Home » Spain » Clot or Bust - My Weekend in Barcelona

Hola todos!<br /><br />This past week and weekend was full of family visits for me. My sister Christine came through Valencia on Tuesday with her high school Spanish group. They only got to spend half a day here so I met her at her hotel Tuesday night, took her around the city for a little while then was invited to eat dinner in the hotel with her school and then we went on the "Walking Tour" with "Alberto the guide." The highlight of the walking tour for me was when Mrs. Cleveland (my old Spanish teacher) had me come before the group to "meet Alberto" and exchange besos - for those of you who haven't been to Spain, when you meet someone you kiss them on each cheek (dar besos), but not a real kiss, more like an air kiss . . . so I say "hola que tal" to Alberto and he goes for the besos and I realize I'm not getting an air kiss AND I still have another cheek left for him to kiss . . Chrisine and friends found this very entertaining. After their tour they did a bonding activity on the floor of the Plaza de la Virgen which lent itself well to some entertaining pictures. As they wanted to see the "Tuesday night Valencia nightlift" or rather none existant Tuesday nightlife, I took them on a tour of the Barrio del Carmen - all 30 or so of us. I'm sure the Valencians had no idea what to think of us all. I do have to say, I never thought I'd be walking around a city in Spain with my sister and old volleyball coach, Coach Sheedy, who came along as a chaperone.

Clot or Bust - My Weekend in Barcelona

Lisa Damico
2006-02-27 18:03:56

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the metro back to the Land of Clot, whatever the price it was worth it to go in taxi. A short ride later, we arrived in Clot and said our goodbyes.

The next morning we walked around the city and the shopping district as well as past the two Gaudi houses before we took our tour of the Sagrada Familia. The influence of the architect Gaudi is all over the city which gives Barcelona an interesting, distinct look compared to the other cities of Spain I've visited farther south. The Sagrada Familia or "Sand Castle" as we began to refer to it, is a very impressive unfinished work designed by Gaudi which combines "his religious and nationalistic views." Despite the piles of materials and construction machinery you can still walk through the interior and climb to the top of one of the towers (and then make the scary walk down the narrow spiral staircase.) To complete the day of Gaudi we then went to the Parc Guell, covered in mosaics and filled with tons of people as we were lucky enough to have sunny, warm weather.

Joe, Pam & Joey headed back to the hotel for some sports and sunbathing and Lindsay, Lauren and I headed for the shops and gelato (I figured you're only in Barcelona once and even though I'm supposed to be cutting weight for my tournament, I could make a exception or two or three. . . so many good flavors :)) Came back a couple hours later, watched the latest on the Pope's condition then went to celebrate the family's last night in Barcelona. The hotel
recommended a restaurant nearby called "La Biblioteca" which had a very nice "ambiance" to it. The kitchen was not separated from the dining area so you could see the chefs making your food and there were paper lanterns all over the place and floating candles. For my starter I had the "Mushroom and Gorgonzola Quiche" and for the entree the " Marinated Tuna with Ginger and Fresh Vegetables" and some local Barcelona "vino tinto." Everything was delicious. . . I could definitely get used to eating like that :)

As I think a good tiime was had by all, certainly me, we returned to the hotel and said our goodbyes. The next morning everyone but me and Lauren piled into the minibus headed for the airport for their early flight and Lauren and I went back to bed. Woke a while later, ate a delicious complimentary breakfast downstairs then walked down Las Ramblas past tons of street performers, flower stands and through the outdoor market on our way to the Picasso museum in the Barrio Gotico. We then checked out the Chocolate museum, but decided to pass and grab some lunch. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed - I'm not gonna lie, we took a siesta after lunch. After scouring the guide books for a good dinner place we headed back out into the city, checked out some jewelry stands, bought postcards then ate at a restaurant called "Citrus Restaurantus" followed by of course gelato for dessert.

Said goodbye to Lauren after a very fun weekend and caught the bus back to Valencia.

Overall Barcelona was a very interesting city, much more European than the other cities and reminded me a lot of New York - so much to see, you could be there for months and still not see and do it all.

School is gearing up for final exams and the end of the program, hard to believe I only have 3 more weeks left - the time has really flown here. As sad as I am going to be to leave Valencia, I'm really excited for my trip to Italy for two weeks and my trip to Milan to meet the Italian relatives.

Next blog should be the one from my Easter vacation in the country that I still have to write and after next weekend (assuming all goes well) you'll get the "Spanish Grappling Championship" edition after I return from hopefully becoming Spanish Grappling Champion in Madrid :)

Besos (air ones though, not sloppy lip ones), take care and keep the emails coming!

Lisa