Barcelona, ole! Day 1

So this past Wednesday, we were told by our professors that we don't have school on Monday. This was news to us. Well, I had planned to settle in and get a lot of sleep, but Emily thought it would be a good idea to use this weekend to travel somewhere(we have 2 more weekends with a Monday free, but most of our other weekends are filled with excursions). We were trying to look for someplace close by to go to, but then we realized that 3 days could be enough to go to Barcelona. Well, because of such a short notice we couldn't find any flights and the one we did find cost 176 euros one way! Our director, Carmen, told us about this night bus that drives 9 hrs from Santander to Barcelona. At first this sounded like an awful idea, but then I realized if we do that then we don't have to pay for an extra night at a hostel. Also, we figured to get an extra full day in we could leave Barcelona Monday night and get to Santander Tuesday morning for classes (well at the time it seemed like a good idea). So it was only going to be Emily and I because other people just wanted to hang out in Santander.

It was settled. We bought tickets for a night bus leaving Santander on Friday at 9pm and getting to Barcelona at 6:45am. Then we would have all day Sat, Sun and Mon in Barcelona and then take a 10:30pm bus from Barcelona and get to Santander at 8:30am on Tues (since we have class at 9am we were going to take a taxi to school). We booked a really cheap hotel, but in a safe location, and we were ready for our trip. The hotel ended up being very nice. Because of the cheap price, I assumed it was a hostel, but it was actually a very nice and clean 4 star hotel.

Well, the bus trip wasn't too bad. I had my ipod so I listened to music and was able to sleep very well, until a 2:30am wake up call. The bus driver had us take a 30min break to use the bathroom and get something to eat if we wanted. Then when we got back on the bus and I slept on and off. Well, we woke up because we realized the bus had stopped at a station. We just assumed it was in another city. Then as we left the station, I saw the sign: Barcelona-Sant Station. That was our stop! Emily and I couldn't believe it (but the driver never announced it). So we stayed on the bus and figured it had to stop somewhere else because other people were still on the bus. We ended up getting a tour of the city. We got off at the Nord station (which ended up being better because it was 2 blocks to the center of the city). We stayed at the station until 8am, when the sun came out.

We left our backpacks in lockers at the station, found some maps, and ventured out into Barcelona. Now, when I started walking around, I couldn't believe we were in Barcelona. There were no sky scrapers or really tall buildings. The streets looked like I could have been in any other city. It was a really nice feeling, like I wasn't in a large city, and since it was so early barely anyone was out walking. We first went to the Arc de Triumf. It is beautiful.

Next, we just wandered the streets looking for the city center. We went to a nice garden area where the parliament building was and took some pictures. Then we walked around some more and found a small cafe to stop at and have a drink. After, we walked down Las Ramblas, which is the main road that leads you to all the attractions. We walked to the Port Vell, where there is a mall on the other side of the bridge. We went to Placa Reial, which I believe is their plaza Mayor, and Plaua Guell, which was a disappointment because it was a building constructed by Gaudi and the outside is beautiful, but inside we were only allowed to go into the basement so we didn't see much, but it was free! We walked to the Barri Gotic (Gothic neighboorhood) where everything was designed as Gothic architecture and we saw the Catedral de Santa Maria. Then we went to Placa Catalonia which was filled with hundreds of people. We found the Hard Rock Cafe (which was recommended by our director) and decided to eat there for lunch, but there was a line so we walked around the streets and around 2 had lunch. After we went back to the bus station to get our backpacks and check into the hotel (check in was at 2), we rested and used the free internet, woo hoo!

Statue of Christopher Columbus pointing to the Americas.

The Catedral de Santa Maria. A very large Gothic church.

The front of Palau Guell. It's hard to see but at the top of the building there are 4 triangle structures which look like they were made with fruit and have very beautiful and interesting designs.

Emily and I are in front of a fountain in Placa Reial. It is a beautiful Plaza (remember that this is at 10am after an all night bus ride...hehe).

That evening we walked around the area we are staying in, which is supposed to be the "posh" area of the city, but it looked like a normal area to me. Then we ate dinner and went back to our room to watch a movie. All in all, it was a great first day in Barcelona.
Besos, Celeste