First Trip- Barcelona!

After a rough arrival in Lisbon, I was contemplating not leaving on a plane the very next day to head to Madrid and then Barcelona.  Against my better judgment I jumped on the plane to meet Riki and Chris (two friends from law school in Wash U), and two of Riki's friends.    I think the best way to avoid a page-long ramble is to organize my thought into lists.   Here goes...


Top 3 things I liked about Barcelona: 
1.  The Sites:
Between seeing Gaudi's works and making the trek to Castello de Montjuic, I felt like I was in constant awe of the sights.  First, we saw La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that was designed by Gaudi and is still undergoing construction.  

We also saw a few other of Gaudi's works: 
Casa Mila (on left)and Casa Batlo. 

We took a furnicular up to Castelo de Montjuic.  Just seeing a castle is amazing, but the best thing about this one is the views of the city from the top.  Here is just one of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.  

To round out our daytime site seeing, we also saw a live Flamenco show right next to our hostel.  In a very intimate setting and for only 5 Euro, we were able to see a great show.  I only wish I could understand what he was singing.

2.  one word: Sangria
...flows like water in Barcelona

3.  The streets and alleys

Perhaps one of the things that I enjoyed the best was wandering down the alleyways and streets, with no certain destination in mind and admiring the gorgeous architecture and whatever we stumbled upon.  Our hostel was right on Las Ramblas which is always alive with street performers, cafes, shops, drunk tourists or drunk locals.

 Top 3 things I disliked about Barcelona:

1.  Hostel Kabul

The first thing I noticed about it was the stench.  It always smelled like sewage in here.  Although the website raves a "great party atmosphere,"  they don't even allow alcohol in your room.  They do sell cheap beer in the lobby but then you are forced to hang out with the smelly, somewhat obnoxiously loud gang of people downstairs.  I don't blame them for smelling though, since I also chose not to shower in the freezing cold showers that required pressing a button every 5-7 seconds to keep working. 

2.  The smoke
I cannot complain about this one enough.  People in Spain smoke like dragons.  Not only that, but they allow smoking just about everywhere; restaurants, airports, shops, hotels, everywhere.  I could not walk out of the room without my coat, hair, clothes, even purse, smelling like a pack of cigarettes when I returned.  (not like the hostel smell was all that better...)


3.  Lack of Water in Restaurants.
I love my water.  I'll often have at least 3 glasses at dinner, so you can imagine my dismay when i realized you have to buy your water by the fancy glass at any resturant.  Not only that, the water often costs about 2.50 Euro (about $3.25), which was about the same price or more expensive than a beer or a coke.  On the prix fixe menus, we were often given the option of water, wine, or coke.  It wouldn't be unhead of to spend about $7 just on water at a meal.  That's pretty expensive considering most of my meals cost about 9 euro.
On a side note, we also learned it is probably best to ask specifically about what you are ordering.  We ordered fried fish and this is what we got....

...it's fried fish alright.  Overall, food was pretty good, though.  Tapas are great, pizza not so much.  Their KFC is the nicest I've ever seen (yes, I admit, in a moment of hungover desperation I made a trip to savor my delicious chicken tenders).

Overall, amazing city with lots of architectural delights even for those who know nothing about it.  The nightlife is amazing and it feels more intimate than Madrid.  Great weather, even in the winter and you'll leave feeling like you've seen a small piece of history or discovered some secret alleyway in the Gothic Quarter even though it's been there for hundreds of years.  Loved it!