Barcelona - Day 2

Did I mention the whole Barcelona visit of our trip was much more relaxed?! I couldn't believe how great it felt not to constantly be rushed somewhere. There's just too much to see in Paris, and if you want to see it all, you should definitely plan a longer trip than five days, or plan on going back.

On Tuesday, we woke up with enough time to eat breakfast, which was a little different in Barcelona. I had something similar to a powdered sugar croissant, an apple, some chocolate chip-like bread, with fresh peach juice. It was pretty good, but definitely not as filling as Paris. Plus, the lady running the breakfast area had like assigned seating and wanted us to sit in certain places, sometimes separating the group. It was weird, but I didn't mind too much. Except here, she insisted we pick up our dishes when we were finished and hand them to her next to the dishwasher. In Paris, we just left our dishes at the table like any other restaurant.

Then, we went to the Castell de Montjuic, basically the Jewish Mountain Castle. We rode public transportation bus to the top. Today was the first time we actually used the above ground bus station, and it seemed very similar to the States. You had to scan your ticket (the same as the Metro) to ride. However, it was more crowded, simply because there was less room and 17 of us to find a spot to sit or stand. We passed the old Olympic Stadium on the way up, and then later decided to stop and see it on the way down.

Once we arrived at the top of the mountain we were able to see beautiful views of the gardens, the cargo ship harbor on the sea, and other artifacts, like cannons. We looked around outside while we waited for Dr. Philibert to buy our tickets to go inside. Once inside, there was a museum of old stones, some labeled as being from the first century. Sadly, I dropped my iPad in one of these rooms, which echoed ridiculously loud and cracked my screen protector (I'm hoping; I still haven't taken it off to see if it hurt the actual screen). The view from the top of the castle was beautiful. There was a Spanish elementary school field trip there also, so it was rather loud with all the kids running around, but nonetheless, a neat place.

After we were done looking around in the Castle, we got back on the bus and headed down the hill to see the Olympic Stadium. Once inside, there wasn't much to see because it was small compared to the stadiums we see today. It almost just looked like a big high school or college football stadium. It was still really cool though. We also looked around in the gift shop, and ate lunch at the little cafeteria place inside, which wasn't much except sub-like sandwiches and chips. Because the subs were cold and I couldn't really tell what kind of meat was on them, I didn't get anything. I just ate a granola bar and sat with the rest of the group.

When we were finished with lunch, we walked down the hill the rest to the way, towards the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which was a huge art museum. It was hard to appreciate and enjoy much of the art in here because I was pretty done with looking at art after all the museums in Paris, but nonetheless, I looked. We slit into smaller groups and were basically on our own for the rest of the evening, so Justin and I took about an hour or so to go through the Romanesque art area and the Modern art. There was also a Gothic art area, but we were both ready to leave and decided not to go through it. When we stepped outside, it was pouring down rain. We stood under the awning of the building for awhile with several other crowds of people waiting for it to subside, I had my raincoat on, so I wasn't too worried, but Justin didn't have anything. While we were waiting, we saw Dr. Stebbins waiting as well. We waited with him for a few more minutes, then we all decided it wasn't going to let up anytime soon, so we would just go out in it. It was kind of fun to walk in the rain, and on the way down the hill back to the hotel, we were able to stop and take a few pictures of the fountains running in front of the museum.

When I got back to my room, the other two girls weren't back yet, so I decided I'd do some typing on this blog that I still haven't finished. I wrote a few sentences and changed my mind. It was too quiet not to enjoy a little siesta, before dinner with the group at 6 p.m. The girls came back shortly after I laid down. Thankfully, I wasn't asleep yet. I had a pretty great nap and woke up a little before my alarm to freshen up for dinner.

The group met in the lobby for dinner and Dr. Philibert was talking with the hotel front desk staff about decently priced traditional Barcelona restaurants. He recommended one not far from the hotel and gave us a coupon for free drinks (which means free wine in Europe). The guy was right, it wasn't too far from the hotel and when we arrived, he seemed a little surprised that there were 15 of us. They made room, however, and it was a pretty cute looking place. Since the drinks were free, Dr. Philibert ordered both red and white wine for whoever wanted it. The menu wasn't as inexpensive as several of the group members had hoped, but that's because it was mainly fish and other seafood. I, again, ordered a Caesar Salad, trying to be on the safe side. Our food came out one by one, and the first of which was two of the group members' seafood platter that they were sharing. It was probably a little too fresh though considering there were a couple maggots on one of the clams. Yuck! That nearly ruined several of our appetites. Waitress service just isn't the same as in the states either because they don't work for tips. The two group members showed her the clam and she simply gave a sour face, took the clam, and never offered any sort of consolation.
When my salad arrived, there was a slimy fishy thing on top of it rolled up as decoration that people were trying to get me to try, but I refused. I found out a couple days later that it was a fresh anchovy. Eww... I took that off and then took a bite of my salad. The "Caesar" dressing tasted like sour mayonnaise. I was not impressed. I didn't eat anymore, either. On a positive note, the white wine was good, a little stronger than I expected though. And the people who ordered steaks were brought hot stones to finish cooking their steaks on their own to their individual preferences. That was really different.
The waiter took forever to bring us the bill because the restaurant was really busy by the time we were done, and as I've said previously, they don't expect you to leave right away.

When we left the hotel, it was still lightly raining. Several people went out for dessert since dinner wasn't too appetizing. I walked back to the hotel with Justin so he could get his rain jacket, then we headed back out. We didn't do much, just walked the local small streets in the rain. I thought it'd be more peaceful at night, like any other place, but the lights and the fun seems to just start with all those who call Barcelona home. Although there were less people out, it didn't seem any more quiet. Justin and I even saw two men with shopping carts full of things running down the street. That was a little nerve-wracking to me. It was also the first time I had seen shopping carts; I didn't know they existed in Barcelona.

After we grew tired of being outside in the wet streets, we came back to the hotel and headed for bed. It wasn't the best day.

Adios, friends.