Background Info: The night before we traveled to Spain, there was a massive world event that went down but probably stayed a small news subtext in America. The World Cup Championship. Every single country we traveled to was obsessed with the World Cup. In Turkey, everyone was avidly rooting against Greece- their arch rival. In Syria, the government set up huge tvs in every park in Damascus. Syrians were pulling for Brazil in huge droves. In Jordan, there was excited talk about the next World Cup being in Bahrain. In Egypt, tons of dudes would be crowded around coffee houses with tvs, smoking sheesha and watching the game. Every newspaper in France was filled with drama about the French team’s bad sportsmanship and early exit. (They team even had a disciplinary meeting with the President!) And in Spain. Well, the night before we went to Barcelona, Spain won their first ever World Cup.
Needless to say, people were partying hard in Barcelona. There’s three things that are must do’s in Barcelona: eat bit sized foods called Tapas, gawk at all the amazing architecture, and drink. Most emphasis is put on the last one though. Beer, Sangria, wine, lots of things with strawberry, etc. Everyday, we duly explored the city, going to architecture museums, amazing parks, and castles, and every evening we partook of the other two. Although we were not close to keeping up with the locals of course.
Gaudi, the most famous architect to ever come out of Spain (or maybe anywhere), left his fingerprints all over the city. You will be walking down a street filled with stately buildings from the 1800s and suddenly, out pops a building that looks like a sea monster. His work is stuff that dreams are made of. He also designed the park in the city. It’s like a botanical maze with man-made caves and mountains and lots of trails. Beautiful! Actually, everything about Barcelona was beautiful except for maybe our unairconditioned hostel. But you can’t be spoiled all the time!
