Land of Gaudi

At 7 am, all bright and early, we arrived in Barcelona. We threw our things into a locker and decided to just roam around the city a bit since we had some time to kill until the Eurolines office opened. We found ourselves at a rather nice park, which began with an arch called Arc de Triomf. Despite the overcast weather, the park was lovely. There was a gorgeous fountain, though it wasn’t turned on. Finally the office opened, we got our tickets to Prague with no problems (FINALLY), and were off to find our hostel to dump our stuff and explore. Our first day we decided to invest in a metro day pass so we could see everything that was a bit farther away. We started at the Park Guell, which was designed by Barcelona’s most famous architect, Gaudi. It was a pretty interesting to see a park that was designed by someone who thinks in such a unique way as Gaudi. The park is on the north end of the city and sits on the side of hill, so the farther up you venture, the better view of the whole city you have. At the entrance, there’s a staircase that has some statues and other smaller buildings, but there were so many crowded into this area that we just kind of breezed by it. Under this giant walkway are a series of tons of columns with decorations covering the ceiling. Interestingly enough, all of the outside columns actually leaned out. Most of the park was a series of pathways that lead to various different types of terraces and lookouts that all reflected the same idea, but all had their own individuality. Eventually we made our way to the top of the park, where we could see the entire city. It was awesome. There were also various different musicians playing throughout, some of whom were incredibly talented. After we’d had our fill, It was back down the hill and onto the metro to the next stop.

Next up, by the far the highlight of Barcelona in my eyes, was the Sagrada Familia. Even with all the hype I had heard of the massive cathedral, I still found it absolutely inspiring and marvelous. The building is still going on, and has been since the 1890s. Honestly, though, when you see how massive it is and how much more needs to be constructed, you really cannot blame the ongoing work. We first did a full circle of the entire building. Right now, just the two side facades are complete, while the main one is completely covered as they are working on it. Each façade depicts different important series of events from the Bible. We then entered from the side depicting the crucification of Jesus. In front of the church they have a small model in which they show what has already been built and what still needs to be constructed. It was kind of insane to see just how more massive the cathedral will be when completed.

Finally we walked through the giant bronze doors and into one of the craziest spaces I’ve ever stood in. It’s actually incredibly difficult for me to attempt explain the inside of this church. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. There were typical elements of a church, the cross floor plan, incredibly vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, domes, but these all took everything you were familiar with and twisted them into this new world. Maybe it’s just because I’m an architectural engineering major and buildings completely fascinate m e, but we literally spent hours in that church and I just kept finding new and different elements that completely threw me for a loop. The church wasn’t incredibly colorful itself. Simple colors were used, with only the details containing those colors, but all of the stained glass windows held the brightest, vivid colors that just lit up the blank slate they were cast upon. Not all of the windows held their true colors, yet, so I can only imagine what it will look like when it finally complete. As I said, all of the stone possessed simple, somewhat bland colors, but they were all carved in ridiculous ways. For example, the staircases on either side of the alter (literally the most amazing stairs I’ve ever seen in my life) had the most beautiful circular detail carved into them. Structurally, the most amazing thing about the church would have to be the way the columns support the weight of the roof above it. These columns are not like any other column in the world…literally. To start off, Gaudi literally invented his own column (I will save those non-arches from the details, but if you’re interesting, I highly recommend you look it up). On top of having this crazy new column base, he designed the columns to split apart and lean in various different directions. From what I read, this method actually allowed the more weight to be supported and for the weight to be better supported. I could probably go on for days about this marvelous structure and still never really give a good idea as to what it really is like to be inside of it, truly experiencing the space. I do know one thing, I made a vow that before I die I will go back and see the complete Sagrada Familia. It was that remarkable.

After marveling for hours, we were hungry. It was off to find some paella. Unfortunately, we had some trouble finding a really authentic place, but we had it. I got one with scampi (basically giant shrimps), oysters, and calamari in mine. It was quite scrumptious. After dinner, we headed back to the hostel so we could rest for the next day of awesomeness.

The next day was our conquer-the-entire-city-of-Barcelona-in-one-day day. We started by headed south of our hostel towards the Parc de Montjuic, where we saw the Placa d’Espanya, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalynya, the Pablo Espanyol, the Torre de Calatrava, the Arnella Olimpica, the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic and the Castell de Montjuic. We just kind of roamed around the park that morning, running into all of the things to look at. When we got to the Olympic park, where they held the Olympics during the 1990s, we were allowed to go into one of the stadiums. Turn out there is an American Football team that plays there, the Barcelona Dragons. We then headed up a giant hill to see the Castell. Although the castle itself was rather lame, the view was rather nice, as you could see the the city again.

After the park, we went to meet up with one of Santiago’s friends who is studying in Barcelona for the year. We went to meet her at the statue of Christopher Columbus (though that is not his real name). She then took us along the port and up to the beach, where we grabbed some food from this good wok place. The waves in Barcelona were much larger than any of the other coasts we had visited. There were even some surfers trying to catch a wave or two. We then roamed back into the city and walked down Las Rambles, Barcelona’s most famous street. Down this street, there are loads of stands and shops with people selling things ranging from flowers, food, souvenirs, and pieces of artwork. During the entire walk down the street, though, my bag was practically glued to my body, as the street is also incredibly famous for pickpockets.

After our tour down the street, we headed to two more Gaudi buildings. On the way, we walked past the Obama bar, where you can sit down and have a beer and picture with Barack Obama. We made it to the first of the two on one street, called Casa Batllo. It kind of looked like something out of Candyland. It was far too expensive to get in, but the pictures on the stand outside made it seem remarkable. We then headed down the block to Gaudi’s other building, “la Pedrera” Espal Gaudi. This one if far larger, and far less detailed, in my opinion. In this one, though, you could peek through the front doors and see the front lobby, which looked pretty crazy, as well. Overall, when it comes to Gaudi, I appreciate his style and think it is unique and intriguing, but I know I would never design anything that looked a thing like his stuff.

We then headed back to the hostel to get ready to go out on the town. Santiago’s friend had given us the name of a good place to go on a Monday night. It was expensive to get in, and just about anything else, but its just part of going to Barcelona, going out. The club played music for just about any type of music lover, which was awesome. Again, the music was mostly American, except now probably about half of the people didn’t even understand what they were listening, or even singing, to, which was hard to grasp. But it was a fun night.

The next morning, we got up and did the fun, old laundry, to make sure we all had non-smelly clothes for the rest of the trip. After all of that was sorted, we had a fun visit to Vodafone where, after about an hour of waiting and attempting to get the phone voucher to work, Quinn left with his phone still having practically no money left on it. With only a little time left in the day, we went to the station to drop our stuff off. We headed to the beach, walked by it for a bit, then found a cool place next to the port to grab some lunch and a drink. I tried sangria, which was just ok, honestly, and a delicious smoked sausage and cheese sandwich. As we were walking back towards the beach, we saw the sun setting behind the city, which was beautiful.

After it was completely dark, we walked over to the Torre AGBAR, a large skyscraper that they actually light up at night in a variety of colors. From far away, it looks pretty cool, but up close it is even neater. The façade is made of this corrugated metal which has small glass panels placed atop it, causing the light to reflect in different ways. 

Finally it was time to head back to the bus station to board our super exciting 30 hour bus ride. Honestly, though, with the help of some awesome Tylenol PM, the bus ride wasn’t too bad. I got a lot of sleep and got to see some beautiful countryside. There was an slightly scary moment on the Swiss border when they made get off the bus to go through his stuff (silly Mexicans). He was fine, but there were two guys on our bus who didn’t get to continue on the journey. We made it to Prague feeling good, not groggy or tired. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad of a deal.

Your Gauidan Barcelona Expert,

Jessica

Sorry, You're Being Deported. Your Car Isn't Expensive Enough.

So we went to the bus station the next day, only to find it closed. How wonderful. Turns out that particular station was closed all day on Saturdays. We finally found one that was open, hopped on a bus, and found our ways there. Unfortunately, the bus we were going to take on Monday was full. Again. Our next option was Wednesday. We took it. At this point, we had to yet again go back to our hostel and book 2 more nights in Nice. It was getting complicated. Once we had it all figured out, we walked around a bit more, looked up some places to explore outside of Nice, and headed to our other hostel for the night. Now, due to our stressful situation, we had failed to look up anything about this hostel. We walked there, and found the reception in an odd, kind of creepy restaurant. This little old lady walks up to me saying, "Jessica? Jessica?" I respond in the positive and she starts going off in French. I had no idea what she was saying and I'm pretty sure that was clear by my confused state. We paid our night and I gathered that we weren't staying in a dormitory, but in a studio. She then starts moving towards the door and begins walking towards our studio, still speaking to us in French and kind of laughing every now and then. It was awkward to say the least. She finally made it to our studio, which was kind of old, but pretty cool. We went to a cheap place we saw on the way to our room, called Taco Loco, where I got some long missed Mexican food (don't judge me for eating non-French food in France). It was then off to bed so we could get up in the morning, check out of the sketch hostel, and get some free breakfast back our usual hostel (called home at this point).

Finally, at this point, we had everything squared away and could actually do something besides stare at the beach. We decided to first go check out Monaco. Monaco is actually an entirely different country that is so small, it only really fits one city, Monte Carlo. Only about 35,000 people live there, if that gives a good idea of just how tiny it is. However, it was hosting the Rolex Tennis Masters (or something like that), so the train ride there was packed. We finally got there, walked down the steps from the train station, and instantly felt a bit too undressed just to be walking around outside. There were giant yachts and beautiful sail boats in every spot in the port. Outside the really expensive boats where extremely expensive cars parked like they were no big deal. It was insane. We walked around the port a little bit more, just staring in awe. Eventually we made our way to the beach, which actually had sand on it (Nice is a rock beach). We wondered around a bit more, somehow stumbling across the tennis tournament.

We walked around a little bit more, got a little lost, but finally found our way to the Monte Carlo Casino. Unfortunately it costs 10 Euro just to have the privilege of walking in, but seeing the outside was still pretty cool. Parked outside the casino were some of the most expensive cars I have ever seen. There were Ferrarris, Roy Royce's and Lamborghini's like it was no big deal. I think more people were taking pictures with cars than the actual casino.

Right next to the casino were some fountains and a cute little park. We spent some time strolling through that area, snapping some photos and pretending we were gazillionaires.

We then headed to the Palace. Monaco has a royal family, but instead of calling the heads of these kings or queens, they refer to them as prince and princesses. The palace sits on top of a cliff, so the hike up there was a bit intense. But no worries, because we made a pit-stop at a local grocery store to grab a giant thing of iced tea and some cookies to split. We finally made it to the top, where we had a view of two sides of the city. Along both sides there were loads of old cannons and cannon balls on display. Outside the palace, a guard we patrolling back and forth. We then went in (of course, no pictures allowed), where we saw all the rooms set up in a variety of different styles. Some were bedrooms, others areas where guests are received. I also learned tons about the Monaco government and royal family. It was really interesting.

Afterwards, we headed back to the train to go back to Nice. That night, we enjoyed a wonderful three course meal (courtesy of my wonderful parents) where we got to try some delicious and authentic French food. I had some gnocchi, fish and veggies, and creme brulee. It was all amazingly delicious. During dinner, as we were sitting outside enjoying our food, this African man walks up to us and notes our laughter and how laughter comes from the hear. He then says something about how its Africa week and hands us each an elephant. We take them, still smiling. Suddenly he says, "Pay whatever you want. Whatever you have. Or nothing is fine." Being the kind soles we are, we each hand over a few Euros, but he asks for more. It was crazy, and we are all still really confused how he got the few Euros he did out of us. But now I have an African elephant I got in Nice, France...so that's interesting.

The next morning we went out for another adventure, this time to Cannes. Cannes is a town about the size of Nice, but every year, it hosts one of the most famous film festivals in the world. It also has some sandy beaches and some crazy expensive stores. Now, coming from Monaco to Cannes, the cars weren't quite up to par, but it was still way out of our league. After wondering around a bit, and not really finding anything of too much interest or importance, we hit the beach. It felt wonderful to actually feel sunlight and dig my feet into some sand. I just sat there for a while so my skin could remember what it felt like to have the sun hit it. The beach is quite beautiful. Behind the sandy coast and aqua water, there are these beautiful mountains.

Once we had enough of the beach, we went to find the sites. We first found our way to the theatre where the film festival is held every year. Along the walkway there are a bunch of little stones with handprints and signatures of stars from all over the world. To name a few stars I recognized: Julie Andrews, Michael Douglas, Spike Lee, Pink Panther, Mickey, Jane Fonda and Bruce Willis. We passed by a few famous hotels on the way to the next landmark, a castle on church which overlooks the city. There was a decent view, although some spots had some rather large trees obstructing pieces of the view. After, we headed down the hill in a different direction and stumbled onto some of the coolest streets I've come across. Finally, we made our way back to the train station. Since we were so close, we took another trip to Tacos Locos to buy some cheap, filling food.

Our last full day in Nice was, as Quinn called it, activity day. We each rented some form of wheeled transportation. Quinn rented roller blades, Santiago got a skateboard, and I got a bike (I tried roller blades at first, but after falling three times just crossing the street from the rental place, I quickly swapped). We were then off. We rolled, and rolled, and rolled, all the way until we reached an entirely different town, called Ville De Saint Laurent Du Var. We took a short break at their beach, then headed back to Nice. On our way back, we stopped at a market, picked up a snack and ate it by the beach. Once we had returned our rentals, we stopped by a small grocery store and picked up some food to make pasta at the hostel. It was a lovely and exercise filled day.

Our last part of Nice was a sad one. Although we were excited to be heading to a new and different place, we were a bit sad to be leaving one we had gotten to know so well. At our hostel, there were a group of people who had been there as long as us, along with the receptionists, who we had come to consider friends. Nice is also a lovely and beautiful place. But it we had so much more to see. It was just bittersweet. Before heading out, we walked over to the remains of an old chateau (which, ironically, we had planned to do just about every day since we had been in Nice). The ruins are on top of a large hill, giving you a beautiful view of the entire city. It was remarkable and a lovely way to say goodbye to Nice. On our way back to the hostel to pick our stuff up, I stopped in my last French pastry shop, grabbed and amazing sandwich and pastry.

We left incredibly early to ensure that we were, indeed, on the bus to Barcelona that left at 5. Twelve hours later we finally made it to Barcelona. Unfortunately, we had to wait two more hours for our bus to Valencia, which were not very fun or exciting. By 11:30 we were in Valencia. Tired, but there.

Kind of Missing Nice,
Jessica