Barcelona (Part deux)

Hey Everybody,

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

For whatever reason, I have been outside the US at least twice before on the nations birthday... So, please... cook a burger, drink a beer and rock out to some Bruuuucce for me.

Barcelona.

This city is unbelivable.

So, what have I done since my buddy from Australians birthday?

Unfortunately, due to miscommunication, I missed the bandwagon to the club. But, every night, my new hostel takes all of the residents to a club. Ironically, once we got to the club, my Australian friends were there. So, in essence I didnt miss a thing.

The following morning, I decided that I needed to see all of the Gaudi architecture. The city is filled with a house, statues and a huge cathedral (still in progress) that he built.

On my way to the church, I overheard some people who looked around my age talking about hostels. I joined the conversation, and it turned out all three had gone to U of Delaware, and were going to see all of the Gaudi architecture as well.

I joined them.

The cathedral is unbelivable. It may be my favorite or second favorite thing Ive seen in Europe during my stay. The pillars are beautiful, but the attention to detail is something that is hard to miss. On the sides of this mammoth church there are angels blowing horns and other saints doing other saintly things.

From there, the group seperated. One of the girls from the group wanted to see more Gaudi architecture, while the other two wanted to go to the beach. I opted to go see more Gaudi, so I went with her.

I was able to convince her that there was a bull ring around the corner from where we were and Espanathat we needed to see it. Unfortunately, there wasnt any type of fight going on, but for 6 Euro I was able to walk inside the empty stadium. Obviously, the US doesnt have any bull fighting rings, so this was a major first for me.

If you want to try and imagine what it looks like, think about the movie Gladiator. All the seats are outside a ring of sand that has a couple of lines drawn in it. It was cool to imagine all the blood that had been spilt here over the centuries.

From there, we went to the house that Gaudi built. If you have a day in Barcelona, I would recommend going here. Though it was the priciest museum that ive been in, it was well worth it. I could have saved a little bit of money with my student ID, but they saw it didnt have a year on it... the bastards charged me full price.

The story with the Gaudi house was that this rich textile entrepreneur had given him total access to build a house for his family. The best way to describe the house is that its a living creature from the ocean. There are a million different shades of blue throughout the house, and its specifically built so that at different times of the day, there are different colors that jump from corner to corner of the house.

He had built the house in a way that let natural light spin and take control... Tres cool.

From here, the girl and I seperated... and I decided that it would be fun to go to the Gaudi park. After getting off the stop, I had no idea where I was, but I saw some obvious tourists, and figured that they knew where they were going. I realized they had stopped, but continued walking. Once I got to them they asked if I knew where I was going because they were lost... Dammit!

A lovely family from Virginia and me walked some of the hilliest streets ever. After making wrong turn after wrong turn, we found the escalators that lead you to the park. Yes, they actually built escalators because the walk to the top is so formidable.

I dont honestly know if I saw any Gaudi sculptures. I say this because the park was huge, and was a giant labyrinth. I actually ran into some of the Canadians I had met the day before. I eventually made my way down after a few hours of exploring.

The following day, I ended up meeting another Australian who was in my room. We decided to walk La Rambla, and ended up at the beach and spent a few hours there.

Last night, I went to the largest club in Barcelona. Its called Razzamatazz. It was ridiculous.

Some notes:

It blows my mind that there are so many tourists in high heels. I dont understand it. Many of the roads are cobblestones, and its obviously not safe.

Beaches in Barcelona are topless. Before you start imagining a utopia of girls in their early to mid 20s sun bathing topless, realize that ANYONE can be topless. I had the pleasure of looking at 80 plus year old breasts.... Made my day.

I saw the Frank Gehry fish. Its basically a big sculpture that is supposed to be a fish. I dont think it looks anything like a fish, but then again, Im not Frank Gehry.

My father recommended a tapas bar to me called Inopia. A tapas bar is a restaurant that specializes in small cheap appetizers. For those that know my dad, he is ridiculous with his cooking. This was the best meal I had in Barcelona.

The streets were crazy last night. Spain won a huge semi final... ESPANA!!

The club was crazy. Basically a large group of us (about 40 or so) ended up going. The capacity was about 5000.

Some dude punched a bouncer, and he was basically taken care of. By the end of it, he was in a dumpster.

Dont mess in Barca.


Today is my last full day in Barcelona. I didnt get back from the club until about 6AM. Ridiculous

I am keeping it very relaxed. My train leaves for Nice at 8:45 tomorrow morning.

Until then,

Happy 4th!
Zac