Barca

So, I didn't exactly update about Barcelona as quickly as I was planning on.  My bad.

A week ago last Friday, Zach, Steve, and I ventured to sunny Barcelona for the weekend.  Being the hardened travelers we are, we took the long train/bus ride to the Karlsruhe airport, two hour uncomfortable Ryanair flight to Girona, and long bus ride from Girona to Barcelona with ease.  Apparently in our experiences traveling, however, we forgot that one needs to know how to get to one's hostel (or at least the location of said hostel) before arriving in the city.  Luckily, the bus station had an internet terminal, so we weren't left to wandering around Barcelona.

After checking in, we all quickly changed and went to the beach.  It was quite the relaxing time with the bright sun, the cool water, and just the general ambiance of the area, though the endless stream of people trying to sell water, beer, pop, massages, etc. was a bit tiresome.  Oh yea, we were asked on the beach a few times if we wanted to buy marijuana or cocaine.  That was weird.

That night we watched the Uruguay-Ghana game in an Irish pub then turned in early.  Saturday involved arising early and heading to Parc Guell, an urban park in Barcelona designed by the architect Gaudi.  It was a really nice park providing nice views of the city, particularly from the cross at the top of the hill.  We next went to see the Sagrada Familia, a Gaudi-designed cathedral.  Then it was off to the beach.

About a third of the way to the beach, we suddenly came to the realization that none of us had put any sunscreen on.  "Eh, we'll be fine if we're there for only a couple of hours."

Man, were we ever wrong.

After leaving the beach with the beginnings of our lobster-like skin tones, we met up with our Spanish friend Oscar who had lived in the ID a couple of months before.  We all ate at a legit (read: no one spoke English) tapas place before watching the Spain-Paraguay game in a bar.  The streets were packed and crazy after the game.

Sunday, we went to the beach again for about four or five hours.  It was fun, though it did make my sunburn even worse.  A trip to the castle/fort and a nighttime walk on the beach concluded our last night in Barcelona.

I really enjoyed Barcelona.  This trip didn't involve a ton of touristy site-seeing.  It was a nice and relaxing change-of-pace to just relax on the beach.

I'll update about this past weekend's trip to Hamburg/Berlin soon.  (Promise!)

Until next time, Alles Gute.