The Authentic Barcelona Experience!

Weekend trip to Barcelona a clear success (and how could it not be?!). Lo pasé fenomenal. And I got to cross a bunch of things off my lifetime to-do list. So here's a nice and thorough summary, with images so you don't fall asleep.

VIERNES/FRIDAY

I left my place in SS at 6:30. The trainride was an uneventful 6 hours--I slept most of the way. Gerard picked me up at the train station, how kind! He is shorter in person, which kind of made me chuckle. Then we took the metro to his house and had a lunch of lentejas with is mom. It was kind of like pea soup and tastier than one would expect from the appearance. Later we went to a street in "downtown" Barcelona, filled with rock music shops and fun stuff like that. I bought myself an Extremoduro CD. Gerard made me talk to people to practice, even though it was kind of embarrassing. And I think one of the clerks started talking in Catalan because he told the guy I was American so he should talk to me in Spanish. For dinner we went to an American/bluesy place. He told the waitress I was American and would be judging the quality haha. Hamburger was satisfactory, I'm not really particular. To end the night we watched Torrente (famous movie character who is obnoxiously Spanish and a bit disgusting).


SÁBADO/ SATURDAY

Ramblas street performer dressed as Don Quijote

Gerard had to work in the morning, so I went to some touristy places near Plaça Catalunya with my friend Mireia. Hooray for guiris! The nice thing is she's very good at English, so we got to be lazy and talk Spanglish. :P We walked down las Ramblas, saw the statue of Colón (Columbus), walked around the Port of Barcelona, strolled in the Parc de la Ciutadella, and saw the Arco de Triunfo. Not bad, eh?!

Regal, like a león

BCN's Arc de Triomph

With Mireia in front of Columbus

With Mireia in the charming Parc de la Ciutadella

Saturday night was reserved for fiesta, obviously.  It was certainly an authentic Spanish fiesta experience haha. I think at 2am Gerard was still saying "The night is young!" Because he and his friends are metal fans, that influenced where we spent the evening. One of the places had a really nice ambience, even if I didn't love the music. It had really high ceilings and just a ton of tables and chairs filled with people. Every once in a while you could the crowd singing along--especially when it was by a Spanish metal band. Luckily I had Gerard's best friend Josep to explain things to me. He is also fluent in English which was so useful for my lazy self. The next place we went was more mainstream, but I enjoyed it because they played songs by 2 of my favorite Spanish bands! In a row! :D It's like they knew...

Some cool Spanish dudes: Lluis, Gerard, Josep, Kalimotxo

As is usual for Spaniards, we arrived home just in time to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. What a lovely end to a grand night!

DOMINGO/SUNDAY

We woke up just in time for a family lunch (since lunch is the big meal here, not dinner). His mom prepared paella. My first taste of authentic paella and it was good stuff! His sister said their family is kind of crazy, but I think they're just a regular Spanish family. His madre was always making sure everyone was well-fed, and that I knew how to eat the shrimp jeje.

Then in the evening, Gerard's padres drove us around some noteworthy Barcelona sites. We got to walk around Sagrada Familia. It is enormous and so detailed, you pretty much have to see it in real life  to appreciate it. It won't be done for years either. We saw a model of what it should look like once completed, and it seems they are only 1/2 way there. We drove past some Gaudi buildings, which are always fun to look at. We ended by walking around some park with a terrific view of the city. I don't know what it's called, but it was right by the Olympic Stadium

I think that about covers my Barcelona adventure. I had to wake up for the train at 5 am Monday. And was welcomed back by 2 exams and 1 presentation. But I can't complain too much, because I got to go to BCN. Livin the dream. Muxus!