inally, a vacation! It’s been a while. Traveling was something that my family did a lot of growing up. We haven’t done much traveling in the U.S., but we traveled all over Europe and Asia. I stopped traveling when I went to college because of the lack of time, and only went on “staycations” when I started working.

So I was definitely ready for another vacation, and Spain was at the top of my list. (actually South America was, but I was worried about pig flu coming back this season). We spent about a week in Spain; half the time in Barcelona, and half the time in Madrid. I loved both – Barcelona for it’s modern architecture and beaches, and Madrid for the old world charm. Their transportation system is one of the best, and the people are friendly there. It was fun to live like a Spaniard for a week, especially since our body clocks are more in tune with theirs than with Americans – it’s nice being able to go out at night and still see things open past 8pm.

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See: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Arriving in Barcelona

The plane ride was SO long. It took about 6 hours to fly from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and 9 more hours to fly from there to Barcelona. We bought tickets kind of late so our seats were in the back of the plane, next to the toilet…yay. With all the people fidgeting in the bathroom line, it was impossible to get any sleep.

The sky was clear that day so it was nice to do some cloud-watching. We reached Barcelona in the morning. It was apparent when we set foot into the terminal that this indeed, was a city that values design. The airport was brand new, and stunningly beautiful.

Then came the confusion. In order to get to the place we were staying, we had to take a bus from our terminal to another one, and take the train into the metro system in the city. How the train system and metro system connected was puzzling – turns out they are run by different companies, but share the same underground stations. So there wasn’t any transferring or walking from one transportation system to the other, like I expected. Anyway…

The metro system there is impressive. It’s clean, new, and the signage is so easy to understand. The metro comes every 3 minutes or so, and it takes you anywhere you want to go. It was 1.30€ per ticket, but costs less when you buy the 10 ride. I think it’s the most convenient and cheap way to get around the city.

Instead of renting a room at a hotel or hostel, we decided to rent an apartment from Craigslist. (note: if you do this, be sure to check out the place on Google Street View first – many are in bad areas).

Our apartment was near the Passeig de Gracia, one of the main boulevards in the l’Eixample district of Barcelona, which is lined with fine dining and high-end boutiques. The area is newer than other parts of Barcelona which felt a little safer at night. (Yes, I’m a scaredy cat).

The view from the living room window.

Our first meal there was at a cafe on a corner that served international food. Mike got a ham and cheese panini, and I got something called a “vegetarian tapioca” which, according to the description, was nothing close to a pudding. Turns out, it was also a panini. Little did I know, that would be one of my last times seeing any vegetarian item on the menu.

Armed with my Barcelona pocket guidebook, we were off. (By the way – I used these guidebooks the entire time in Spain. They are designed and written extremely well. I would recommend getting books from Frommer’s Day by Day series when traveling.)

Parc Güell

We were pretty tired from the plane ride, but had enough just enough energy to do a few things, since we had the rest of the day ahead of us. The first place we went to was Parc Güell, one of Gaudi’s masterpieces. It was a steep climb up to the top of the hill where the park is located, but it was well worth it.

This is the front of the park. It was the middle of a weekday and it’s swarming with tourists (almost all the tourists we’ve seen on this trip were Spanish). We heard later that they may close the park off to the public to reduce wear and tear on the property. I’m glad we were able to see it before that happened. It was really cool!

There’s two houses in the front, this is one of them. I love how none of his work has any straight lines.

A fountain.

There were a few different “caves” in the park. This was the largest and most decorated one. It had huge, beautiful mosaics on the ceiling.

This place had massive columns. It makes you feel extra tiny.

The columns on the outer edge slant inward, maybe to create an illusion?

This is another one of Gaudi’s “caves”. The organic structure and use of natural stone makes it feel like it hasn’t been touched by man. It was very surreal.

A lot of kids were on a field trip. I wish my school field trips were this cool.

I keep looking at these photos and thinking that I wasn’t taking photos straight. It’s Gaudi’s fault.

Me, basking in the sun…the weather was very similar to the weather back home.

At the top of one of the “caves” is a large, flat area for a marketplace. Along the edges were benches with mosaic designs.

This is the back of the mosaic benches (above).

Us at the very top of the marketplace area, overlooking all of Barcelona. It’s not a huge city – or tall one, either, but it’s a very nice city to live in! Kind of like Los Angeles, in the big-city-on-the-oceanfront kind of way, but in a much older way.

At the very top of the park is a large Spanish house. I’m not sure who lives/lived there.

Wandering Around Town

Barcelona was strangely quiet compared to San Francisco. The engines in their cars are quieter, people don’t talk on cell phones, there are shorter buildings, and no one honks! Maybe Spaniards are too relaxed to even have road rage? I also noticed that people talk quieter than we do here.

The woman on the left was feeding the pigeons until this man walked up and took over what she was doing. It was fun to watch.

Spain has the biggest meringues I’ve ever seen! I kept seeing 1) giant meringues and 2) giant donuts at a lot of these bakeries. I’m not sure why. Isn’t that an American thing?

Never mind any of the attractions, Mike was more distracted by the cute cars and scooters we kept seeing. Smart cars are new in the U.S., but they’ve been around in Europe for much longer. The cars there are less flashy or “individual” than ours, but they’re more practical for everyday use. We saw a lot of mini cargo vans and hatchback cars.

I don’t think many people drive there – not with such a great metro system. Maybe all the walking burns off the calories from their artery-clogging food. (I kid you not. More on this later.)

We had sandwiches at a nearby cafe. There are cafes just about everywhere you go, serving almost exactly the same thing. It was weird! Unless you pay more for going out to eat, most of the places stick to the same boring stuff. Not saying it’s not good. It’s just all the same. It seemed like most eateries stuck to traditional cuisine, rather than innovate on the norm.

Hospital de Sant Pau

We took a very brief trip to the Hospital de Sant Pau. Very brief as in, it started to rain when we arrived. Luckily, the only times it rained on our trip were when we got there, and on the day that we left. The rain also made a great excuse to go back to the apartment and put our jet-lagged butts to sleep.

This is the front of the main cathedral. It faces Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, just a few blocks away.

This is the first time I’ve seen PINK inside of a church.

The other (hospital?) buildings on campus. I really like the style of architecture in Barcelona. It’s much more modern than other European buildings (these were built in the early 1900s), but still has hints of that old-world grandeur. This place wasn’t designed by Gaudi, but it’s clear that his influence is everywhere.

This statue was at the front of the campus. It caught my eye because it was a statue of a compassionate nurse, not of some old guy who had lots of money to fund the project. Ha.

Many of the historical buildings in Barcelona are undergoing restoration. This is the construction sign that is on the front building of the Hospital de Sant Pau. Isn’t it cool? (For those of you who don’t know, I have a background in graphic design and this sort of thing excites me)

Tapaç24

Our apartment was a block away from this place called Tapaç24, an underground (literally) tapas bar well-known for its innovative dishes and fresh produce. (One of the few places in Spain with fresh food, really). Dinner in Spain usually starts around 9-10pm, but we came really late, and ended up having to wait in line. Fortunately, the house beer they served, called Moritz, was refreshing, and the time standing in line was a good opportunity to scope out what the other locals were eating.

I think out of all the places we ate at in Madrid/Barcelona, I would recommend this one! It was a real treat.

Eating tapas style makes complete sense in Spain. Their foods are flavorful and rich, and you feel full just from eating a little bit. Left: We had potato croquettes with a hollandaise-type sauce and spicy pepper sauce on top. Right: The place was small, and packed on a weeknight.

Left: The entire counter across the tapas bar was covered in fresh vegetables and eggs – and not for decoration either. The open kitchen was fun to watch. Right: These were so addictive! They’re called Pimientos de Padrón (“Padrón Peppers”), and they’re traditionally served fried in olive oil, and sprinkled with fleur de sel. Almost all are sweet; 1 in 10 are crazy spicy. Mike unfortunately had one of those. After having them here on our first night, we were frantically looking for them again during the rest of our trip.

Left: Our napkins and dinnerware were packaged in envelopes with a menu printed on it. Right: We ordered Patatas Bravas, a traditional dish in Madrid, although I think this version was a bit different. The fries in Spain are all served with the same hollendaise-ish sauce drizzed on top, never on the side.

This was the most delicious thing ever. It was crispy toast topped with a tomato-eggplant spread, ramps (I think), small but flavorful strips of smoked sardines, and coarse salt sprinkled on top. Amazing. Really.

Left: The menu was written completely in Catalan. Couldn’t understand a thing. Right: Super rich, decadent chocolate, that had a texture between pudding and mousse. Drizzled in olive oil and served with crostini and sprinkled with mild, coarse salt. Lots of real cocoa flavor, and not too sweet or milky. Muy bueno.

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See: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3