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Published: November 14th 2008
Sagrada de Familias
Inside the entrance to churchBarcelona is possibly the most exisite place I've ever seen.
A bustling city centre with amazing architecture, history, shopping and food, and calm stretches of beach make it one of the the best holiday destinations in the world. I went with my Aussie friend Renata for 6 days and we were certainly not disappointed.
We stayed at a hostel not far from the city centre and spent our days exploring the unique world of Barcelona.
On the first day we went into the heart of Barcelona and were mesmorised by the scenery and food. We ate in a cafe that served tradiitional Spanish food and enjoyed a pint of San Miguel with a plethora of tapas and paella. We had a plate of cured meats that began my addiction to procuitto. I've never been a big meat lover and for the rest of the time I could not stop eating meat!
We wandered around the little side streets and alleys that were all bustling with activity and came across a shop that hired out bikes. We hired one each for 9 euros and rode down the streets of La Rambla, the main tourist area of the city. We ended up on
the beach front at a little flea market. We spent a lot of time looking at antiques there then got back on the bikes and rode along a decent stretch of the beach, taking in the sights of Barcelona along the way.
In the following days we visited Sagrada de Familias, a Roman Catholic church under construction in Barcelona. Construction began in 1882 and its predicted completion is for 2026. Two years after the foundations were laid, Antio Gaudi took over the project and dedicated the remainder of his life to it. Today, 8 of the 12 towers are constructed. We paid to go inside and what we found was breathtaking. The workmanship, the culture and history was incredible. We wandered round and visited a museum of Gaudi's techniques and found that every aspect of the church's architecture was structured around nativity. Every last little detail reflected some form or aspect of nature. It was beyond our comprehension that a place like this existed.
We also visited the zoo (which barely deserves a mention), and spent a day touring Barcelona on an open-topped bus, true tourist style. We saw some amazing sights along the way including the Barcelona Museum, a
grand structure outsizing any building I've seen in Australia, and Batllo House - another of Gaudi's works from 1904.
Much of the time we spent wandering the city and eating. We both got so fat! The food was absolutely amazing and compared with Scottish food, I was in food heaven. Pastries, tapas, coffee and beer were enjoyed regularly throughout the day. Each night we were quite exhausted from the days touring and found ourselves in bed at the most reasonable hours I've kept in a long time.
I fell in love with Barcelona and almost wish I was Spanish; the lifestyle and culture are so relaxed I could live there. But my mum would kill me! I'm expecting to be back a little later than I thought, should be home in the early new year. I've got my brother's wedding in February, which I wouldn't miss for the world: literally. I keep you updated on any more travels I'm lucky enough to have before then...
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