Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain was the first stop on my spring break!  I really loved it there.  The climate was very tropical and there were palm trees everywhere. Barcelona is on the East coast of Spain.  My 5 years of taking Spanish in high school paid off.  I was able to speak with the locals and could understand what they were saying to me.  This was challenging, but also really fun and rewarding!

 

Spain is well known for tapas, which are appetizers.  This shows the chorizo (sausage) tapas that I had.  They were delicious!

This is one of the food stands at La Boqueria Market.  Shown above is a selection of fresh fruit juices at one of the stands.  I tried the raspberry!

The first night we went to a lights show at a big fountain.  The lights changed to the music that was playing.  It is called the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc.

 

This building is Sagrada Familia, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to be finally finished in the year 2041.  It is a Roman Catholic Basilica and I would say it is the most amazing building I have ever seen!

This is the inside of Sagrada Familia.  It had incredible ceilings and pillars, as well as stained glass windows.  It was such a nice day when I went, making the windows look really cool!

This is the famous dragon fountain of Park Güell, also by Gaudí.  (Ignore the woman, it was so busy there I couldn't get a picture without anyone in it.)  The park is known for its amazing stone structures and mosaic tiling.  I really enjoyed my time here and the view from the top was great.

Yet another building by Gaudí, Casa Batlló, was originally built as a home and now is used as an apartment complex.

Another of Gaudí's designs is La Pedrera, which is a residential building.  Gaudí is clearly responsible for the shaping of Barcelona.  He is known for his crazy, out of this world designs.

 

This was my view overlooking the city from the top of Montjuïc, which is a mountain in Barcelona.  I took a cable car to the top, where I also went to a castle at the very top.  The view was incredible and it even overlooked the ocean on to the right.

 

This is Torre Calatrava, a communications tower used for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  I also got to see the Olympic Stadium, which is right next to this, both on Montjuïc.