Barcelona!

First of all, I'm sorry this post is so delayed. I was welcomed back to Copenhagen with an immense amount of schoolwork. Also snow. Do you realize how strange, and quite disappointing, it is to be barefoot on a beach in Barcelona one day and then bundled up in a coat and scarf bracing yourself against snow and wind the next. Needless to say, I'm ready for spring. And apparently Copenhagen is awaiting a huge snow storm in the beginning of the week. It's mid-March. I'm not okay with that. 

Anyway, Barcelona!

Christie and I outside the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art

We arrived on Wednesday and it was raining, which was extremely disappointing. The next day was sunny and beautiful though, and we decided to take the bus tour. It was a hop-on hop-off tour that went to all the big sites around the city, but Christie and I rode one route for two hours, hopped off and got lunch, then hopped back on a different route and rode that for two hours. We sat on the upper, open level of the bus and it was very relaxing. We decided we would just ride the entire route and take note of the places we wanted to go back to in the next few days. It actually ended up being very good. It gave us a better idea of the city and what we wanted to find on our own. 

Sagrada Família, an absolutely beautiful church

Sagrada Família

On the tour, we happened to see this man in a park making bubbles. 

On our second day, we decided to go to Monjuïc, which we had gone to on the bus. We walked to the hill, and started on our way up, stopping to admire the views and take a look at other sites that interested us on the way. The Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics was there, and it was amazing to see. It's so cool to think that Olympic athletes had competed in that stadium and run on that track. 

Where the Olympic flame burned

Probably one of my favorite things I got to see

We continued up Montjuïc a little ways and decided to take the cable cars to the top. Initially, we debated whether or not we wanted to actually pay for the cable car, but in the end, we definitely made the right decision. The views were incredible.

Sculpture inspired by the Olympic torch

At the top we visited Montjuïc Castle.

On our way back down the hill, we went through some beautiful gardens and a park where we found lots of fun things including two huge slides, a zipline, a mini ropes course (unfortunately a large group of young kids were playing on it so didn't get a chance to), and interactive, musical sculptures. 

For the rest of our time in Barcelona we visited the market, ate lots of good food, and went to the beach. I also got a taste of good ol' Vermont. We found a Ben & Jerry's stand, where I splurged and bought classic chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream on a crepe with chocolate. It was probably one of the best things I've ever had. But I suppose I'm probably slightly biased being from Vermont. 

Market

Christopher Columbus Statue

Another wonderful thing about going to Barcelona was getting the chance to see one of my best friends, Julia. She is studying abroad there and on the last day I got to see her and catch up.