Barca! Barca!

Since we went to bed last night at around 1 am, we didn't set an alarm for us to wake up. As always, Rachael and I were awake by 9 am, as was Michael, and we were all motivating to get ready for the day. Ruth and Liz were slower in the department of waking up and getting ready but eventually we all left the hostel and headed towards a supermarket. 

On our way out, Rachael and I examined the kitchen a bit more and we noticed that there was a free food section from people who left things behind. There was an unopened bag of toasted bread and some olive oil sitting on the shelf so we kept this is mind while shopping.

At the supermarket, Dia, we had to buy ourselves breakfast, things for lunch and the dinner ingredients. For breakfast, Rachael and I split a box of cereal (which was SUPER GOOD and had dried fruit and granola in it) a jug of milk and a box of orange juice. For lunch, Rachael and I bought some chorizo and cheese, apples and oranges, and I bought some cookies. Dinner we were eating at the hostel as a group of 5 and we were having spaghetti. Rachael and I were in charge of dinner because nobody else took the initiative to step forward and help out. We bought a can of ricotta spaghetti sauce and a can of basil spaghetti sauce, planning on mixing both together to create an awesome flavor, a head of lettuce for salad, 2 bags of noodles and a loaf of bread. In all, it cost only 10 euros so that was 2 euros a person to eat dinner! I also bought myself a bottle of tinto to have with my meals, and a treat to myself for only 1.50 euros!

When we left Dia, we returned to the hostel, Backpackers House BCN, and ate our breakfast. We did the dishes and then Rachael and I headed out to start the day in Barcelona. Liz, Ruth and Michael did their own thing the whole day and we would eventually meet up with them at lunch time. The first stop on our list for the day was Gaudi's Batllo House. We decided that we didn't want to pay to go inside because we don't know that much about Gaudi and because it was a steep price to pay! The house was on Gran Via and really close to the Metro station, so after snapping a few pictures, we caught the Metro.

We took the metro to a station that was close to Park Guell because that was the next stop on our list. It was supposed to rain at 1 pm today so we were in a sense trying to beat the rain. We had to climb up a huge hill to get to the park and there were even escalators to help you out! Here is a view of the city from the top, or near to the top, of the hill.

 When we finally got to the park, there was no time to waste because the rain clouds were coming in and we had heard that you could spend hours in the park. Our method of attack was to climb up everything first and then make our way down. We got to see a lot, almost everything, that was in the park and we felt accomplished afterwards. Since I took a lot of pictures of the park, like usual, I will just post them all and describe the ones that need descriptions or if I have something to add to the picture.

View from the top of the park overlooking the city of Barcelona

After Park Guell, Rachael and I returned to the Metro to go home to the hostel to eat lunch. We were exhausted because we walked around the whole park and then some. But before we went to the Metro we tried to find Tibidabo. We walked to where it said it was on the map but from there we didn't know what to do. We now know that we were supposed to take a train to the top of the mountain and overlook the city and experience everything else that was up there. 

From there we walked back to the Metro stop that we passed on the way and then returned to the hostel. We then ate our lunch of a sandwich with chorizo and cheese and then crackers with chorizo and cheese. We also ate our fruit and just enjoyed the downtime. Towards the end of our meal Ruth, Liz, and Michael showed up because they were exhausted from all of their touring. We rested for a bit and then Michael and Rachael and I were back at it!

We went to the Sagrada Familia by Gaudi. It is an awesome piece of art that will always astonish me, no matter how many times I see it! 

After the Sagrada Familia we walked to an old bullfighting ring. Bullfighting has been outlawed in Barcelona for some time now so it is no longer being used.

When we finished up taking a few pictures at the bullfighting ring we went back to the main area of town to go to a store called C&A to look a swimsuit that I found online after seeing one of their advertisements at the Metro station. 

When we got to the store we did an all out search and we couldn't find it anywhere, so I gave up hope on buying it. We returned to the hostel and rested until it was time for dinner. I ended up falling asleep and enjoyed the half an hour nap!

After our nap, we walked to Lidl, another grocery store, because we wanted sweets. I got a liter of ice cream, chocolate with chocolate chunks, for less than 2 euros! I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it all but it was a good deal. Rachael got strawberry cheesecake ice cream and Michael got a bag of chips and band aids because he had blisters from his shoes. We didn't buy bags when we checked out so we booked it home because the ice cream was melting in our hands! 

When we got back, we chowed down on the ice cream for a bit and then got motivated to start cooking. For dinner, we had spaghetti. Rachael and I were queens of the kitchen but we had a little difficulty because the water wouldn't boil! We didn't have a top or cover for the pot because we were using the communal kitchen and there was a good amount of water in it. After being heated up for about 45 minutes, we gave up and finally put the noodles in. The noodles were a little hard but no complaints were heard because of the hard work that we put in. The mixed sauces turned out to be delicious and the salad with olive oil and salt, the Spanish way, was a hit! Overall, a wonderful dinner. Here are the shots from dinner and of the hostel!

After dinner we hung out and then went to bed because we ate such a late dinner. We were all exhausted from the day and touring and still catching up on the missed sleep from the night before. Barcelona day 1 treated us well :)