Barcelona

I remember as a teenager, my friend showed me pictures of her vacation in Barcelona, Spain. Her pictures of the buildings were some of the most interesting things I had ever seen, and from then on, Barcelona was on the list of places I needed to see in my life. What better time to go than during my study abroad, just a 6 hour drive away?

I went with 5 other girls, so we rented a stick shift minivan and spent three days driving and sightseeing. The only problem was that I was the only 21-year-old (the minimum age for rental car driving) who could also drive a manual transmission, so guess who sat in the driver's seat the whole time? I studied up on road rules in France and Spain for a good two hours before we left, but surprisingly, driving in Europe is not that much different than driving in Colorado. I drove through the Pyrénées and small towns without even a near accident, but I'm still relieved we had a GPS navigator and left the car at the Barcelona airport instead of driving it in the city. We took a train the rest of the way.

Side note: If ever in your life you have a chance to see the Pyrénées during the last week of October, please, please take it. The mountains were beautiful beyond words; absolutely covered in gold and red trees. I will try to find some pictures taken from friends' cameras.

Barcelona is the #1 pickpocketing capital of the world, so from the moment we got on the train, I was clutching my bags tightly to my chest and watching everyone around me. I even wore one of those dorky wallets that hangs around your neck to keep all my money and passport safe. Luckily, none of us had anything stolen. I'm not sure whether theft isn't quite as bad anymore, or if our vigilance really did make a difference.

That night, we ate a long, delicious meal of tapas, paella and Spanish wine in a crowded restaurant on the main street, La Rambla. We got up the next morning to see the architecture around the city. Antoni Gaudi, who constructed his nature-inspired buildings in the late 1800s/early 1900s, never even finished his most famous work, the Sagrada Familia church. It's still under construction. We were able to see the majority of Gaudi's works that day, but I think we did miss out on a few (and tours of museums and churches were extremely expensive, so we only went inside once). Nevertheless, the architecture is pure eye candy--curvy, colorful buildings covered in intricate mosaics. Finding these buildings in random places throughout the city felt like going on a treasure hunt.

It's hard to name just one of Gaudi's works as my favorite, but I loved our walk through Park Güell because it reminded me of a life-size Candyland game. Flute and guitar players filled the crowded place with fairy tale-like music, and mosaic benches lined the main courtyard (which doubled as the roof of a second lower level...check out pictures to get a better idea).

Casa Milà earns a close second to the Park as my favorite Gaudi destination. In addition to a Gaudi museum, you can also access the roof to see even more bizarre, beautiful architecture and 360-degree views of Barcelona. We got there at sunset, and the way the pink and purple sky illuminated the white mosaic roof sculptures can only be described as breathtaking.

That night, we went out for another long Spanish dinner. The Spaniards party LATE. We went into a department store at 9:30 p.m. and the number of people there made me think it was actually 10:00 on a Saturday morning. People don't start dinner until about 10:30 p.m., so by the time we left the restaurant it was already midnight. We went to a bar on La Rambla but didn't stay long. At one point, I was standing outside next to the sidewalk on the narrow street, and a car ran into my ankle! I wasn't hurt, but I still screamed from the shock of having been hit by car. The driver gave me a weird look and drove off. I put ice on my foot when we got back to the hostel, but it was still a little swollen and purple for the next week.

Unforunately, we didn't have enough time to see everything in Barcelona. We drove back to Pau on Monday, and all of us were tired and starving by the end of the trip. I never thought I would miss fast food, but when your dining choices along the autoroute consist of sparse, run-down Spanish restaurants, you start dreaming about anything besides gas station chips and cookies.