If anyone follows my social media they would know that all of my posts have been about Barcelona, yes I know I was going to do a blog about my Turkey holiday first but I got back yesterday and I’m excited so it will have to wait a bit longer.
Staying up till 3 am to get a taxi to Gatwick is not as fun
as it sounds however the idea of only taking hand luggage was a delight as we
were only there for four days so a quick airport passage would be ensured, so
we thought. Turning up at the airport, giving ourselves enough time, we find
the queue for monarch trailing around the ENTIRE check in area and then some. 4
flights all going out at similar times and check in times were the same time
for everyone, basically a nightmare. Speed walking through all the duty free
shops we were safely on the plane by six.
Our first day was a bit of a blur, busing it to the city center, walking down the wrong streets, wasting time till check in (In which
time I visited the reception toilet and didn't lock the door properly which resulted
in another hostel guest walking straight in he was very shocked and embarrassed
as was I) then crashing in the room from the lack of sleep.
We decided just to chill in our amazing top floor apartment with spectacular views of Barcelona and the Sagrada Familia; we opted for a hostel rather than a hotel, BEST DECISION EVER. It was a traveling student’s heaven!
Free tea and coffee, Wi-Fi, common room, breakfast and live
entertainment with all student guests and staff everyone was so friendly and
chilled in an urban street building transformed into a rustic, indie, vintage
yet clean and modern kind of place, god knows how you describe that style I'm not a bloody interior designer, anyway it was lush.
Since we only had four days we needed to pack in as much as
possible, on the first full day feeling refreshed we jumped on the ‘hop on/off’
tourist bus and headed for ‘La Sagrada Familia’ which I keep accidentally calling
the sangria Familia, slip of the tongue, easily done. It is a roman church
designed by Antoni Gaudi, building work started in 1882 and STILL going! The mix
between old and new makes it amazing and so grand to the point where inside it
just doesn't look real, Si-Fi almost; you can feel the holiness when you’re standing in it for sure, you can’t not go if you are in the area.
Going back to catch the bus again up to the Guell Park I walked over an air vent and my dress was suddenly up around my head, in shock I quickly pulled it down and ran off, to the amusement of my friends and the people in the queue. Mortified.
Guell park was Beautiful and with amazing views of the whole
city and intricately designed again by Gaudi, it was eight euros to get in to
the part of the park with the mosaic sculptures and we had to pay for the next
day, bit of a pain but worth it, probably a good idea to book online before you
go. The park was full of people selling small overpriced trinkets and musicians
busking which was really fun to dance to, even if you do get funny looks.
Staying on the bus for the rest of the afternoon we saw all the
sights of Barcelona in about three hours after which the female auto
commentator i was listening to through my free headphones on the bus was
starting to grind on me. But it was ok because I was supper excited about our
booked table at The Hard Rock Café that night!
It was exactly as I thought it was going to be, a perfect marketing case study on how to sell a brand even with this knowledge of how they manipulate the consumer generation I still managed to walk away with two T-shirts, a pin badge, a pint glass and a luggage tag… some of which were free for spending so much on the meal and drinks so that did make me feel slightly better. The food was typically American, a big fat cheese burger and fries, nothing amazing to comment on really. Only thing I really need to say is… Nine euros for a cocktail!? NINE EUROS?!?!?! Rant over.
After a very busy day
and afternoon we were very un-student like and when straight back to our apartment
so that we could wake up early and make the most of the next day which was to
be our last full day.
Waking up at 10 we realized we missed breakfast and that we
needed to get ready fast to make it to our allocated time slot for getting into
the park, so much for getting up early. The paid entry into the park was really
pretty with the mosaic ceiling, lizard and wardens houses, lots of photo
opportunities and then a swift exit as the crowds were ridiculous, but all in
all it was worth it because seeing that type of art in person is fantastic no doubt.
With a set mind of hiring bikes the high tailed it down to the
beach were we did so and rode along the promenade until we found a nice spot on
the beach and parked our bum for a bit. Sitting there after we were all sorted
there was a gradual realization of; "hang on, he’s got his bits out, and her,
and him!" Perfectly legal there to just get your old man bits out and start
talking to a young girl looking after the bags while her friends are in the sea,
awesome thanks. Also tip of the day, never get a henna tattoo off some fat
topless guy on the beach wandering around with a book, it WILL look like a 5
year old drawing.
The rest of that day was spent sightseeing browsing shops and
wandering around with that gormless tourist look, we visited the art museum of Catalonia
and an old coliseum that had been transformed into shops and bars which has
amazing views.
On our last night we visited the Ice bar on the sea front we
had pre-paid so we had ‘free’ entry and one ‘free’ drink. We were given huge
puffy coats and gloves and sent in to the freezing room, FREEZING! Thank god I put
jeans on but there was a flaw I did have flip flops which resulted in numb toes.
It was really cool, the glasses were made of ice and my friends started to melt
and the drink started to drip which was hilarious, ice sofa, ice bear, ice Buddha,
ice bar top and sculptures. They say you can stay in as long as you want but it’s
not possible for more than an hour I reckon, we really enjoyed it. Another must
if you have never been in one.
Sadly our last day came and we had to get the bus back to the
airport at 2 pm but not before a massive shopping spree starting as soon as the
shops opened.
We woke packed ate and left visiting Folliefollie, Tiffany’s,
Stradivarius
and an amazing pyjama shop called ‘Oysho’ where everything was sooo soft and
sooo fluffy, I’m wearing my fluffy leggings and furry mouse top right now and feel
like never taking them off and just rolling around in softness. Before we
needed to leave for the bus it took us a good ten minutes to fit all our
shopping back in our 10 kg small hand luggage.
Got back to our house at about half nine last night and we
were naughty and ordered a take away, back to normality today and I really can’t
be bothered to unpack, hence how I’m putting it off by blogging first.
Amazing time, thanks to the girls for making it so brill.
