Vamanos a Barcelona!

We had another early departure from the hotel in Narbon this morning, leaving shortly after 8:00. Along the way, we drove past an impressive part of the Pyrenees Mountains. They are huge!

We passed over the France/Spain border hassle free and made our way to Barcelona. Arriving at the garage, we got our bags and headed to the streets to find our apartment. It was a bit difficult to find the street, but eventually we met the landlord's assistant and went to the flat.

The apartment is rather simple, nothing fancy. Definitely fancier than the 8 person room in which the students and John spent their nights, though. I almost feel guilty... almost.

After getting relatively settled in, I went with Lori to Parc Guell. We took the metro and walked up a pretty large hill to make it to the park. It is definitely worth the walk, though. The view is fantastic and the artwork, by Gaudi, is spectacular. It is a tiled masterpiece.


The view from the large balcony (?) area spans most of Barcelona. The two buildings in the front are also part of Gaudi's Parc Guell. I think they look like gingerbread houses and find them to be spectacular. Actually, just about everything in Barcelona has been spectacular so far.




This evening, we at at a place I would consider to be quite the tourist trap. Crazy prices, questionable quality of food. Granted, the paella wasn't bad tasting and I was introduced to mussels (which I am surprised to say are rather tasty!), but overall, the food was not worth it. Of course, the lovely man with the red roses went around handing one to each of us at the table. Dad paid him and he moved on to his next group of suckers. I'm pretty sure that as soon as we had the flowers in our hands, we lost hope of the locals taking us seriously.

Still, the flowers were pretty and it was nice of my dad to get one for all of us (although he didn't have much of a choice since the guy pushed them at us). So, thanks for the roses, Dad!


On our way back to the apartment, I came across a fabulous little market. Browsing through the fruit section, I came across these delicious little gems. They are incredibly sweet and fantastic! Hopefully I can find them back home some time. Otherwise, I'll have to make Barcelona an anual trip! Definitely give them a try if you ever come across them and let me know what you think!