Barcelona Part Two

Going through these pictures again is showing me that a week in Barcelona is not nearly enough time to see everything.  Although it is seemingly small in size, there is a wealth of things to do and see, and I felt like I discovered something new everyday!  It's hard to pinpoint exactly what my favorite part of the city was, since all of the sections have their unique aspects.

The Gothic Neighborhood of Barcelona is truly stunning because of its small winding streets and architecture, and sometimes they would open up to these beautiful squares. As a lover of Gothic architecture, coming to the largest concentration of it in Europe was a really special experience for me!

Find out more after the jump!

 

Rocking my neon lime-yellow shorts from Uniqlo.  Bonus effect of making me look even tanner!

After a couple days of being in Barcelona, it warmed up enough to go to the beach, and although it wasn't quite warm enough to go in the water, it was just warm enough to sit on the sand and tan.

Somehow, after 3 days of tanning, I managed to get even a littttle bit sunburned, but I have succeeded in negating the effects of barely seeing the sun for three months.

Our experience at the beach was enhanced by the sounds of people selling mojitos, beers, scarves, massages, and even coconut.  I contemplated recording their voices and making a soundtrack of Barcleona, but never quite got around to it...but it was the weirdest and most unique blend of voices anyone could imagine.  It went something like this (and sometimes simultaneously):

Fresh mojitos! Mojitos frescitos! (..what??)

Massaje? Massage?  Very good! Very good for back!

Beercervezacoldagua beercervezacoldagua.

It's hard to pinpoint which one was more annoying, but the mojito sellers were definitely most successful.

On our way back from the beach one afternoon, we stumbled across a Catalan festival or celebration.  There was a band playing in front of the cathedral, and people of all ages dancing traditional Catalan dance. It was a definite reminder that the people of Catalan have their own culture from the rest of Spain, and it was really special to see that their traditions are still strong and alive.

On my last morning in Barcelona before my flight, I went to Montjuic, the old Olympic park.  Although we didn't have time to go see all the Olympic stadiums, or even get to the top of the park, the view that we did have from where we climbed up to was breathtaking.  We could see so much of Barcelona from the mountains to the city to the ocean.  I could easily spend an entire day just exploring this park!

I couldn't imagine having a better time in Barcelona, although next time I go, I would love to explore more of the famous nightlife.  Although I went out a couple times, most of the time, I was so exhausted from exploring the city that I would just want to do something relaxing at the end of the night.  This usually resulted in a lot of sangria rather than crazy nights out...but the one time we did go out, I loved seeing how the city completely transformed itself at night.  However, I hesitate to say that it is crazier than nights in Berlin ;)