Destination: Barcelona

Barça, Barça, Barça, or, as the Catalonian pronunciation sounds… Barthhhalona. The people have such a thick, strong accent that almost makes the word “Barcelona” seem like it is spoken with a lisp. My friends and I visited this hometown of the well-known Antoni Gaudi the first weekend of November and what a whirlwind of a weekend it was… I felt like we were always on the go—cramming our time by jumping from one tourist attraction to the next, trying to find a reasonable and normal place to eat, and of course the nightlife is famed for starting at midnight and going into the early hours of the morning. Though it had been less than a week since we arrived home from Toussaint, our two week long fall break, we had stumbled upon this cheap EasyJet flight from Lyon to Barcelona earlier in the year, and thought, yes, Barcelona is one of those places you just have to visit.

Things to do:

-Go to La Boqueria: the huge food market that occurs daily. You’ll see everything from fresh fish and seafood to pigs’ legs, fruits and vegetables (get your own fruit smoothie!), breads and pastries, wine, candy, and even restaurants. Most of the vendors there are the third and fourth generation of salesmen in the market, and it is most definitely one of the city’s most popular attractions

-Walk down Las Ramblas, one of the busiest streets in central Barcelona full of tourists and locals alike. Street performers, flower stalls, even pets for sale…

-Be aware it’s a prime area for pickpocketing, much like the rest of Barcelona!!!

-Visit at least one of Gaudi’s masterpieces, they so much represent the pride of Barcelona and its people. Everywhere you go, you see and hear of him…on postcards, magnets, etc. Sites include:

-Casa Batlló and La Pedrera: two of the houses he was hired to build, really cool and unique architecture

La Sagrada Familia: walk all the way around it, there’s always construction going on so it’s up to you if you want to pay to go inside and navigate but it’s equally amazing from the outside

-Park Guël: take the metro to Valcarca on the green line, just follow signs when you get off and you will hike up a little hill with escalators, park is awesome, go in the afternoon or sunset before the it gets dark!

-Spend an afternoon in el Barrio Gotico (The Old Gothic Quarter): try it for lunch and shopping. The main street Passieg de Gracia has some of the huge department stores (Zara, Mango, etc.) but as you wander further and further in, you’ll see lots of little boutiques, vintage shops, market stalls, chocolate and ice cream shops all along the narrow streets

-Spend an afternoon here for lunch or shopping

-You can find great jewelry and scarves here

-Go to the Picasso Museum: 6 Euro entry, it has key art of Picasso’s times in Barcelona— early in his career up to the Blue Period, as well as in 1917 and other days when he again visited. I have to admit I was a little disappointed not to see more of his significant and well-known works like The Three Musicians or La Guernica but this exhibit did have a very cool 44-piece interpretation of Velazquez’ Las Meninas

-Another place to visit is the Barcelona Maritime Museum, beautiful old Gothic building and worth the time if you check it out

-Experience Barcelona’s spectacular waterfront: grab a few beers and walk through the various ports (Vell y Olimpico) around sunset

-Drink champagne—called “cave” in Spanish. The area around Barcelona is well-known for it,and if you have the time, you can take a very inexpensive, short, and fun trip (40 minute train) to one of the vineyards for Champagne tasting

-Nightlife:

-Spain has at least 10 bars on every street so start out by going anywhere to get tapas and drinks

-Another option is going to grocery store along Platja Barceloneta (Barcelona Beach, Port Olympic area) and buying the food and drink of your choice to chill on the beach and pregame. (Drinks will cost you 12 euros in the club)

-After dinner, we began our Friday at Chupitos, a really fun shot bar where you can choose from quite a variety… the Willy Wonka (Baileys, whipped ream, M&M’s) and the Girl Scout (shot is lit on fire with a marshmellow on a stick) are just a few

-Right off the beach is the club area, lots of cool places like Opium, Shoko, Razzmatazz (little overwhelming because it’s 5 clubs in one) that you’ll want to go to. They all close around 6 so make sure you’re rested up for a big night!

-Dow Jones is a really fun little bar where the beer prices work like the stock market and there are "crashes" and the prices are really cheap.

-Another night we went to this Indie-type placed called Club Elephant

**Beware of pickpocketing**

It’s especially bad in Barcelona so just make sure you have your hand on your bag and eye on your belongings all day/night. Be especially careful on the metro (after coming home at night) and Las Ramblas/touristy areas. Didn’t have any serious problems except my friend (who was coming home on the metro at 6am) got his wallet pickpocketed from behind… somehow, he ended up chasing the guy down and getting his things back but obviously that is something that no one wants to experience