26 october 2018
After a train and bus trip to the airport that was supposed to take 2 hours but ended up taking 3 and a flight that was delayed by and hour and 20 minutes I was on my way to Barcelona. I splurged on a taxi and made it to the hostel around 1:00 in the morning. It took another 2 hours to fall asleep which lead to a late start the next morning.
Wednesday
I woke up around 9:00 and ended up talking with the girl in the bed under mine. It turned out she was also a student traveling alone.Her name also happened to be Sophia. She invited me to the walking tour through the Gothic Quarter she had found, and I didn’t have any plans for the day, so after breakfast we took the metro to the tour (red line).
A walking tour definitely would not be something I would’ve thought to do on my own, but it was really interesting to learn about the history of Barcelona and hear the stories behind buildings and sculptures. After the tour we went to a vegetarian restaurant called La Cerería (A) which was really good and, compared to the few times I’ve gone out to eat in Copenhagen, a good deal. For €12 we got a drink, a starter, a main course, and dessert.
From lunch Sophia and I went off on our own to explore the city. I walked to the Jardins de Laribal (B), which was a surprising amount of stairs and hills.The garden itself was nice and quiet and a good place to sit down and get a large view of the city. After the Jardins de Laribal I tried to go to Jardí Botànic Històric (C). Sadlyit was closed because of all the recent heavy rains.
After spending all afternoon in the public gardens I went to the Fundació Joan Miró (D), which was the original reason I had walked in that direction. The museum was not too big and very empty and quiet which made it a nice experience. It had a rooftop area and a back terrace where there were places to sit and enjoy the view. Unfortunately this was the point in the trip where things started to take a turn. All the traveling had gotten to me and as I walked through the museum I kept feeling sicker and sicker. I pushed through to see everything, then went back to the hostel and was in bed by 9:00.
Thursday
I woke up Thursday feeling worse than I had the night before. But I only had a few days in Barcelona so I was determined to do something. I took the metro to the to the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona and started on the top floor where they had a timeline of graphic design from the 80s to now. I especially enjoyed the section on posters for the 1992 Olympics in Spain. I was pretty tired after the first exhibit so I skimmed the other three floors. On the lower level there was an exhibit showcasing award-winning designs from the past year. I really liked seeing all the examples of branding, type design, posters, and packaging. After the more traditional museums I went to in Paris it was nice to see things more relevant to my interests. I had hoped to hit another museum in the afternoon but was just too sick to do anything else.In Barcelona you can't just buy cold medicine over the counter. Instead you tell the pharmacist what your problem is, and they give you what they think is appropriate. So I stopped at a pharmacy to get some medicine, bought some apple juice, got back to the hostel around 3:00 and slept all afternoon.
Friday
I got up early and took the metro (red line) to go see La Sagrada Familia (Right A) but my lack of planning put a dent in that plan. I knew online tickets were sold out but thought I would still be able to wait in line for tickets as I could for other museums. This was not the case. If anyone wants to go inside La Sagrada Familia make sure to get tickets in advance.
After walking around La Sagrada Familia I decided to try and find a post office but all were closed because it was a national holiday. So I walked to the beach (Right B). The water was cold and there were people playing volleyball everywhere.
I spent about an hour at the beach and then began walking to Ciutadella Park (Right C), another public park/garden–there are many. The park was large and very nice with lots of plants and water. The highlight was the Cascada Monumental, a large fountain and sculpture.
Sitting in the park was a nice break, but it was also very busy and humid outside. Still a little worn out from being sick, I decided to move indoors to air conditioning for the afternoon. I was debating between the Picasso Museum, a Dalí exhibition at MNAC, and the F.C. Barcelona Museum. I ended up taking the metro (green line) to the F.C. Barcelona Museum because it was unlike anything I could experience in the United States.
The whole experience was very strange. As someone who is very new to enjoying sports and doesn't really follow any team it was cool to see how excited other people were getting. It started with video of players motioning to come down a tunnel and then some cheesy green screen photos where they put you in with the team.
I was more interested in the old membership cards and posters and the exhibition design, but it was also cool to learn about the history of the club. The first room had old uniforms, trophies, and an interactive wall with highlights of notable players and important wins. There was also a section dedicated to all the other sports Barcelona has like the women's soccer team, handball, and basketball.
After going through the history and all the recent UEFA Cup wins and of course a special section dedicated to Messi, the museum continued via specified walking routes through the stadium. It went to multiple levels of the stands - including a walk down to the field, through the visitor's locker room, the media room, and past a chapel. On the way there were bad souvenir coins and grass from the field for sale.
The museum ended in a dark room with game highlights projected across one wall. It showed all the best parts of sports and how they bring people together which was a nice way to finish things off.
After the F.C. Barcelona museum I walked back to the hostel (Left B) to take a break before dinner and passed by the Sofia Hotel. I went to La Llimona (Left C) for dinner to get some tapas which was a strange experience. Since I was alone I only got two items which was fine since there were only two vegetarian options and other than the few looks I was getting, I assume because I was alone, it was a nice time. What made it strange was the music choice. There was a TV playing VH1 Sing Along of the Century that had a wide range of music. Here's a playlist of what played while I was there in case anyone wants to have the experience of eating at a tapas restaurant in Barcelona.
Saturday
My last day in Barcelona was an eventful one. I took the metro to Parc Güell to see some more Gaudi and on the second stop a woman had her wallet stolen She started yelling in Portuguese that her wallet was gone. The perps tried to get off the train, but the crowd wasn't having it and blocked the doors until the police arrived. When she got her wallet back, everyone clapped. It was a bit of a delay, but I was in no rush.
Parc Güell was nice and had lots of stairs. With my usual lack of planning I didn't have tickets to get up close to the Gaudi mosaics but was still able to see them from afar. Like the other days in Barcelona it was very humid and eventually started raining which signaled my time to start making my way to the airport and head back to Copenhagen.
