Spring Break pt 7: It's the Friends You Make Along the Way

Getting to Barcelona was a bit of a hassle to say the least, but in the end we found a bus and made our way north in about 4.5 hours... its like going to Dublin from Cork (almost). The views were beautiful of the Spanish country side with the sea making a cameo every now and then.

Once in Barcelona we learned very quickly that this city was not walkable. At all. The metro was going to be our best friend I could tell. We got to the hostel after getting a bit lost but that's to be expected right? Dinner was delicious, but the tapas was even better. So much better in fact, that we went to another restaurant after just to get a few more tapas. We came to realize that the best tapas is hands down Potatas Bravas. I could eat that forever and be okay with my life.

We also met our roommates... three lovely Irish guys that go to UCC. Couldn't have been any better :)

I was excited to find out what Barcelona had to offer, and I was super excited our hostel was right near the beach.

Our first whole day in Barcelona, we tried to get into the Sagrada Familia (a modern church still being built). But, being a Sunday, the had a special mass at 2 and weren't letting people inside. So plan B meant that we were going to spend the whole day in Park Guell. As it turns out, this happened to be my favorite place in Barcelona we visited. We spent hours walking around this park, looking at the mosaics and getting great vantage points on the city.

We called it a night and made our way back to the hostel... when we got another great surprise. Franco turned up in our hostel! He was headed to Barcelona after Valencia and it worked out that he could meet us at our hostel. Ally and I went out for late tapas with Franco as a great way to end the day.

Day two: We laid on the beach for a few hours and then walked around Las Ramblas. The day was pretty much spent wandering the area and taking in the sights. Las Ramblas was a ton of fun. It's pretty much the center of Barcelona and had anything you could possibly want.

Day three: We went to Mountjuic with Franco, where there was a cool fort at the top that looked over the city. We do love our vantage points! The way back down was a bit nerve-wrecking. Again, we got lost and almost walked straight out of Barcelona. Thank god Franco was with us to ask locals for directions to get back to the metro. It was fun exploring though, and what fun would it be if we didn't get lost.

The night ended in us going to a cooking lesson on Las Ramblas. Dinner, learning to cook Spanish food, and endless Sangria what could be better? We had seafood paella, lots of tapas complete with Potatas Bravas, and great company of new people!

It was interesting to see how they cooked paella, I never knew it had so many ingredients. It tasted so incredible. I think may favorite part of the night had to be meeting our two New Jersey friends Johnny and Steph. They were so entertaining and had such a great vibe, it was hard not to enjoy being around them. This night was a bittersweet end to our stay in Barcelona.

potatas bravas

giant pan of seafood paella

I came to realize in Spain that it's not just the places you go that make travelling so great, it's the people you meet along the way. I was hesitant at first about staying in hostels. I've never really experienced it before and didn't really know what to expect. But it turns out it was one of the best parts about the whole trip. We got to meet incredible people, each with a story of their own. I think the best part is that most everyone we met had that same thirst for adventure. We met some really amazing people on our trip, and keep in touch with a few still. I can't even begin to describe just how much I have enjoyed getting to know these friends we've met.