Siblings Take on Barcelona

Well, I think I can say that I am officially feeling settled in Paris! This week I took the metro all by myself out to my Parisian studio apartment. It was probably the most terrifying thing of my life, but now I'm a pro. I also went to a little café an ordered an omelette in French by myself, and to my great surprise, the waitress responded to me in English! Grrrr. I refused to speak English back. It's a little discouraging when the locals think I'm a tourist reading out of a Paris guidebook. Never mind that I've been studying French for over half my life, I guess. 

My apartment is amazing! And, like every girl's dream, I have a view of the Eiffel Tower from my window.

Yeah, you could say I dig my digs

So a lot happened over the weekend! Daniel and I were able to take a little sibling trip out to BARCELONE!

I'm going to be real with you here... about the only thing I knew about Barcelona before we went there was from The Cheetah Girls 2, so let's just say I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the city is just so much more than that.

I have to confess that I had never really thought much about Spain before I got there. Kind of like Canada before my mission, it was just there. A cool place with cool people, but an area of the world I had never looked too much into.

Now, I'm obsessed. Barcelona was absolutely beautiful, and for a touristy place, it was actually enormously pleasant.

On the first day Daniel and I just wandered the city. We were both pretty tired, but the ocean revived our spirits, so we really did end up having an incredibly peaceful, relaxed day. Obviously we had to start out by eating tapas and paella, and let me just say... I could live in Spain forever. Oh. My. Gosh. THE FOOD! I have never had anything quite so delicious. Spain definitely worked it's way into my heart through my stomach, and when I say that I mean it was fully and completely thanks to tapas and paella. I don't think we ate anything but that the entire weekend.

So.

Delicious.

Where have you been all my life? 

After we had fed ourselves to the point of pain we went on a peaceful, breezy walk through the city. We spent a considerable time at La Rambla, often making it our go-to for the majority of our food excursions. A tourist trap, perhaps, but we loved it too much, so we just embraced our touristy natures.

And now for a photo tour through the area surrounding La Rambla:

The most gorgeous, luscious umbrella of trees that overlooks La Rambla.

Not real life. 

Also not real life. 

Perfection

After shopping around and wandering the streets for a solid part of the afternoon, Daniel and I went back to our air conditioned hotel for some much needed rest. So apparently there was a heat wave in Paris this weekend? Yeah, we missed it. Air conditioning. The American way. SO glorious. (WHY DON'T EUROPEANS LIKE AIR CONDITIONING?) We're such wasteful Americans, but let's be honest--nobody likes to feel like they're bathing in their own sweat.

In the evening we navigated our way to Sagrada Familia, perhaps one of the most majestic encounters with a structure I've had apart from seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. What was absolutely fascinating to me about this basilica is that construction started in 1882 and it's still not finished, nor will it be finished at least until 2026.  Gaudí is an absolute genius, and I can honestly say, from my limited knowledge, that I have never seen a modern architectural style quite like it. It's as if the building is melting, and yet (I think) the structure is completely sound. For a building that towers over 500 feet, let's hope it's structurally sound.

So massive I can hardly fit it into my camera lens!

To end the night Daniel and I went and found the most AMAZING gelato! I'll have to see how it compares to the gelato in Italy, but from what I experienced, it was by far the best gelato I've ever had in my entire life. We may or may not have eaten gelato 3-4 times a day, but hey, it's vaca! We deserved it!

Mmmm. Tapas and paella and gelato. Soooo faaaaat.

Speaking of our vacation mindset of binging and relaxing and wandering without a care in the world, we celebrated the 4th of July the proper way: in a foreign country, lounging on the beach and getting baked to a crispy red the entire day. And I have NO regrets. We are definitely lobster status now, but spending a long-awaited day at the beach was incredibly worth it. Daniel and I were so afraid of thieves that we never got into the ocean together, which resulted in Eurostar creepers coming after me like sharks every time I tried to enjoy the water. It was still perfect and luxurious and glorious, but I had to explain to these dudes about a THOUSAND times that I was not interested in following them deeper into the water. Creepers. 

I mean, why would anyone want to creep me?

Especially with this dude around? 

To finish our 4th of July celebration we took a break from tapas and waited hours to get into the Hard Rock Cafe because freedom. And to be honest, it was the worst, most expensive idea ever. But... God bless America? 

For our last day we considered lounging an entire day at the beach again, but in the end our curious natures won out, and we went to explore more of the city. I'm so grateful we did because the cathedrals and old streets and architecture are absolutely stunning. We found secret little soap shops, old fountains, and the most beautiful little neighborhoods during our ramblings. Safe to say, I am absolutely in love with Barcelona. 

Photo tour of the city take two: 

Blending of the old and the new. 

The secret well. 

Brocelona 

To finish off our day we thought it would be nice to get one last view of the whole city. We took the sketchiest sky tram over to the other side of the mountain, and let me tell you, it did not mix well with my fear of heights. Still, it was incredible to get to take in the whole city and glide over the gorgeous blue waters of Barcelona. I miss it dearly already, but we truly had the most wonderful sibling trip and memories to last a lifetime. 

Bye, Barcelona. 

See you next time!