Barcelona!

Out of all the trips planned, I didn’t think Barcelona would’ve been as interesting compared to all of the other trips. Yet, it’s in the top three of my favorite trips so far. I felt as though Barcelona was similar to America in a way that it was pretty modern and familiar through their stores, a bit of the culture, and architecture. It was definitely an eventful weekend.

Jade, Liv, Shannon, Allie, Kathryn, and I arrived in Barcelona Friday evening on November 15th. We got situated with our Airbnb which was pretty and comfy. We looked for a place to eat dinner. 

At dinner, we ordered a bunch of appetizers. My favorite was the pile of mussels we ordered. The restaurant at the time was empty, but we began talking to a local couple who said we picked a good spot to eat. It was the husbands favorite restaurant and he shared that it would get packed later. Probably because we were at the restaurant earlier then the usual Barcelona dinner time, since some European countries tend to eat later than Americans.  

The next day we decided to explore Barcelona and go shopping as well. We came across this huge flea market style food area. It was huge. There were hot sauce sections, meat sections, sea food sections, local foods, a candy section, and so much more. 

After the market we visited the Placa de la Sagrada Familia. We weren’t able to go inside without a ticket, but the outside was just as good. Well, as far as I know anyway. 

We then walked to Park Guell. It was a very far, and cold walk but the view was worth it. For my Disney fans out there, this park was a setting in Cheetah Girls 2. After our visit, we took the metro back since we were a good distance from the Airbnb and it was colder than I thought it was going to be.

After an event packed day, we planned to meet up with a few other Loyola girls. Some who were in Greece with us and also a few who were studying in France. We met at a bar called Grand Payne Bar, which a few relatives and friends recommended to us. Here, a woman was talking to our friends before we came and then she introduced herself to us too. She's connected to Loyola through, I think it was her father and her uncle who attended Loyola. Or it was something along those lines. Either way, she had connections to Loyola. She told us she went to Fairfield and also went abroad. She met her (now) fiancé in Italy at a bar in Florence. She also told us that abroad was the best time of her life and that we should definitely take advantage of it because life is different once you graduate and we have to start being an adult. The advice she gave us, that I’m sharing, isn’t word for word what she said, but this is the gist. 

From there we headed to a nightclub called Opium. While abroad, I haven’t been to a club anywhere yet, so I was excited to see what all of the hype was about. As basic as this may sound, I loved it. I thought it was different than the nightlife I’ve experienced while traveling to different areas. I also liked being able to dance compared to standing around at some bars and talking to people. But, maybe that’s just me.

Sunday, we all signed up for a cooking class. The cooking class was through the Airbnb website and was located at a young couples apartment. The apartment was something you would see in a movie. It looked very European, to me at least. I never considered myself a cook, but even after the class I wouldn’t really consider myself a cook. Within 10 minutes of being there, I cut my finger while cutting fruit for the Sangria. So no, I’m no Rachel Ray. But, the couple was extremely welcoming and the appetizers and paella we cooked was amazing! We shared the cooking class information with a few of our other friends heading to Barcelona after us, and they took that same class and really enjoyed it too.  

Looking for something to do afterwards, we walked to the beach to go to an ice bar. Yes, an ice bar basically on the beach. Although I do not do the cold, I thought it was fun and different. I was absolutely freezing the entire session even though we had oversized coats provided for us. I’m all about the experience though!

Originally Barcelona was not on my bucket list of places to go while abroad. But, I’m really glad we went because it was unexpectedly one of my favorite trips. 

The mussels we ate out on our first night.

The candy selection at the market.

A meat and cheese selection at the market.

A smoothie or juice selection at the market.

Placa de la Sagrada Familia.

Allie, MacKenzie, Liv, and Jade at Park Guell.

The paella we made at the cooking class.

MacKenzie and the paella.

A street near the beach.

Liv, MacKenzie, Jade, and Allison at the Ice Bar. 

MacKenzie at the cooking class, wearing a glove after cutting my finger.