This past week, we went to Barcelona for five days. It reminded me a lot of Madrid, but with more modern buildings. My favorite part was the church “La Sagrada Família.” It was designed by Gaudí who is this really modern architect that has designed a lot in Barcelona. The church is still under construction though and when it is finished, it will be the tallest in the world. From the outside, it looks like just a normal church, but when you walk inside it is like a work of art. There are windows all around made of different colors of glass. It was the most colorful church I have ever seen and a nice change from all the other ones that we have been seeing.
Another cool thing that we went to was the Boquería, which is a big market on the main street, Las Ramblas. It had tons of fruit, candy, fish, meat, and more. I got a kiwi coconut drink which was delicious. One day, we went to a Monastery at Montserrat which is up on a mountain. It had some really pretty views. A few of us also went to the beach one day. I walked in the Mediterranean so it was a little chilly, but still worth it. It was different than the U.S. People approached us every 5 minutes trying to sell massages, drinks, and food, and I saw more than a few topless people even though it wasn’t a nude beach.
Overall, I’ve been asked if I like Barcelona or Madrid better by multiple people, and I think would have to choose Madrid. I really liked Barcelona, but the Spanish culture wasn’t as strong there. It was very touristy and almost everyone spoke English. I’m still excited to go back there in December when my parents come to visit.
This past Tuesday, I traded in my Titans jersey for a Real Madrid one when some of the group went to a Spanish fútbol (soccer) match. I had always heard that soccer is like a religion here, and it dominates a lot of the news so getting to go to a game was awesome. [Side note: One of the churches we went into in Barcelona had the Barcelona fútbol team’s logo in one of the stained glass windows - that is how big fútbol is here.] Our seats were in the third row from the top, but we still had a great view of the field. They had this section, kind of like the student section at college games, that cheered the whole time. People definitely got into it. Someone told me that they don’t sell any alcohol at the games, because if they did, people would get too rowdy. It was a ton of fun, and I am hopefully going to go to another game before I leave.
Monteserrat
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