Barcelona!

Hello!

Just leaving a quick post about where I am right now. 

We, my roommate and I arrived here on Thursday night and the first thing we saw as we were coming to the apartment we're staying at was the Arc de Triomf. It's pink! It's really cool, and once I get to Madrid, I'll edit this post and put the pictures of all the amazing places we have been to here in Barcelona.

After that, I made a new friend. He is a good friend of my roommate and it was really cool of him to let us stay in his apartment. He's been studying abroad too but here in Barcelona, so he really knows his way around the city. He took us to this amazing gothic catedral, La Catedral de Barcelona, right next to the gothic quarter, and it was amazing to see. You'll see it too when I post the pictures. 

Up next was the Barceloneta, and the beach. Words cannot describe how beautiful that day was, and it was only yesterday! Even though it was a little bit cloudy and all, we still went into the sand, and my roommate even when into the water. I'll show you a picture of all of this next week.

To end a perfect Friday on Barcelona, we went to the park that Antoni Gaudi design called Parc de Guell. That park has the most breath-taking views of Barcelona, and it was really impressive to hike on it for a little while. After that, we went to the Bunkers, and we did more hiking! I do not really like walking but I have to say that it was worth every step, because once we got to the top of the Bunkers and the view of Barcelona was at our feet, everything became non-important. 

For today, we had in store La Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. It was so different from what I expected that I almost fell back as I was trying to take all of the structure in one glance. We spent close to three hours going inside and outside of it over and over again, and the breath-taking aspect of the facade never disappointed us. It was so bizarre to contrast the outside with the inside. The outside facade looks like a gothic catedral from the 12th century, but the inside is the epitome of architectural technology. I loved it, and even though it is not finished yet, I think it is a master work in architectural design. My roommate and I want to come back on 2026, which is the date the Basilica is supposed to be done. It'll be an interesting trip, and I cannot wait to see what more they can do to an already magnificent building. 

To end the day, I suggested a Mexican restaurant that was really close to the Basilica. It is called La Cantina Mexicana, and I think they have the best tacos in Barcelona. My new friend says there's not really good Mexican food around Barcelona, but I disagree with him because almost everything tasted the same as back home in Mexico. In any case, to lose a few calories from the food we had just eaten, we went walking to the beach again. We were there for a while until it got really cloudy and we had to come back fearing rain would pour on us. Thankfully it didn't :)

For tomorrow, I think we might go into some museums since it's gonna be raining all day, but I'll keep you posted on the edit along with the pictures.

P.S.: Thanks to my roommate for letting me use her laptop to write this.

--Paulina Ochoa - F.