I am continually trying to sit down and write about each city but then we start the next and the procrastination continues. The good news is that we continually have a lot of train time but yet I seem to do other things and put it off. It's ironic because I started this blog as a way of keeping a journal as well as letting my parents know what is happening on my trip. With my parents growing knowledge of social media and my feeling of procrastination, my journal is incomplete so I am trying to slowly pick up the pieces before I forget the little things!
Back to Barcelona...
This was my second trip to this wonderful city. This time I was able to appreciate it in a different way. Barcelona can be a lot to handle for more than a weekend. They eat dinner starting at 10pm and it seems that everyone flocks to various bars and clubs until the sun comes up. It's exaughsting. The only way to relate is that it reminds me of the craziness of Vegas while also maintaining its beach vibes which contributes to the uniqueness of the city.
When we arrived in Barcelona this time it was a little different. I had started getting sick in London and hit my peak sickness as we hit this leg of the journey. I was not going to be able to keep up this time.
Our arrival was swift and easy thanks to our Easy Jet flight. We set foot in Plaza Catalunya and proceeded down Las Ramblas with ALL of our stuff in tow. Those that have been to Barcelona can picture the scene around 5pm on probably the busiest tourist street in the city... Aka nightmare.
We stayed in Plaza Real at the Kabul Backpackers Hostel. I would HIGHLY recommend it due to their location and cost as well as the fun environment they create within the hostel. Free dinner every night, top floor bar lounge as well as clean rooms and fun people!
We ended up Yelping a tapas place and somehow struck gold. Sensai Tapas was walking distance from the hostel and cooked up some delicious gourmet bites! I am a HUGE tapas fan especially with a group because it allows you to try a variety of things while providing small bites for each person. I am all about sharing so I can get a vast knowledge of the entire menu. This place was so perfect for the first night and getting the Spanish dining experience. 
That night the U.S. Women's National Team won the World Cup vs Japan. The game started at 2am in Barcelona. I ended up finding a bar and convincing the owner to let us stay even as they closed the bar so we could watch. Well they just decided to stay open and around 3:30am after a U.S. Victory, we headed home. Those that watched the game know it was well worth watching so we are extremely happy this worked out.
The next day we all headed out to sightsee. Jess, Tara and I wanted to check out Camp Nou (home of legendary FC Barcelona) while Jaz was interested in the museums. Little did we know, some of the museums are closed on Mondays so while we hit Camp Nou, Jaz enjoyed local life at the park outside the museum.
Getting to Camp Nou was the struggle of the day. For some reason I confused it with a shopping mall. Sounds stupid... Yes I'm aware, it was stupid. When we finally realized that the mall wasn't the stadium (we gave the information lady a nice laugh) we made our way to the stadium. Wow. That's all I can say. FC Barcelona is one of the top fútbol programs in the world and they have the titles to back it up as well as the best player in the world, Messi (who also happens to be #10)!
We spent the morning touring around and kissing trophies and then I went to meet Jaz while the other two hit La Sagrada Familia.
Jaz and I did some sightseeing, mostly Gaudi places and then I hit a sick wall and needed a nap. We relaxed for the afternoon and then headed out in search of Paella. We were very lucky to have some amazing food recommendations for Barcelona (thanks Noveen!) we had dinner under the W at Pez Vela. Over a bottle of Cava, seafood paella and the sunset, Jaz and I really got to live a night in the lives of those that live here. On the way home we stopped into this trendy gelato place and not only did they have delicious gelato, they made my little dessert into a person!
The next morning we got up early and headed to Park Güell. I have already been here but it has changed a lot since I was there. No, none of the actual structures have changed but now they charge to go in all of the popular areas. This was a bummer because one of the coolest parts of being there last time was you could go, hang out, and walk around on your own time. This is no longer the case. You have a 30 min clock timing you in each section. I understand the park needs money to maintain itself but I didn't think this was a good solution. Since we were on a time schedule, we saw what we could and then we headed out for breakfast at Milk. If you are in Barcelona, GO HERE. 
I had an amazing Salmon Benedict and still think about it to this day. It was a perfect way to end our quick trip to Catalunya and off we went to the South of France!
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