First Sights

I’m definitely getting used to the Spanish schedule, and sometimes give new meaning to the phrase “burning daylight.” I LOVE eating late. I think I was born to eat at 10-11pm… sometimes 12! Going out til 5am…. Never my ideal. But I’m managing a good balance between immersing myself in Spanish night culture (a very critical part of learning the culture, don’t you see) and romping the city by day. Here are some of my first sights:

Parc Guell: Gaudi’s famous park, originally designed as a residential area that failed and is now a pubic park. You’d recognize the extensive mosaics and is pictured above! I went with my new friends from Spanish class, and we’ve started exploring much more after our first successful excursion!

Picasso Museum: I went on a guided tour of Barcelona “through the eyes of Picasso. We were guided through Picasso’s life and work, inspired by Barcelona! The most interesting part: Picasso’s erotic Asian art period. Very graphic images incorporating octopi.

La Boquiera: AWESOME! So colorful… a few free samples ☺ Candied nuts, chocolate and fruits galore! I also couldn’t resist watching the butchers in action, they’ve got boar’s heads, pheasants, rabbits, you name it! My favorite part was the pureed fruit juices… I tried some mango/coconut. Hellooo paradise. I went back to La Boquiera a few days later for mid-day tapas. Yum.

La Sagrada Familia: The CHURCH started by Gaudi in 1882 that still is not complete and not expected to be complete for 20 years! You’ll often hear people call the Sagrada Famila a cathedral, Wrong! Every city can only have one cathedral and Barcelona’s is located in the Barrio Gotico, which I’ve also explored (Mom: not at night….. It’s not in Grace’s Night World because it is circled in red on the IES “places to avoid at night” map)

Las Ramblas: Well, of course. It’s located right off of Plaza Cataluyna, where IES is centered, so it’s basically in my walk to school. The street “performers” are the best part, though they don’t actually perform unless you drop a coin. I prefer to look, anyway.

My first flamenco show. Spanish guitar, singing, clapping and one flamenco dancer (sans huge red flower in her hair, we were really disappointed in that).

In terms of food, paella is good, a churro dipped in a cup of melted chocolate is great! These chocolaterias can be found all over Barcelona’s old Gothic quarter.

More to come on my exploration of Mounjuic. This is one of the barrios I haven’t become fully acquainted with and it has a TON of things to see!