Fall Break Part 1 — Barcelona!

Last Friday night, I left Lyon to spend my fall break exploring Spain and Portugal! The first city on the agenda: Barcelona! On Friday night, we took a bus from Lyon to Barcelona. It was a good option to take the bus since it was so much cheaper than flying or taking the train, but the experience was not one I would like to repeat! We were supposed to leave at 9:15 PM, but the bus didn't even get to the station until around 11:30! Then, once we were on the bus, there was a guy listening to loud music and it was impossible to get any sleep in the cramped and uncomfortable seats. Not to mention the bathroom on the bus was locked, so the only opportunity to go to the bathroom during the 7 hour bus ride was during our one stop! Obviously taking the bus wasn't a great experience, but it got us to Barcelona only a half hour later than scheduled despite leaving over 2 hours late!

When we arrived in "Barça" as the locals call it, we got to the metro and went to our hostel. The hostel ended up being in a great location not too far from the centre of the city! When we got to the hostel around 7:30 in the morning, it was too early to check in, so we left our luggage there and went out to start exploring the city! We went to the city centre and got some breakfast. We were all starving after the overnight bus ride and wanted more than just a croissant or something, so we ended up getting a breakfast of sandwiches and pizza! Then we went to the tourist office nearby to get some maps of the city. The first thing we decided to do was visit the Nou Camp football stadium, the biggest stadium in Europe. We took a tour and got to see the stadium and all of the "backstage" areas like where the players' lockers are, where the team hangs out before and after games, a little chapel, where the commentators sit during matches, and we got our picture taken holding one of the team's many trophies! I think all of the girls' favourite part of the stadium was the hall lined with pictures of all the hot football players!

the Nou Camp stadium

in the Nou Camp!

in the Nou Camp with Josh and Javier

some of the hot players that lined the walls!

After touring the stadium, it was late enough to check into the hostel, and we were all exhausted from the sleepless night before, so we headed back to rest up a little. We stayed in the Urbany hostel, which ended up being a great choice! It was really new inside and they had a nice patio area, kitchen, and computers. What surprised me was that there were so many families and people of all ages staying in the hostel — young kids, preteens on a school trip, grandparents, etc. In my room, we were with 3 girls from the the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria who were nice. After taking a nap and showering, we headed back out into the city. We went back to the city centre and walked down La Rambla, the most famous street in Barcelona that is really long and has lots of shopping, restaurants, souvenir booths, street performers, etc. Once we reached the end of the street, we were at the port. It was all lit up and so pretty! We saw a hotel where most celebrities stay when they visit Barcelona. We tried to find a restaurant, but they were all so expensive by the port! We eventually found one that had lots of traditional Spanish dishes that weren't too expensive. We all ended up getting different types of paella, a Spanish dish with rice, vegetables, and meat. I got a chicken paella that was so good! After dinner, we just sat at the restaurant until around 11 PM like true Spaniards who like to have long and late dinners!

La Rambla at night

chicken paella! yum!!

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel. Some of my friends were curious to try absinthe since it isn't sold in any of our home countries. After one sip, I decided to stick with water for the night because it was so gross! We hung out in the hostel's kitchen and met some other people who were staying in the hostel who were visiting Barcelona from their study abroad in Morocco. There were some Americans, Argentinians, and Slovenians. We all played "never have I ever" which is always a fun game! After a while, they left to go out for the night and my group headed to bed since we were still exhausted from the overnight bus the night before.

On Sunday, our group of 8 split up and two people went to tour the Sagrada Familia basilica, and the rest of us headed to the city centre to go on a walking tour of the city. Two of the guys wouldn't get up on time, so we ended up getting a late start and missing the tour. When we were on the metro and knew we weren't going to get to Catalunya in time for the tour, we decided to get off at a stop called Arc de Triomf — and I'm so glad we did! When we emerged from the metro, there was a huge arch right in front of us that looked a lot like the Arc de Triomphe that is in Paris. It was so cool! There was a big park nearby that we walked through. There was a group of little kids having a Halloween party in the park and we were so tempted to crash it and get some candy haha!

the Arc de Triomf

Park near the Arc de Triomf

in the park with Juliette, Virginia, Phuong, and Josh

After walking through the park more, we tried to make our way to the port where we had been the night before so we could see it during the day. But when we reached the water, we were in a totally different spot — this wasn't just a port, it was a beach! We were all so excited to see the beach and the palm trees! We got lots of pics and walked on the sand. I took my shoes off to walk barefoot and step into the Mediterranean. But when I went to step in the edge of the water, a huge wave came and completely soaked my jeans up to the knee... whoops! We sat for a little while and collected some shells and then walked along the boardwalk right next to the beach. We stopped for lunch at a little outdoor diner with a great view of the sea! I got a chicken sandwich that was really good!

at the beach!!

with Virginia and Juliette

6/8 of the Barça group! Juliette, Ben, Phuong, Josh, Virginia, and me

at lunch right next to the Mediterranean Sea!

After lunch, we tried to do the afternoon walking tour but missed it again! I guess it just wasn't meant to be! So instead, we decided to explore a little. We went down some side streets and saw a little cathedral that is in the process of being built. We also saw a band performing that did covers of American and English sings and they were really good. We explored La Rambla some more and then went to Park Güell. Park Güell was built by Gaudi in the early 1900s and had a lot of cool architecture. It was also on top of a big hill, so we could see the whole city from up there and it was so pretty! After leaving Park Güell, we headed over to the Sagrada Familia. It was too late to tour it, but we thought we should see it since it is the most famous landmark in Barcelona. It was another Gaudi project that was started in the late 1800s but still isn't finished. It's estimated to be completely done in 2026. It looked really cool and I'm glad we got to see it!

Plaça Reial which is right off of La Rambla

view of the city at night from Park Güell

the famous salamander in Park Güell

me, Phuong, Juliette, and Josh with the salamander in Park Güell

the Sagrada Familia

a photo of the Sagrada Familia taken from Google (so you can see what it looks like during the day)

After that, we met up with the other two in our group and another girl from our program from Croatia, Sandra, for dinner. Sandra's birthday was a couple days later when we weren't going to be in Barça anymore, so we celebrated that night! We all got paella again because it had been so good the night before! It was a fun night and it was great to be able to celebrate Sandra's birthday with her!

The next morning, three of the guys left to go back to Lyon, and the rest of us headed to the airport to catch our flight to our next destination — Madrid! We got to the airport early and had some time to kill so we did some window shopping in Zara, I bought the UK Cosmo magazine to bring on the plane, and we went to a little cafe where I got a delicious chocolate mousse cake. Our flight was with Air Europa which ended up being a great flight! The only thing that surprised me was that when the flight attendants came through with a trolley of drinks, they tried charging me 2€ for water and one of the other girls 2.50€ for a Coke! Luckily, the guy was nice and didn't make us pay. Then after a short flight, we were descending into our next destination: Madrid!

there were palm trees everywhere!

I found it so funny that there were Dunkin Donuts all over Barcelona!