SPAIN: BARCELONA

Before I went to Barcelona, I got to spend the long weekend with my family (minus Greta) in Madrid. Mom and Dad landed early on Thursday morning, but I had my clinical orientation at that time, so they walked around the city for most of the day while I was at school and the hospital. Once my classes were done, I went straight to the metro to head home because Mom and Dad were waiting for me at my apartment. 

Later that night, we all met up and spent the night going around to different tapas bars. Mom has become a big fan of my favorite drink, tinto de verano. 

We wandered the streets, looking at different restaurants and shops. Coincidentally, we walked as far as the palace. After the palace, we turned around and walked back to my favorite gelato place. Clearly, if I had to take Ryan, Connelly, Emilia, and my parents, you know it's good. 

The next morning, we had a later start to the day and decided to take Rick Steves's walking tour. Dad is a big fan of Rick Steves, and even I found myself skimming through his book before I left. The tour started at Plaza Mayor. It's funny because I considered myself a tourist today. I've spent so much time in other countries that I haven't really explored much of Madrid until very recently. 

Once we were done walking through Plaza Mayor, the next stop was the Mercado de San Miguel. This was my first time even hearing about the market, but I'm so glad that we got to go inside because I will definitely be going back. There were a bunch of stands selling delicious-looking food, and they were selling everything that you could think of: olives, seafood, paella, and so much more. 

We all shared a cup of fruit while we walked through the market. After that, we went to the convent across the street. 

While listening to the tour, he mentions a hidden gem found by the convent. Behind a tiny brown door was a cookie shop. It was very secretive, and you don't even see the sisters making the cookies.

We panicked and got lemon shortbread cookies. The cookies were dry, but the experience was still pretty cool.

The next stop was to see the Catedral de la Almudena, also near the palace. At this point, we (mostly) knew how to get around the city. 

It was free to enter with a small donation, so we went inside to look around.

Once we were done, we found a tapas place and sat down to eat a quick lunch. Of course, no meal is complete without a sweet treat! Madrid is known for its churros and chocolate, and Chocolatería San Ginés is supposedly the best place to get them. 

I can confirm that these were the best churros and chocolate that I've had in Madrid. 

Once we were done walking around for a while, we went back to relax before going to Picalagartos, which is a sky bar right by my apartment. We met up with Kyle and Matteo. Kyle is a family friend who is studying abroad in Madrid this semester too, and Matteo was one of Kyle's high school friends visiting for his spring break.

Connelly must've had one too many tinto de verano's because, not even 5 minutes into the bar, she completely falls off the couch onto the floor. What a great start to the night.

We chatted for a while and went to dinner after at Steak Burger. Later, Connelly and I met up with the boys, and we decided to go out at Kapital. Before that, we went to Espit Chupitos, which is a shot bar known for having 600 different types of shots. Yes, you read that right. While looking at the shot list, Kyle noticed that there was a shot called "Sargento." How fitting! So, obviously, we had to get it. The coolest part was lighting the shots on fire. It was one of my favorite nights going out, but I paid for my consequences the next day. 

I woke up the next morning and walked over to Mom and Dad's Airbnb to get a game plan for the day. The weather in Madrid that weekend was absolutely perfect. We agreed on a picnic at Retiro Park. We went to El Corte Ingles and got baquettes, meat, cheese, fruit, and nutella. 

Once we got to Retiro, we set up camp and relaxed while we ate lunch, which was extremely needed. 

After lunch, we strolled around the park more. It was super busy, which makes sense considering the weather.

After the park, we got another relaxed tapas lunch and went back to relax more before going to dinner. Then, we went to O'Connell's, which is an Irish pub that was streaming March Madness games. Kyle and Matteo stopped by again and watched two games with us.

The next morning, Mom, Dad, and I said goodbye to Connelly and headed our way to the train station. Mom made a small oopsie and accidentally booked the train for the wrong day. The good news is that we were able to still board the train due to the available seating. The bad news is that each ticket costs ninety euros. Once we got into Barcelona, we immediately dropped our bags off at the hotel and went to find a place to eat for lunch. Along the way, we found a plaza that had pigeons everywhere. All of a sudden, speakers around the plaza started playing loud, booming noises, and the pigeons took off and flew laps around the plaza.

It may look like I was scared of them hitting me, but I was more worried about getting pooped on. We went to a burger place for lunch and then walked to the Cathedral de Barcelona.

We took a few photos and wandered the streets for a bit until our room was ready for check-in. 

Once at the hotel, we got ready and left for our flamenco show. Earlier in the semester, I was taking a flamenco dance class for my art credit, but I quickly realized how stressed I would be with the extra credits. So, I was excited to see what flamenco was all about.

It was pretty impressive for how quickly they were able to move their feet. Every part of the dancers' bodies had movement or energy to it. There were also many singing and guitar solos that were incredible as well. 

After the show, we went to Carballeira Reina Cristina for authentic paella. I've had paella once before when I was in Mallorca, so I was super excited to try it again. Before that, we ate Porto de Barcos, and it was delicious. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, and the broth was so good to dip your bread into. 

The paella was good, just not my favorite. I definitely liked the paella in Mallorca better, but still, I can't complain. 

After dinner, we walked along the marina and looked at all of the yachts and boats harbored there. The most expensive boat we found was worth $195,000,000. That is crazy. It turns out that Kyle and Matteo were also in Barcelona at this time, and asked me if I wanted to go out with them. How could I say no? I ended my night by going to the club Opium with them and getting back to the hotel at 4 a.m. Oops!

In the morning, we got ready and started heading towards the Sagrada Familia. Along the way, we stopped at the Arch de Triomf which was across the street from our hotel. 

The Sagrada Familia is beyond breathtaking. Everything is so intricate, and the creator, Gaudi, made every element of it with a purpose. The very front of the cathedral represented the day that Jesus was born, while the back represented the timeline of Jesus's death. 

The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. The ceiling was super high, and the big beams represented trees. It was absolutely beautiful. 

After our tour, we walked across the street to a restaurant for brunch. They were sold out of pancakes, so I chose the cinnamon roll, and it was delicious. It came with vanilla ice cream, caramel, and chocolate syrup. 

After breakfast, we didn't exactly have a plan and decided to walk to some of Gaudi's other works of art. 

The last thing that we did was walk around Park Guell. There was a lot of other abstract architecture there. My favorite part was the tiled benches with a view of Barcelona.  

After the park, we went back to the hotel to grab our backpacks and go to the airport. 

After some difficulties at the Barcelona Airport, we were on our way to Florence! 

Best Part of the Trip: I really liked walking around the Sagrada Familia. I could've taken a million photos because there was so much to see. 

Worst Part of the Trip: A few nitpicky things that didn't ruin the trip but also didn't make the trip better: weather on day two, wrong train tickets, issues with airport security, etc. Besides that, everything went smoothly.

Overall Thoughts: It was so nice being able to be a tourist in Madrid! There were so many things that I didn't have the chance to see yet. Before coming to Barcelona, I heard that it was very unsafe, dirty, and smelly. But, to be honest, I didn't really feel that way. It wasn't as clean as Madrid is, but it could've been a lot worse. I did notice more graffiti than in Madrid, too. Other than that, I had a great time! I'm looking forward to spending the rest of spring break in Italy!