A Break in Barcelona

After a long semester (read more here), I thought it’d be nice to take a break. I made some money from my jobs, and I knew I needed a break before studying for final exams, so I looked for cheap flights.

Barcelona fit the bill at the cheapest flight (that didn’t go to Poland), a place warmer than Edinburgh, and a place that speaks a language I know. I spent a long weekend there and it was exactly what I needed.

I had a nice time there, but in the end I don’t think I’m a huge fan of Barcelona. It’s not very walkable, so I had to take the metro a lot. It’s also just big and loud, which isn’t very relaxing. Probably my least favorite thing was that the air quality was really bad. It was hazy or smoggy the whole time I was there, which I absolutely hated.

Despite all that, I really did have a nice time. I went by myself, so I had total control over what I was doing. Honestly, I spent most of the time just wandering around with no real destination. I stumbled across a lot of things I didn’t mean to find, and a lot of the things I did intend to see or do turned out to be disappointing.

Three Disappointments

1. La Sagrada Familia

This was kind of a bummer, because I really wanted to go inside, but there were just too many people. I didn’t want to spend time waiting in line and then have to deal with all the people inside. It was also kind of annoying that the construction covers almost the entire facade of the church, so you can’t really see much from the outside. It is quite an impressive building, though.

2. Parc Guell

I really wanted to see the iconic mosaic benches and all the cool landmarks in this park, but it turns out it costs something like 8 euros to get in, and you also have to buy a timed ticket. I would have had to wait hours to get into the park. I really should have done more research, but it was okay in the end, because the air quality was so bad, there wasn’t much of a view of the city.

3. Architecture

One of the things I was really looking forward to seeing was the architecture of Barcelona. I didn’t get to see Casa Mila, because it was just too touristy and I didn’t feel like dealing with it.

There were, however, a lot of really nice things that surprised me.

1. Parc de la Ciutadella

I just kind of stumbled across this massive fountain when I was wandering around and trying to kill time before I could check into my hostel. I really enjoyed walking around this park!

2. Mercat dels Encants

I just stumbled across this massive market, which was really close to my hostel. The building this market is in is absolutely amazing. The ceiling is mirrored, which looked absolutely crazy!

3. La Rambla

This street was really cool. The architecture has a really European feel and there were all sorts of interesting things on it, including a cool market.

4. The Christmas Market

I didn’t look for the Christmas market, I just kind of found it. While I was there I realized that Spain is the 6th country that I’ve been to a Christmas market in, which is pretty neat. It did make me miss the awesome German Christmas market I went to last year in Aachen.

5. Barrio Gotico

This area I also unintentionally found myself in, and it was my favorite part of the city. It feel old (because it is), and the little windy streets were really fun to get lost in.

6. La Barceloneta

I stayed at the beach for a while people watching and enjoying the warm weather. It was definitely one of the quietest area of Barcelona I found, which was a huge plus.

7. La Boqueria

This is the market I found just off La Rambla. It was really cool and fun to wander around. It really reminded me of a market we went to in Costa Rica.

8. My Hostel

First of all, the picture below was the view from my room! It was also the nicest hostel I have ever stayed at. It was a 12-story building built (fairly recently by the looks of everything) to be a hostel. It was called Urbany Hostels. It was close to the train station, where you can get a train to the airport an everything. I also had really nice roommates, which made a big difference.

As you can see, the good things outweigh the bad things about Barcelona. I definitely enjoyed myself and felt rested and refreshed when I came back to Edinburgh.

Since I got back, I’ve been studying and taking exams. As soon as those are over, my family will be arriving in Edinburgh, and we’re going to spend the week gallivanting around together and I absolutely cannot wait!

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