Speechless in Barcelona

So as I mentioned last week, our next stop was Barcelona and god I was excited! One of the reasons I chose that specific tour was because it went there, and needless to say it did not disappoint!

As usual when we first got into the city we had a driving tour where Kiki pointed out all the sights and told us all about Barcelona, where he'd actually been living for the off-season so he has the local knowledge too. We drove up a hill to get an incredible view over the city, and then wound our way through the streets, past Les Rambles and the zoo, and then we stopped off at what I had been looking forward to for months leading up to the trip – La Sagrada Familia. It's probably Gaudi's most famous creation, even though he didn't complete it before he died, in fact it's still being constructed and its completion date isn't within the next decade. But nevertheless it is still an incredible building (even if half the tour hated it). The churches architecture is so bizarre, as each side of it looks like a completley different building with a different design style on each side, but its the interior that took my breath away (but more of that later)

La Familia in Barcelona!

Once the driving tour was over we checked into our HOSTEL!!! and got ready for the night's adventures, which included my first taste of proper spanish paella (wise words from kiki – never trust a paella that's been cooked in a small pan) which was delicious, and also sangria (which I wasn't as keen on!) 

And then some of the group went off to watch a flamenco show that was one of the extras. I wasn't too sure what to expect – neither was Justin as he asked if the flamingos would be dancing, or if people were dressed as flamingos and then danced.... Sometimes it pays to make sure you listen... But I was amazed by the show! The spanish say that the youth can't dance the flamenco because they don't understand the emotion of the dance and after seeing the show, I totally understand why. There was live music, played on the stage, and people singing (all in spanish) but I couldn't take my eyes off the dancing. I've never seen anyone's legs move so fast in my entire life! And the level of emotion the dancers showed was incredible. I was stunned by it all and once it was over we were all trying to see how fast we could move our legs like the dancers did.. I think I need a bit more practice.

After the show we met up with the others and then kiki gave us a pep talk that sounded like it was from a movie. You know you've got an incredible tour guide when he can get a group of 30 people buzzing with excitement in about 30seconds – so much so that one of the bouncers at the bar came over and asked us to calm down because we were chanting and singing and just being loud.

We all piled into taxis (which I noticed throughout the trip were really cheap) and asked the driver in our horiffic spanish to take us to a club on the beach. Now for those of you who know me, I bet you're shocked at the fact that I went to a club, and trust me, so was I. But I thought how many times in my life will I be able to say I went to a beach club in Barcelona? So I just did it! I didn't stay too long however because it was absolutley packed and stupidly hot, but I gave it a go! We were warned not to go anywhere by ourselves and to watch out for pick-pockets, so I caught a cab with three of the girls from the tour and went to bed as soon as we got to the hostel. Unfortunatley others on the tour didn't have such a good first night.

We found out the next morning that five people had had their phones stolen, which made us all a lot more paranoid about our belongings, so yes, that day I walked around Barcelona with a padlock on my handbag..

Me, Rachel, Stacey and Carin decided to see the city via bus, because it was 30+degrees at 9am and it only got hotter, so on we hopped and got a guided tour of the city while trying to stay as cool as possible which wasn't easy. We were driven past the beaches, the gothic quarter, and up to park guell where we got off the bus. We didn't go into the park because the line for tickets was probably two hours long and in the full sun, so we just walked around the outside and then slowly made our way back to the bus stop. We stopped to get some gelato to cool us down on the way to the bus which was a genius idea. We got the bus back to the hostel – the stop was right outside because one of gaudi's buildings was a 20metre walk down the street, and then we got tapas for lunch. I think we all got a bit carried away with our ordering and there was so much food that we couldn't finish, but it was so yummy!

I thought Gaudi's buildings looked like a cross between a sandcastle, and something that should be in a Dr Seuss book..

The options. It was a really hard decision...

We definitely got a bit carried away..

After a quick break at the hostel to do some washing and have a shower, we got a taxi to the Sagrada Familia, because we'd booked tickets to see the interior.

I don't think anything has ever literally taken my breath away, except for that building. I don't think I spoke for about five minutes because I was stunned by it. There's no way I can explain it to you and do it justice, but just imagine white marble coloums that branch out like trees at the top, and then stained glass windows that paint the marble when the sun shines through them.

Not even the photos do it justice, but here are a bunch of them to show you what I mean

We must have spent over two hours in there just taking it all in, and when we eventually left it was all we could talk about for the rest of the night.

The four of us went out for dinner and had the best pizza, which was made even better because our table was on a little balcony that overlooked the street.

After we finished stuffing ourselves full of pizza we wandered back down les rambles (barcelona's main shopping street) and got a few souvineers before making our way back to the hostel. We had quite a tame night compared to everyone else, who went to a shot bar where they sold 1euro shots.. Poor Tattoo Tom who had his phone stolen the night before went out wearing his watch (which he was sure couldn't be stolen) and woke up on a bench without it. So from then on he was known as Barca-Tom.

We had an early start the next morning so we went to bed after we'd made the most of the free wifi at the hostel.

Next stop: French Rivera!