Barcelona, Girona, Montserrat!
Hola! This is my week in BarTHelona (as they call it) and some surrounding areas.
After 2 flights, I landed in Barcelona on Friday where my friend Walter, who’s also studying abroad with me this semester, picks me up and we take the metro to his cousin Aidenn’s place at Selva de Mar (big shout-out to Aidenn for letting us crash). Since Walter had an interview later that day, we spend most of the day in a cafe on laptops and walking along the nearby beach. There’s a coffee shop chain called 365 that’s much like Starbucks but has better pastries and sandwiches. While Walter is killing it on his interview, Aidenn and his friends show me Chasing the Sun, a really good docu-series about the South African rugby team and their 2019 World Cup cinderella run. We grabbed kebabs at a place near La Universitat, watched some super athletic kids dominate at soccer, and played some Mariokart and Wii tennis (which absolutely destroyed everyone, especially this French kid, Anatole). Given it was a Friday in a city famous for its nightlife, we (a group of like 50) headed to Opium in La Barceloneta. The Americans (aka Walter and me) had to turn in around 3:30, but most of the group was out till 7 AM!
Naturally, we get up the next day at 2 PM and walk along the beach to find a paella place. With my broken and poorly-conjugated Spanish, I figured out we wouldn’t get a beachside place without a reservation until 4 PM, so we decided to walk inland into the neighborhood of Poblenau. It was such a vibe with the cafes being full of people smoking, eating ice cream, and/or drinking coffee (some even at the same time!). We found a tapas/paella restaurant called Mar Bella and grabbed a bit of both. With our tanks full, we walked to the Sagrada Familia, a huge church that’s been under construction since 1882 and dominates the Barcelonian skyline with its gothic spires. A 140-year construction timeline is absolutely mind-boggling, but looking at the incredibly ornate details and sheer size of the cathedral, it kind of makes sense. The scale hits you once you go inside and look up at the vaulted ceilings and the tall stained glass pieces. One of the most iconic things about the church is what’s outside the church—Taco Bell and Burger King! They really know their audience. We grabbed the metro back, played some more Wii tennis, and got Japanese food at Need. Side note, there were a TON of Japanese and Asian food places, especially ramen and sushi, which were on nearly every corner. We had to wake up early the next day for our Andorran adventure (the next blog post), so early night!
Skipping ahead to Monday, we did our unofficial architecture tour of the city. Number 1, the Catedral de Barcelona, which was gorgeous but had a huge, glaring Samsung ad on the front of it. It was one of those sad and funny moments where you realize the effect of consumerism and capitalism. The gothic quarter surrounding the cathedral felt like a portal to olden times, with the famous bustling street La Rambla right next door. By this point, we were a bit peckish and got brunch at Zenith to enjoy a mimosa and a savory pancake stack (yum!). A quick hop away was stop number 2, Casa Milà, a famous Antoni Gaudí-designed house with his signature wavy style, and number 3, Casa Batlló, another curved house with beautiful stained-glass decor. Since coffee shops are the best way to capture the vibe of a nation and its people, we took an obligatory coffee break at Buenas Migas. This proved to be incredibly helpful as we took the long, uphill trek up Passeig de Gràcia to number 4, Park Güell. A park designed by Gaudi, it features beautiful wavy architecture, lots of natural elements with greenery and birds (with parrots!), and a great overlook of the city. We decided we weren’t quite done and hit number 5, Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau. A former hospital-turned-museum, it had a beautiful architectural style in a quieter part of town. Absolutely exhausted, we grabbed green smoothies at Green Kiss and headed back. We grabbed kebabs at the nearby La Turka with Aidenn and friends (can you tell they love kebabs yet?). Another chill Wii-filled evening and an early night after a solid 26,000 steps day.
If you thought that was exhausting, buckle your seatbelts. We woke up early and headed to Montserrat via Metro, long-distance rail, and funicular. The hike in front of us was a 4-hour round trip, so we decided to grab a Spanish omelet sandwich and a curd-filled pastry, which were delicious (but a little heavy, which will prove to be problematic in a bit). About 1200 stairs stood between us and the top of the mountain. That journey proved to be quite grueling, and I could barely get out a “Buen Día” to passersby between breaths. The ends did justify the means (shoutout to Niccolò Machiavelli) because we were rewarded with an amazing view of the Spanish landscape, complete with snowcapped mountains, the sea in the distance, and a vast plain dotted with trees and lakes in between. I even put my rock climbing skills to the test and climbed an 8-foot wall (I know, riveting) to snag some even better pictures. After a quick climb down, we saw the main basilica with its beautiful statues and architecture, and we stopped by the same cafe to refuel. I realized we missed the chapel, so we went back to see it (worth it) before getting on the funicular down and train back to BarTHelona. Our train stop was Plaça d’Espanya, which was home to Las Arenas, an old bullring-turned-shopping-mall with rooftop restaurants. With the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Catalonian Art Museum) and a beautiful sunset as a backdrop, we had a nice tapas rooftop dinner. When we got back to Aparto at night, we had food trucks where I could practice my broken Spanish and be rewarded with fries. Overall, an adventurous but amazing day punctuated with some Mariokart to end the night.
After waking up sorer than expected, we had a slow day, starting with visiting the Picasso Museum in the morning. It was cool to see the transformation from his nature-based work to the Blue Period to the eventual cubism that dominated his legacy, but the jump to cubism felt really jarring (one room in the gallery just turned into cubism with little explanation why). Being the Americans we are, we got brunch at this amazing pancake place (Cremat 11) that had amazing and aesthetic dishes that garnered a 5-star google review from myself. They even gave us cute little stickers with their logo on it to marvel at as we headed back. In the afternoon, my travel bud Walter had to prep for and do an interview, so I thought to go to Girona for a couple hours. I show up at the train station with an itinerary picked out, until the ticket checker laughed at my ticket and told me that it was for TOMORROW 💀 . After trying (and failing) to negotiate my way into the next train, I accept my fate and take the opportunity to explore the city. I had to try the Spanish version of McDonald’s (aside from these popcorn-chicken-type things and affogato for dessert, pretty standard stuff) and walked around Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. On my way back, I grabbed the most amazing churros from Granja Viader, a 150-year-old cafe with the sweetest staff (I misordered and she went into the kitchen to tell the cooks my correction because she had already told them the original). After all this food, you’d think I’d be full, but nope! I met up with Walter and Aidenn, grabbed Tino’s (a variation on personal pizzas), and head back to have a wine night with some Mii party and Wii tennis.
That brings us to our last day in Catalonian paradise. Aidenn had a free morning, so we got brunch consisting of a Spanish omelet, olives, and bread at this cafe (very European of us), and then climbed up the Carmel bunkers. The top provided some stunning views of the city (complete with the beach and the Sagrada Familia) with a graffitied overlook that just added to the aesthetic. Next, we checked out Plaça d’Espanya in detail and walked up the steps (the would-be Rocky steps if he was Catalan) to the Catalonian Art Museum to appreciate its sheer size and scale. After dropping Aidenn off at the apartment, since I already had a ticket to Girona, Walter and I hopped on a high-speed train to the nearby city (only a 40-minute train ride!). We have about 2 hours before our return train, so we spent the time walking around and eventually into the old city to check out the Girona Cathedral from the outside. It was surrounded by other old buildings and the small cobblestone streets felt very Renaissance-esque. For our last dinner in Spain, we got some traditional food whose name is forgotten to history but is similar to an extra stuffed quesadilla. The location was really charming with traditional decor, and they even gave us this super-spicy chipotle hot sauce (spicy food is hard to find in Europe). As sunset fell upon us, we walked on the bridges crossing the main river, Riu Onyar, took some picturesque flicks, and headed back on our high-speed train (did I mention I love high-speed rail). After a night full of Wii tennis (surprise surprise), we said goodbye to our new friends (shoutout Anatole, Guillermo, and the dozens of others whose names have also been lost to history) packed up our bags, and got ready for an early morning, ready for our next 4-month adventure in Switzerland.
Takeaways
- Barcelonians love to party and siesta culture is 100% real
- Catalonia is home to some beautiful architecture and has some really charming cities, but they realllyyy need to get a move on to finish the Sagrada Familia
- If you’re a fan of Japanese/Korean/Chinese food, don’t stress! There’s a restaurant for you on every corner and they’re surprisingly good
- Be prepared to walk 20,000+ steps a day (personally averaged over 24k) when exploring Barcelona
- Wii Tennis and Marokart can bring together people from all over the world, regardless of age or nationality
(And big shoutout to Aidenn for letting us crash and save tons of money over the course of the week)
Rose-Bud-Thorn
Rose (what went well): Saw some amazing architecture and beautiful views atop mountains that were some of the best I’ve ever seen
Bud (what was good but could be improved on/done more): We had some great food and rooftop experiences, but a little more planning and we could have hit some of the more well-known eateries or rooftop bars
Thorn (what did not go well): If you’re in Barcelona for over 3 days, definitely plan overnight trips to Valencia, Toulouse, or other nearby cities. We had a blast but definitely were running out of things to do by day 4 and felt like we hit a complete wall on our last day.
And, as a bonus, some food highlights from the trip!
Rohan Chhaya 