Today was the first day I've slept in in ages! We missed breakfast downstairs in our hostel.. but thats alright because the extra hour of sleep was well worth it.
We got up and ready and headed out. First we walked down La Rambla towards the water. (Fun fact: if you ask someone which direction "the water" is, they get really confused.. because apparently they dont the word water with the sea) La Rambla is basically a giant popular street in the heart of Barcelona that has millions of street vendors, performers, restaurants, and lots more. When we reached the end of it, we caught our first glimpse of the Mediterranean sea! (well from ground level.) Then we backtracked a bit and went into the Mercat de St. Joseph. It was quite overwhelming in there.. its a giant farmers market type place but there are so many people in it that you can't help but bump into everyone all the time. We ended up wandering around and eventually buying some cute chocolates from a local place's booth.
Once we headed out of the market, something exciting happened! We were just walking around looking at the vendors and performers minding our own business, when we paused to watch about five men doing acrobatics.. THEN all of the sudden we got lured into the middle of the circle by the performers (along with two other people) and were told to stand in a very straight line all together, tilt our heads to the left, and put our arms out.. then one man proceeded to do a running, flying, death defying leap over the heads of all four of us! They called it "La gran salta de muerte" translated that means "The great jump of death" It was a blast, and is definitely a great story to tell.. I just wish that I could have actually seen it happen.. the only view I got was of a guy in an orange shirt flying and landing in front of me.
So after that great burst of excitement, we were once again on our way, this time with a mission. We headed up towards the Gaudi apartments. If you don't know who Gaudí is (I didn't before coming here) you're missing out.. he was an artist who designed a ton of stuff in Barcelona, and was a large theme in this trip. The apartments look like waves, or caves, or something.. but their awesome.. and apparently the balconies are supposed to look like the jaws of some creature??
Next was La Sagrada Familia (also Gaudí). It is a giant SUPER intricate cathedral/basillica that was started in 1882 and still isn't finished being built (I think its supposed to be done sometime around 2026 or something... Anyway, It is massive, and beautiful, and strange.. most everything created by Gaudí is a bit strange, and yet way cooler than most other things. We didn't go inside La Sagrada Familia, but that is definitely on the itinerary for when mom and Heather come to visit!
After La Sagrada Familia, we headed home to our hostel. We wandered past an Arc de Triumf, through a gorgeous park, past the zoo, and saw a couple taking their wedding pictures. We stopped off at the hostel to change clothes and then went on a mission to find some good paella for dinner... We got seriously ripped off on the paella.. but it was definitely delicious!
We got up and ready and headed out. First we walked down La Rambla towards the water. (Fun fact: if you ask someone which direction "the water" is, they get really confused.. because apparently they dont the word water with the sea) La Rambla is basically a giant popular street in the heart of Barcelona that has millions of street vendors, performers, restaurants, and lots more. When we reached the end of it, we caught our first glimpse of the Mediterranean sea! (well from ground level.) Then we backtracked a bit and went into the Mercat de St. Joseph. It was quite overwhelming in there.. its a giant farmers market type place but there are so many people in it that you can't help but bump into everyone all the time. We ended up wandering around and eventually buying some cute chocolates from a local place's booth.
Once we headed out of the market, something exciting happened! We were just walking around looking at the vendors and performers minding our own business, when we paused to watch about five men doing acrobatics.. THEN all of the sudden we got lured into the middle of the circle by the performers (along with two other people) and were told to stand in a very straight line all together, tilt our heads to the left, and put our arms out.. then one man proceeded to do a running, flying, death defying leap over the heads of all four of us! They called it "La gran salta de muerte" translated that means "The great jump of death" It was a blast, and is definitely a great story to tell.. I just wish that I could have actually seen it happen.. the only view I got was of a guy in an orange shirt flying and landing in front of me.
So after that great burst of excitement, we were once again on our way, this time with a mission. We headed up towards the Gaudi apartments. If you don't know who Gaudí is (I didn't before coming here) you're missing out.. he was an artist who designed a ton of stuff in Barcelona, and was a large theme in this trip. The apartments look like waves, or caves, or something.. but their awesome.. and apparently the balconies are supposed to look like the jaws of some creature??
Next was La Sagrada Familia (also Gaudí). It is a giant SUPER intricate cathedral/basillica that was started in 1882 and still isn't finished being built (I think its supposed to be done sometime around 2026 or something... Anyway, It is massive, and beautiful, and strange.. most everything created by Gaudí is a bit strange, and yet way cooler than most other things. We didn't go inside La Sagrada Familia, but that is definitely on the itinerary for when mom and Heather come to visit!
After La Sagrada Familia, we headed home to our hostel. We wandered past an Arc de Triumf, through a gorgeous park, past the zoo, and saw a couple taking their wedding pictures. We stopped off at the hostel to change clothes and then went on a mission to find some good paella for dinner... We got seriously ripped off on the paella.. but it was definitely delicious!
Picture of the day 1: First view of the Mediterranean!
Picture of the day 2: These would be the street acrobats that pulled us into their trick. The one in the orange jumped us.
Picture of the day 3: Gaudí apartments
Picture of the day 4: La Sagrada Familia. Its too big to get a picture of it from the top to bottom.. so this will have to do
No comments:
Post a Comment