona. Tomorrow we head back to Valencia in the afternoon. Thursday, the next day, we leave for Madrid and from there we will head to Paris for 6 days. Cant wait! Cheers.