SPRING BREAK IN BARCELONA

Although us Amsterdam study abroad students were not given a designated week-long Spring break during the semester, some friends and I were still able to take an extended vacation over Easter weekend: six days in one of the most beautiful and amazing cities I have seen thus far: Barcelona, Spain. This trip was one of the first ones I booked earlier this semester, because two of my friends would be celebrating their 21st birthdays that weekend. The two birthday kids, Darren and Kelly, were the first two of the four (others were Alex and myself) to book this trip. As soon as we found out that one of our classes that meets on Thursday was to be cancelled for that week (and none of us have class on Fridays), we immediately jumped on the idea to make plans and go to Barcelona on Wednesday night, April 8.

This was one of the best choices we’ve made, for it meant that we would be spending a full five days and six nights in this spectacular city. By the time April came, Corey and Andrew had booked their flights also, so on the 8th of April the six of us headed to Centraal Station, then to Schiphol Airport, and finally, to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona around 11:30 pm and by the time we made our way to the main drag, La Rambala, it was late. After checked into the hostel, Kabul, and dropped our bags off, we went out to explore a bit of the area. However, at an already late hour the only occupants on the street were the creepy street vendors trying to pawn off individual beer cans for one euro, so we decided to keep the exploring for the next day.

Thursday was the most ideal first day in any foreign city a group of young touristy adults could have asked for. The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze, and after a quick breakfast at the hostel the six of us made our way down La Rambala and to the boardwalk. We took many pictures of views and statues, and eventually made our way on to the beach. Regardless of the warmth of the water, we all scrambled to the edge of the water to stick our toes into our first taste of the Mediterranean. We then all continued along the beach, walking and enjoying the sun, until we decided it was time to settle into a beachfront restaurant for lunch. I am thankful for the fact that six of the most indecisive people in the world were put together, otherwise we would have picked the first place we saw instead of having the “uh, yeah this looks okay, oh look at this place…” conversations. Because of this, we kept walking a few restaurants down, and when we all glanced to the left we knew that we had found our spot: Beach-front-lounge-on-the-cushioned-bed-like-seating-area. This place was immediately dubbed “Heaven.” After spending a few hours in the blistering sun sipping refreshing refreshments and eating delicious chicken wraps, my chest and all of our noses were thoroughly burnt, so we decided to “make moves” and get on with our day. After realizing that I brought no warm weather clothes: shorts, dresses, bathing suits, nothing, I deemed it necessary to check out a few stores to try to find something decently priced and cute to wear out in the sunny days and warm nights. Because everyone but Corey was more prepared than I, we ventured to a mall shopping area, where he was able to pick up a few things that he needed and I was able to find two dresses that would hold me over for the next five days. After a successful shopping spree (which he was a surprisingly-good sport about), we eventually made our way back to the hostel. Because Alex, Darren, Kelly, and Andrew were no where to be found, Corey and I ventured off for dinner and found a nice pizza & pasta place toward the beach (a much longer walk then we initially intended, but vowed not to eat at the restaurants that advertised their menus on the outside walls with disgusting looking pictures).

Once we returned to the hostel and met back up with the rest of the group, we discovered something that would remain a beautiful, beautiful factor to our trip: the organized club adventures Kabul offered. There was a sign up sheet at the bar in the lobby, and in the late evening the list of people would be taken to one of the popular Barcelona clubs, free of entrance charge, for the night. Thursday night was at the venue, Catwalk, which we made our way to with a large group of hostel-stayers and had an amazing night out.

Friday morning was a bit more unsuccessful than the first morning. We decided to venture out to have breakfast on the town. A restaurant two doors down was recommended to us by the reception desk. Worst choice we’ve ever made: the breakfast was unappetizing and I disbelieved our luck, or lack there of. However, that did not stop us from having a magnificent day. We started walking and ended up at La Sagrada Familia, a massive, privately funded Roman Catholic Church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is expected to continue until at least 2026. This church is considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years (thanks Wikipedia!!!). This was a great structure to see, but unfortunately the line was too long, and the rain picked up as we were finishing up getting pictures. However, we did walk around it and it is truly a spectacular church. We found a restaurant to dine in for lunch nearby, and let the rain settle down as we enjoyed our meals and Fanta Orange drinks. After lunch, we continued walking and on the way back ran into Spain’s Arc de Triomf (Triumphal Arch), which was interesting because I have only seen the one in Paris. It was built for the 1888 Universal exhibition, as its main access gate by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. The arch is located between Passeig de Lluís Companys and Passeig de Sant Joan, at the end of a wide promenade connecting with the Park of the Ciutadella. We then walked through this park, and eventually made it back to the hostel for naptime before it was time to get up and get ready for dinner and for the night. We celebrated Darren’s birthday over tonight’s dinner since tomorrow we all would not be together for dinnertime. We went to a nice Tapas place, and had a fun time. The club hosting the Kabul visitors was Roxy tonight.

After sleeping in a bit, the birthday boy and group hit the road and headed back to Heaven, to relax and have a good birthday breakfast/lunch with refreshments and chicken wraps. This afternoon was great, and we got a bit more sun while lounging on some cushions on the beach. After hanging out at Heaven, we headed back on the beach and stopped to play in a jungle gym type structure on the sand for a few while enjoying the beach and the sunlight. Then, continuing on our way back, we stopped and listened to some live music being played on the boardwalk. There was a massive group of people on the stairs surrounding the group listening. It was really pleasant to sit there in the sun and listen to the music, while drinking the ever-refreshing Fanta Orange drink. We then all headed back to the hostel and Corey and I ventured off to go to the Barcelona Soccer Game. It was so fun! Barcelona won, of course- apparently they are one of the best teams in the world. After the game, the group ventured out to the club, Discotec, for Darren’s late night birthday celebration/Kelly’s birthday. We also discovered this fun bar called Chipitos we went to this night and the night before.

Easter Sunday was an interesting day, as it was Kelly’s birthday. As indecisive as she is, she did not seem to have much input on where to go, and she was being a bit dramatic about everything so it was a difficult morning to please her. We finally found somewhere to eat that did not have very good food, but it was okay because we realize the positive relationship between a bad breakfast and a great day as Friday taught us. After that, her and Andrew went their own way, and Corey, Alex, Darren and I went to explore Barcelona. We made our way to this Castle like place on a hill with excellent views and explored around and saw some sights before heading back and having a early dinner at “Ideal Restaurant”- which at the time was very ideal! Then we went back to the hostel to rest, got ready, and went to the Chipitos bar I mentioned earlier. Then, we went to Roxy again, as the hostel organized the club venue again. This night was really fun, too.

Monday morning I rallied the troops to stop sleeping and wake up for our Beautiful last day. Darren, Kelly and Andrew decided to do a bus tour, while Alex, Corey and I decided to go to Park Guell by the same architect Antoni Gaudí. The park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. There is a Gaudi dragon fountain that is at the entrance to Guell Park. This dragon is adorned in beautiful colored tiling and there is something rather hypnotic and magical about it. This park was really amazing, and after walking through it for a while, the three of us made it out and found a nice balcony terrace to have lunch on. Although the food was not good, the company, conversation, and sunlight was amazing as we spent probably two to three hours there. After this, we took the metro back and took the Gandola, where I saw the most amazing views of Barcelona, on a sunny and amazing day- we also took some amazing pictures. This day was amazing. Each day and moment I kept thinking nothing could get better, but it always did. After the Gondola ride, the three of us returned to Heaven for the last time and spent a few hours relaxing and having dinner. It was amazing. We ended the night and the trip to Barcelona at club Apollo. It is questionable how good of a choice this was, because we ended up going straight from the club to the hostel to get our things to the airport for our 6:05 am flight. We were exhausted and had to wait on the runway for an hour before takeoff because of fog in Amsterdam, but eventually we made it back two hours late and then home to our dorms for a nice nap before class.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take this trip; it was literally six of the best days of my life. Barcelona is a beautiful city, and I hope you all have a chance to go there someday to visit and witness such a heavenly restaurant, or at least have the chance to live vicariously through my pictures!

I love and miss you all!!!