Hello all, I’m back. Sorry to leave you hanging on the last days of our amazing trip. I got a little lazy and when we returned, reality hit hard. Moving is a VERY big task and takes lots of hard work with no getting to kick up your legs and finish a blog. After that, I hit the ground running back into school and preparing for the AP Exam which includes hours and hours of studying.
I am trying to write with every wee bit of time I can find because I want to finish sharing the amazing experiences of the trip! So sorry it’s been a couple weeks but better late than never!
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
First thing on the list for today was the Camp Nou (the home stadium of FC Barcelona) stadium tour. After experiencing a live match at the stadium it was going to be so cool to see the behind the scenes of the process. After standing in line for 30 minutes we learned some VERY upsetting and disappointing news. Becuase there was a game the next day, they were setting things up, so basically the tour was canceled 🙁 The only part that was open was the first floor of the museum and the panoramic view of the stadium. So many people were furious because they gave you no money back and did not tell you that when you bought the tickets. To say the least, we were all disappointed but decided to make the best of it!
By the end we were all amazed by what we had seen even in just what was open we couldn’t imagine the scale of AMAZINGNESS (yes that’s a word) the entire tour would be. I got to see all of Messi’s Golden Boots and Balon D’Ors and all the trophies of FCB. The museum had really cool interactive screens where it had different clips you could choose to watch, like Messi’s very first goal, and when he won a certain award. I also saw the jersey Messi wore and the ball he scored FCB’s 5,000th league goal with. Also, seeing a completely empty stadium is beautiful. It was pretty awesome but it gets better. After the museum, you walk through this tunnel that was all lit up blue and red with a really cool FCB logo on the wall. This led to the MEGA STORE of FCB. I kid you not this three-story store had everything FCB from jersey’s, to bathing suits, and diapers. The place was amazing!!!
After leaving Camp Nou we headed to El Corte Ingles in Plaza de Catalunya. El Corte Ingles is a huge department store and at the top of the nine-story building, there is a buffet with views of the entire city. The food was delicious, (our most expensive meal but still very yummy) and we enjoyed it by gazing over the bustling city of Barcelona. After filling our bellies, we started the trek to Park Guell.
Park Guell, which is also by Gaudi who I have mentioned before, is a place that took some convincing to go to. We heard it is out of the way and takes some work and time to get to, but I had this place as my desktop screensaver for over 4 months and there was no way I was missing it. After multiple Metro rides and a fifteen-minute hilly walk (there were escalators though which were lifesavers), we arrived. It happened to be one of the cloudier days in Barcelona but I wasn’t going to let that take away from getting the best pictures and experience. It turns out there was a lot more than just taking cool pictures by a really neat balcony looking over the Gaudi houses and the rest of the city. You can tour one of the houses Gaudi lived in and explore the rest of the park as well. There is a very famous mosaic lizard statue that is very pretty to look at. I am very glad we took the time to make a stop here and not because of the really tasty gelato we got afterward.
Next, we made our way to Plaza Espanya. When we emerged from the Metro there was a really busy round-a-bout with an amazing sculpture in the middle. To the left was the Font Màgica de Montjuïc and behind that the Palacio Nacional. The Magic Fountain was also on my list but they only do shows at certain times and mostly at night. We walked up to the National Palace which is just overall a really cool building and took cool pictures that made it look like we were holding the tip of the steeple.
We then went to Arenas de Barcelona which is a really cool place that used to be a bull fighting ring that was refurbished and added on to making a really nice mall. On the top floor, there is a neat observation deck where you can walk a full circle around the building and look over the street below.
There’s not a view in Barcelona that isn’t pretty spectacular!
