The One with Jacob

This last week my friend Jacob from U of I visited for five days. It was a jam packed week filled with so many different things. I held off on doing some of the touristy things in Barcelona until I had friends visit so that I would not be visiting each place 10 times during the semester. By doing this I was able to see a lot of things for the first time as well.

We went to the FC Barcelona basketball game against Milan. The atmosphere was quite unique during the game. I would say it fell somewhere in between a college basketball game and an NBA game. There were flags all over the place and there were drums playing as well which created a great vibe throughout the relatively small 8,000 person arena.

We also went to a FC Barcelona soccer game for the first time ever. I had been to Camp Nou for a tour of the stadium but this was the first live game I had been to. The stadium is the biggest in Europe with a capacity of around 95,000 people. If it is not obvious already, the discrepancy in the stadium size should be a clue of how much bigger soccer is here than basketball. The game was dominated by Barcelona the entire way through and they ended up winning 6-0 against Rayo Vallecano. Messi had two goals and Neymar had a goal also. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait to go back.

We went to see some of the famous sights in Barcelona as well such as Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. Both of them were beautiful and I can see why they are two of the top tourist destinations in Barcelona. We also went to the Magic Fountain Show at Montjuic. The fountain shines different colors and plays to music. 

Montjuic Overlooking the Fountain

Panorama of the Sagrada Familia

Stained Glass Windows of Sagrada Familia

On top of Park Guell

Park Guell

Park Guell's Mosaics

Magic Fountain

Magic Fountain

The week was also filled with Barcelona nightlife which is second to none in the world. Barcelona is filled with a great mix of unique bars and clubs. There is always a new place to go to ensure that you will never get bored. Over the course of the four nights of going out we went to Sutton, Opium, Chupitos, Dow Jones, and The Apartment. Sutton had a DJ named Rehab perform which was a really fun time. Dow Jones is a really cool bar that I would recommend checking out when coming to Barcelona. Basically the prices of the drinks fluctuate throughout the course of the night. If a drink is being purchased frequently then its price will increase and likewise if nobody is buying that drink the price will drop. 

Every so often the market will also crash and all of the drinks will be very cheap. There is a large ticker symbol in the party that is really cool because it actually scrolls through the price of every drink. Our strategy was to run over to the bar and buy up a bunch of one drink that we wanted when the market crashed before the price went back up. Chupitos is also up there as one of the best places to drink in Barcelona. Chupitos is a shot bar with 150 different types of shots. Every shot is two euros, except for a select few that are five. Tip: All shots on Monday's are only one euro. 

The One With Santa Eulalia and Montserrat

I spent this past week in Barcelona since classes were starting up again. It was the celebration of Saint Eulalia over the weekend which meant some pretty cool Catalan cultural festivities were taking place. There was a parade with giants and even a giant dance off that took place in the center of a gathering of people. One by one different characters took their turn dancing in the center of the ring. This celebration combined with the passion of the crowd really gave me a great sense of what Catalan pride is all about. One thing that I noticed while at the festivities was that Spaniards seem to be slightly shorter than Americans. I had absolutely no problem seeing over all the people in the crowd which is generally not the case.

I also explored Parc de la Ciutadella today, which was beautiful. In most guide books this park would not necessarily be one of the top couple of things to see in Barcelona, but you should absolutely take a couple hours to see it if you visit and it is a nice day. While I was here I was lucky enough to see a breakdancing show right past the Arc de Triomf. Overall the park just had a great vibe with all of the activities going on. If you are a fan of people watching, this is definitely one of the best places to do it in Barcelona.

This weekend we also spent a day hiking Montserrat, which I absolutely loved and will definitely be doing again. The mountain is about an hour and a half outside the city center of Barcelona which makes it an all-day event. This was actually the first real mountain that I have hiked and while it was difficult, it was definitely worth it. There is a beautiful Monastery situated half-way up the mountain and plenty of other cool sites along the hike as well. It is truly a great feeling when you get to the top because it feels like you really accomplished something. The views from the very top were incredible as well. The part we climbed up was off of the main path which meant that there was no protective railing at the top to prevent you from falling off the mountain which was a little nerve-racking but well worth the adventure.

The One With Southern Spain

Torres de Serranos at Sunset

         Valencia - Granada - Malaga - Sevilla

Torres de Serranos Overlooking Valencia

Preface: This post is pretty long so I completely understand if you give up on it part way through.

This past week I traveled along the coast of Southern Spain with a couple friends visiting the cities of Valencia, Granada, Malaga, and Sevilla. After class last Monday we hopped on a train and traveled a few hours to the city of Valencia. Valencia is actually the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, but you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell by walking around. I am not sure if it was just because we were visiting during the week, but Valencia seemed like a ghost town at night while we were there.

During the day though we were able to see a lot of great sites including the Historic Central Market, L'Oceanográfic, and Towers of Serrano. I would highly recommend seeing each of these attractions especially the Towers at sunset.

Historic Central Market

L'Oceanográfic: The largest oceanarium complex in Europe 

Buñuelos are Incredible

Buñuelos de Calabaza

We also ate a ton of great food in Valencia including the famous regional dish: Paella (pictured below). We found an authentic restaurant and while it was not my favorite dish, it was still really good and something that you must try while in Valencia. If you do go to Valencia, another food you absolutely must try are the buñuelos de calabaza (Spanish pumpkin fritters) from Moltto in Plaza de la Reina; it was definitely one of the best desserts I have ever had. I also tried rabbit for the first time while in Valencia, which was quite delicious. 

After Valencia, we took an overnight train to Granada which was quite a cool experience. The trip was an eight hour overnight train ride which sounds horrible, but the train departed at 1:00am which allowed me to sleep through the entire trip. When I awoke from my bed on the train, we were in the beautiful city of Granada! On our first day there we decided to go on a free walking tour that was set up by our hostel. It turned out to be more of a hiking tour than a walking tour, but the hike was well worth the effort because of the breathtaking views along the way. From the mountain we were climbing, we were able to clearly see the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Our guide explained that often times in the Spring people will go skiing in the mountains and then later that day go down to the beach where it is nice and warm. Along our hike we were also able to see how many people, including Gypsies, lived in the mountains in this area by digging caves into the mountain to create homes.

We spent a majority of the second day in Granada at Alhambra. The Alhambra is a gigantic Palace and Fortress situated on a mountain overlooking the city of Granada. It is truly an incredible specimen that is filled with history and culture. It is the top tourist attraction in Granada and was in consideration to become the 8th Wonder of the World at one point. Check it out:

Went out for drinks and tapas with friends from our hostel

The Stained Glass Entryway of the Central Market of Malaga

After Granada came the pretty beach city of Malaga. While Malaga does not necessarily have the major tourist attractions, it does possess a great culture and vibe. Malaga seems like the perfect place to spend a week at the beach during Spring Break. It's city center is great for anyone that enjoys shopping as well. While we were here, we stopped to get the famous Churros y Chocolate from Casa Aranda, which were to die for. Malaga is also the hometown of Pablo Picasso. While we did not go in the Picasso Museum, we did get to hang out with his statue that is situated at the location where he once lived in Malaga.

The last city on our trip was Sevilla, which in my opinion was the prettiest city of the four. I think that Sevilla possesses the perfect cultural yet modern city combination. Even though we did not have a ton of time in Sevilla, we still got to see a wide variety of sites. First we went to see the stunning Plaza España. I don't think my words can do it justice so instead just check out these pictures:

Tapas at Taberna Coloniales were Fantastic

After Plaza España we ran over to the Catedral de Sevilla and made it inside five minutes before it closed. The Sevilla Cathedral is the largest Gothic Cathedral and third largest church in the world. Once you go inside it is easy to see why, all you have to do is look up. This church also happens to be the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The bell tower of the church is called Giralda and instead of stairs, you take ramps up to the top. After looking through the cathedral, we went on a walking tour of the city with the most energetic tour guide ever. He literally had a story to tell about every single object in the city of Sevilla. While the tour was long though, he really did share some great stories with us that I otherwise never would have known. For example, there is still a debate over who was responsible for founding Sevilla between Hercules and Julius Caesar.

Deltasig sighting at the top of Giralda!

Overlooking Sevilla at the top of Giralda          

Flaming Shots!

Since our flight departed at 7:05am on Sunday morning, we decided that it would not be worth it to go to sleep. Instead we went out all night! Along the river in Sevilla there is a string of bars that goes on for what seems like a mile. We went from one bar to the next taking advantage of the special drink deals at each place. After the night was over we quickly went back to the hostel to grab our stuff before we left for the airport at 5:00am. To my surprise, we had no issues at all. I had been warned many times to expect the worst when taking RyanAir, however everything went smoothly.

Overall I really enjoyed my time visiting other cities in Spain. Every city is truly so unique which is why I loved the trip. Each city has something different to offer and brings new perspectives and adventures to your life. I would highly recommend traveling to all of these cities if you decide to visit Spain in the future.

Not sure if anyone actually reads this, so if you do feel free to leave a comment.

The Journey