Spring Break: Barcelona and Mallorca

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Last week I had a break from my incredibly rigorous Spanish studies (har har) and went to Barcelona and Mallorca with my Dad and his girlfriend, Julie. But first they came to Salamanca for a day and I showed them all that my wonderful city has to offer. I took them to the old Cathedral, down by the Rio Tormes, the Residencia, and finished with drinks in the Plaza. Super guay!

The next day we took an early (very early) train to the Madrid airport and after a passport snafu and a small detour to the U.S. Consulate downtown, we caught a flight to Barcelona. (I had no idea how fast you could get a new passport reprinted! Hoorah for American customer service).

Anyway, Barcelona is a huge city! It is the second largest city in Spain (population 1,621,537) and the capital of Catalunya. It is one of the world’s leading tourist and cultural centers, which, judging by the throngs of people that flood the streets all day every day, is easy to see. Our hotel was located on the famous La Rambla, a 1.2 km pedestrian mall lined with trees and street performers. Most of them were making money as human statues, from bicycle/skeleton man to an elaborate bronze angel to a guy sitting on a toilet (no joke! What drives these people to stand still all day in costume heavy makeup I will never know). There were also numerous spray-paint artists, caricaturists, street vendors, and even a few acrobatic acts. La Rambla is also the number one place in the world where people get pick-pocketed. That’s right, guys, switch that wallet to your front pocket and ladies, cling to those purses.



We spent the first full day there walking around and seeing what there was to see on foot. We strolled down La Rambla to the Port, visited the market, and went into a few churches.

The next day we bought tickets for the hop-on/hop-off bus and went to see some main attractions. Stop number one: Sagrada Familia. When we first got there in the early afternoon, the line stretched ALL THE WAY AROUND the church. The wait seemed a bit unreasonable, so we got lunch and luckily, came back to a shorter queue. I’m so glad we came back and checked because the Sagrada Familia is AMAZING! It will simultaneously take your breath away and blow your mind. Seriously. You can go into a million beautiful, old churches, and nothing will top what you will see inside the Sagrada Familia. Don’t let the 12E entry fee deter you. It’s worth it. The outside will probably be under construction for the next 20 years but the inside is completely finished and completely insane. That Antoni Gaudi was one crazy imaginative hombre.

After that, we went to see the Parc Guell (not as cool), which was interesting, but packed with tourists. It’s also a steep uphill climb to get to it.

That night, we went to a bar to watch the FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game. For those of you who don’t know, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid (soccer clubs) make up one of the biggest sports rivalries in the world. This is Michigan vs. Ohio State. Duke vs. North Carolina. Red Sox vs. Yankees. This is a big deal. 1 in 25 people worldwide tune in to watch whenever Barcelona and Madrid play each other. It is a religion fueled by die-hard fans.

We were lucky enough to be in the city for such a game. The atmosphere in the bar, and probably every bar in the city for that matter, was unbeatable. Packed to full capacity, with nearly everyone sporting the infamous red and blue striped jerseys or the equally popular turquoise ones. Barcelona scored a goal that was taken away due to offsides, but there was thunderous applause and cheering nonetheless. Even though the game ended 0-0, it was still a fun experience.

On Friday morning we bid farewell to Barca and took a short flight to Mallorca. Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and one of the main vacation destinations for Germans and people from the UK. We flew into Palma, the capital of Mallorca, which has a huge airport for it being on an island. Clearly, they are serious about their tourism.

Mallorca is a mountainous island with cliffs and a rugged coastline. Our hotel was up in the cliffs with a gorgeous view overlooking the bay! There was also a pool, where I spent the afternoon reading and getting some much-needed sun.

That night we took a taxi into the old part of town and as luck would have it, we stumbled upon a Semana Santa procession (see previous blog entry for details). Of course, this was the ONE time I left my room without my camera, so I spent most of the time watching the stunning floats go by and cursing my foolishness. Check out this video, though it doesn't do it justice:



We took a day trip to Soller on Saturday, which is about an hour train ride north of Palma. We walked around and made a few purchases at a street fair, then ate lunch right off the water.

On Sunday, we left the islands and flew back to Madrid, where I said goodbye to my visitors and returned to Salamanca while they continued on to Portugal. Overall it was a pleasant, relaxing vacation. As I think about going back to class and my upcoming finals I have only one question, is it summer yet???

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