Day 222-224: Barcelona

I LOVE Barcelona. If I could speak Spanish and get a job in the EU, I would 100% come to Barcelona. What is there not to love about the city? It has:

• Gaudi moderisma architecture
• Roman ruins
• Gothic quarter
• Beach and mountains that you can literally take a long walk between
• Funky fun bars and cafes tucked all around the Gothic quarter walls
• An amazing public transportation system
• Water you can drink from the tap (Yes, I have been travelling so long in "bottled water land" that I did need to ask if you can drink the water)

The only sad thing is that my friend Camilla, who has a base here in Barcelona, was in Berlin instead of here.

We actually ended up in Barcelona in a roundabout "how can we get to India in the cheapest possible" way. Believe it or not, it was cheaper for us to fly from Ankara to Barcelona and then use my American Airlines miles to fly out of Madrid (Business Class baby!) to Delhi than it was to fly to Delhi from Istanbul directly. Hence, we are in Spain! One baby touch of Europe to send us off of our backpacking trip properly. 

Barcelona really is just as lovely as I remember it. However, I do NOT remember the directions to anything! Last time I was here, I just followed Camilla around (and I did find some of the places, with Camilla's help, that she took me too the last time). After an uncomfortable low-cost airline flight from Ankara to Barcelona, poor Pallavi then ended up following me in the wrong direction for food when she was in a hangry state. I started looking at the map after that! 

We had less than 48 hours in Barcelona, so I took Pallavi on the highlight trip. Obviously, that meant taking her to Gaudi's Parc Guell and to the Sagrada Familia. Both have changed so much since I was last there. The administrators of Parc Guell are now trying to control the number of people on Gaudi's architecture, so to get to the main bits, you now need to pay a fee, which only allows you 30 minutes inside. It's a bit much for crowd control, although I do get it. Lucky for us, you don't have to go in in order to still see all of the great Gaudisms that exist in the park. Plus, in my opinion, it is the best view of the entire city! You can see the Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Quarter, the sea, and more. 

It's also really cool to see the Sagrada Familia again. It's a building that's been under construction for over 100 years and I had heard that it looks different ever time you see it; however, you have to experience it to really understand it. How amazing to see it change! Different statues. Different pillars are now almost complete. The tourist route is different because new construction has come up. Plus, you can see a lot more detail the second time around. I forced poor Pallavi to take the audio tour, but I think it was a big hit. It just was an incredible experience. Inside Sagrada Familia you really do feel the glory of God.

The next day we had just a few hours to 'finish' Pallavi's Barcelona highlights tour on a budget before catching our bus south to Valencia. We just walked! We walked by the sea (which turned out to be quite boring since all of these rich people boats were inconveniently parked in the harbor blocking us from the sea). Then we walked to the 'local' side of the Gothic Quarter, towards the Picasso Museum, by the old Roman walls and defense towers of the city, past the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar and finally back to the Cathedral. Tragically, our timing was wrong, so we missed all of the free entry times into all of the churches. Next time! Also, I'm so sad that we are here in November instead of December, because although we could see the Christmas markets being set up and get a sneak peek as to the wares, we couldn't experience it properly.

We left Barcelona very much with a 'see you again soon,' attitude and jumped on our bus to Valencia, to the waiting arms of our friend Elena.