Mallory en España: Barcelona!

Each week here in Spain is better than the one before! This past week was “Carnaval,” which is a more intense version of Mardi Gras…instead of one day to indulge in all of your bad habits, it is an entire week of indulgence. Stores close, people dress up in costumes and there are daily parades. It’s crazy, but so much fun! Because Burgos is such a small city, Steph, Monica, Laura and I decided to go to Barcelona to participate in some of the bigger festivities. They were last minute plans, but it was definitely worth it!

Because it is an eight hour bus ride to Barcelona, we decided to take an overnight bus so that we could sleep the whole way there. Arriving in Barcelona was like heaven. Although I had already been there in high school, I had completely forgotten how beautiful the city is. The streets were clean, the architecture was breathtaking and it was WARM! Needless to say, I fell in love immediately. Because I have been to Barcelona before, I already knew what I wanted to see and show to Monica, Laura and Steph. I surprised myself by being able to navigate through the city without any difficulty and was even a little proud that I didn’t have much trouble with getting around.

We started out our touring by going to El Parque Güell, which is a park in Barcelona that was created by the great artist/architect, Antoni Gaudí. Words can’t describe the beauty of this, and not even photos can do this beautiful landmark justice. There are little trails all over the place, while all of the buildings and railings in the park are covered by mosaics. The main part of the park was filled with people—tourists, street venders and people playing music. We spent about two hours walking around the park and just taking in its beauty.

Afterwards, on our way back to the hostel, we stopped by a “Chinese store” (they’re everywhere and that’s exactly what they’re called) to look for costumes for Carnaval. We found a lot of different masks and weird accessories, but nothing seemed quite right. Finally, Laura came across some belly dancing skirts (she’s a belly dancer herself) and we realized that we had found the perfect costumes—belly dancers! That night we dressed up in our proper attire and were a hit at all of the Carnaval celebrations.

The next day we left our hostel and set out for a day at the beach. Although it wasn’t warm enough to lie out and get a tan, it was a beautiful day nonetheless. We ate lunch at a cute little beachfront café and then spent most of the day sitting on the beach and shooing off the beach venders. These people are ridiculous. They walk by with coconuts and tapestries, even bottles of lotion to offer massages (I don’t know how that would work), and when you decline, they will bring down the price. Down and down the prices go, where it stops I don’t know, because I was not about to get a full body massage while lying on the beach. The day was uneventful but very relaxing. It was so nice to get to spend some time on the beach, even though I would have rather spent the day in a swimsuit and not a sweater.

Monday was our last day in Barcelona, and we toured all day long. We started out by going to La Sagrada Familia, an absolutely breathtaking cathedral. Construction on the cathedral started in 1882, and it still is unfinished because I believe that it is being built with taxpayers’ money. Despite being unfinished, it is such an amazing building and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by its beauty.

As we walked around the perimeter of Sagrada Familia, I noticed that there was a very old, frail homeless woman sitting outside. One thing that was interesting about the day was that I had been carrying an orange all day long. It was more of a pain than anything because it didn’t fit in anyone’s purses, so whenever I wanted to take a picture, someone would have to hold it. While my friends told me over and over again to just throw out the orange, something told me not to waste it. As I walked past this poor woman, I realized that there was a reason as to why I couldn’t waste this perfectly good piece of fruit. I walked up to her and handed it to her, and when she realized what it was, tears came to her eyes and she started thanking me and blowing kisses to me. I walked away and when I turned around to look at her one last time she was blowing kisses up to the sky and praying. It made me feel good to have helped this lady with such a simple gesture.

After visiting Sagrada Familia, we had just enough time to go past La Pedrera, a building designed by Antoni Gaudí. I remember having visited it when I was there in high school, and I would have loved to go up to the roof because it almost looks like a Doctor Seuss drawing. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time (or the money) to see the best part of the building. I’m hoping that when my parents visit we’ll get to really experience it!

After finishing up our touring for the day, we made our way back to the hostel and picked up our things to head back to Burgos; however, I definitely wasn’t ready to leave. I know I will be back though, and I can’t wait to return.