Day 18: Barcelona

Today began with a metro ride to La Segrada Familia, a famous church by architect Gaudi. We arrived and found that the line was too long for us to wait in, so we took some pictures of the exterior and went on our way. After all, if we weren't going to wait to see St. Patricks in Dublin or Westminster Abbey in London, we sure didn't need to wait here. But we got some good pictures, and then found a little place for lunch-- yes, it was lunch time already since we didn't have to wake up until 10am today with little on the agenda besides RELAXING.

After lunch, we walked to the Arc de Triomf, which again was just a nice thing to see from the outside. The walked continued to the famous La Rambla, a street of vendors and cafes. There is also a market called La Bocqueria which sells fresh fruits, juices, baked goods and other delicious food items. Since we knew that the rest of the day would be spent on the beach, we bought some Loquats (Brandon's favorite Chinese fruit) and Cherries to enjoy in the hot sun. We finished walking La Rambla, which culminates with a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing towards the Americas (even though Brandon insists that he isn't really pointing in the right direction...).

After changing into our bathing suits, we got to the beach around 4pm. We lounged around for just over 2 hours, which left me quite sunburned-- but I did ask for it since I purposefully didn't apply sunscreen since I want to return home with a tan as evidence of vacation. But despite my eventual pain, the afternoon was incredibly beautiful. It was unreal to be swimming and laying on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, something we never thought we would be able to do.

Around 6, we went to dinner at an Irish Pub, even though we ordered Mexican food. It was pretty decent, but our ultimate quest for the evening was more sangria. So we walked back to the oldest street in Barcelona to get another liter of the stuff we had last night, but they were closed. We found that a lot of shops are closed on Sunday and Monday. Luckily, we knew of a place right on the beach that was selling a 1.5 liter pitcher for 9.99, so we walked back to that place, grabbing some gelato on the way. An evening of bliss has led us here, back to our empty hostel room, and our last night in Barcelona. Tomorrow, our last new destination and our only day in Madrid. We'll let you know how it goes!