La Rambla and Roaming

We woke up this morning, once again without an alarm and ate our breakfast. We finished off the cereal and milk, which was supposed to last us the whole weekend. After eating and getting ready, I went to the computers that were available for us to use and I looked up another C&A store because I still wanted to see if I could find the swimsuit that I liked so much. 

The plan for the day was to go down La Rambla and then to the pier and the mall there and just hit up everything on the way that was in this section of town. We walked down La Rambla and stopped at the market, St. Josep. I had been at this market with my parents so I knew that the perks were the fresh fruit cups and fresh fruit juice. Rachael and I wandered around for a bit and then made our purchases. I got a strawberry mango juice and a fruit cup. Rachael got a strawberry coconut juice and some chocolates. I was going to get chocolates until I realized how much they were, and then it changed my mind. Even Rachael's purchase was a shock to both of us, but she said it was some of the best chocolate ever, so it was all worth it! She even shared some with me :)

Funny story about my fruit cup purchasing experience. The place that I bought my fruit juice at also had fruit cups for sale. I picked one out and the lady told me that it was 2 euros. I was not going to pay 2 euros when I had seen other cups for only 1.50 euros so I put it back and continued on. On the other side of her stand, there were more fruit cups, CLEARLY labeled that it was 1.50 euros for the cup. She gave me to go ahead to pick one out so I did. But when I went to grab it, I knocked over another cup next to it and then when I went to pick that one up, I knocked over 4 more cups. She was frustrated with me, but I found it to be quite comical, and then she picked out the one that I was going for. Once she picked it up, it didn't look as good so I had her pick a different one. Then, again, she tried to charge me 2 euros for it and I fought it saying that it was only 1.50, as the sign said. She tried to tell me that it was more because there was mango in it! HA! I had enough of her so I just walked away, and bought a fruit cup with mango in it at another shop for only 1.50 euros.

After the fruit cup fiasco, Rachael and I walked down La Rambla to the pier and took a seat so our feet were dangling over the water. There were fish, about 2 feet long, swimming around the area because other people were throwing bread into the water. It was cool to see the wildlife up close and in person. We ate our chocolate/fruit and then we headed down the pier some more to the mall. We took a picture in the mirrors that were on the ceiling before walking in and then we went to find a bathroom! The signs said that there were bathrooms on every floor, but the truth was that you had to take the stairs up to the 3rd floor to access it. 

We walked around the mall for a bit and stopped at a few stores looking for cute swimming suits but we had no such luck, or they were too expensive. We then went and sat outside and laid down for a bit to soak up the rays.

After relaxing for a good amount of time, and people watching in the process, we headed back through the mall and back onto the pier. We had to wait for a sailboat to cross through before we could go back to the main drag and the way that the dock was set up was quite fascinating to me. The section of the dock would just move straight back and that was possible because of the way that it curved. Hard to explain, but cool phenomenon! 

On our walk back up La Rambla we stopped at the grocery store, Carrefour to get carbonara spaghetti sauce and some potatoes (patatas bravas) to fry up. We also bought some napolitanas to have for breakfast tomorrow because we are all out of the cereal and milk that we and bought. We then returned to the hostel to have lunch. We had the same thing as yesterday, sandwich and crackers with chorizo and cheese. We polished off the chorizo and cheese, which is something that I am going to miss in the states!

After lunch, we were on a mission. We had planned out where we were going to walk and how we were going to get there. First stop, La Pedrera, another building designed by Gaudi. Also, before we got to that, we saw another cool building that had zebra-like stripes on it.

After taking in the beauty of this building, we headed up to Avenida Diagonal and straight down it until we hit Torre Agbar. On the map, it doesn't seem like a very far walk, but let me tell you, that map is deceiving! The reason for going out of our way, because I wanted to go the C&A store over there and check and see if they had my swimsuit. Now, I didn't do this blindly, because I did call ahead and talk to a salesperson asking them if they had the suit and they assured me that they did, and in multiple sizes. When I got there, it was not the case; I couldn't find it anywhere and when I asked someone they said that they haven't carried it all season. What a shame we just walked all the way over here!! On the plus side, we did get really close to Torre Agbar!

Since we couldn't find the swimsuit, we decided to walk around that mall for a bit too and of course, find a bathroom. I am excited to be able to walk into a random gas station or fast food joint and use their bathroom for free, the plus side of the United States! We then sat down for a bit to rest our feet and legs because of the all walking that we had just done. The mall area was cool and it was a mix between indoors and outdoors. Here is the view of what we had when we were sitting down resting.

After resting for a bit we headed back towards the main drag, but this time making a pit stop at a park that we saw on the map. This was all part of the plan in the first place, so we weren't being too spontaneous today. The park was beautiful. GRASS. There were ping pong tables set up and people were crowded around it watching the games, benches everywhere, trees, greenery and green space. We sat on a bench for a while soaking up the sun and relieving our lower portion from all of the work that we just did walking. 

We then continued on through the park and found a few cool things. First we found a fountain that had statues all around it. Not sure of the significance. Then we found a wooly mammoth, that at first Rachael thought was an elephant! I was all excited but then I soon realized that it wasn't an elephant. I still took the picture anyways. Finally we found a building, that I think had something to do with royalty if I remember correctly? One day I will look these all up and figure out what they truly representation and their purpose in the park.

We then walked around the other part of the park some more and realized that there were a lot of university students there, hanging out and drinking. There were also a lot of people walking on ropes that were tied between two trees, a balancing act, that I wanted to participate in! When we exited the park, there was an arc right in front of us.

The arch is called Arc of Triomf and it was built for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888), as its main access gate by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. Straight from Wikipedia, thank you!

We then decided that we wanted to walk back to the hostel because we were exhausted from the day and we didn't really know where we were, so we started to walk blindly. We thought that we were walking is the right direction but somehow we ended up right next to the arc. What are the chances. From there, we followed the street signs to get to where we intended on going the whole time, the hostel. 

When we returned the hostel, we were hanging out in the living room because we were too tired and lazy to go in the bedroom. When we were sitting there, Ruth walked by and and then went into the bedroom, where Michael and Liz were sleeping. She had just woke up from a nap. Today they had tickets to see the inside of the Sagrada Familia and then they went to Park Guell. 

Eventually Rachael and I made it into the bedroom. We calculated that we walked over 5 and a half miles between lunch and dinner! Wow are we crazy kids who are too cheap to buy a Metro ticket. All in sandals too!

Soon it was time for dinner so Rachael and I took over the kitchen again, but this time to have a surprise that the olive oil was gone! That meant that we couldn't have any more salad tonight because we wouldn't have any dressing, and that we would have difficulty to cook the potatoes. Luckily there was a little bit of sunflower seed oil that was left over from other people that we could still use. We also boiled up some more noodles, from leftover bags, in a small pot so we could cover it with a plate. We were cooking masters today! Dinner was ready soon enough and then we were all digging in and enjoying the food! 

After dinner, Rachael, Michael and I went to the Sagrada Familia to see it at night. It was quite the sight! So beautiful even in the darkness. There were lights shinning on it on the front but the back didn't have much light.

We walked back to the hostel and got back around 11:45 and Ruth and Liz were already in bed sleeping. I took a shower and then hit the sack too!

Barcelona day 2 was a day filling with walking and wandering, but a good day indeed.

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 :)