GerBeny: Barcelona, with a bit of Basel

I left Germany on a cold Wednesday. See?

Yeah, snow in late May

I figured it wouldn't be so chilly in Barcelona, which was fortunately the case. I found my way to the hostel after 11 hours of travelling, said hi to Karl, washed up, and we left the hostel in search of food and drink. After being dragged over to a rambunctious Belgian couple by the waiter (neat way of opening up a table, buddy), we talked for a while before hitting the sack in preparation for a massive Thursday.

Hostel Itaca, tucked away in an alleyway

First things first, we had to do the obligatory cathedral investigation. Inside was the same old stuff, but the courtyard had gorgeous gardens and big white birds.

Next off, we decided to be tourists. To the max. Cameras in hand and sunglasses on, we bought tickets for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Barcelona. As much as I've laughed at these before, it was an amazing and efficient way to see the city at your own pace. We spent 11 hours cruising the city, and saw nearly everything we wanted to see.

We were one with the tourists. Or two with the tourists?

Check out the gorgeous weather!!

Interesting Buoy

We hoped it would clear up later

Moar Fog

Capturing some macro action in the botanical gardens

The least comfortable tree I've ever lounged on

On the move

Searching for a lightweight daypack - this didn't make the cut

The first Gaudi building we saw

The line snaking around the building meant we didn't go in

Incredibly varied skyline

Things starting to get stupid

Plaça de Catalunya

Tree-lined beach avenue

The Phallus

We reached Gaudi's Sagrada Família mid-afternoon. Even while under construction, it was absolutely breathtaking. Undoubtedly the most amazing architecture I've ever seen - no photography comes close to doing it justice. I'll be back in 50 some-odd years when it's finally completed.

The centre spire in the middle will tower above the rest

Reasonably epic entranceway

Inside the nature-inspired cathedral. The dark holes in the ceiling will bring natural light in when it's completed

Every detail is organic and immeasurably beautiful

Looking up at the ceiling

Stained glass yet to be installed

Delicate in natural light

I need to see this after completion.

The facade at the back

After a few hours marvelling at the cathedral, we hopped back on a bus to the next two sights - a hospital and Park Guell

A building at Hospital Sant Pau

The hospital skyline

Arrival at Parc Guell

Mosaics everywhere

Parc Guell was designed by Gaudi to be a wealthy neighbourhood in the early 1900's, but was a resounding financial failure. It was turned into a park, which we had the pleasure of wandering.

Right before things got stupid

Exhaustion sets in

So much action

Unbelievable feats of athleticism

Surreal

A clearer day by now

Basking in the evening sun

Naturally, we had to go to the highest accessible point

Veering off the main path for no good reason

At the top

The benches were too cool not to sit on

Market square?

Timing is everything

Nice cars get attention here

Super awesome bike - it pivots at the seatpost as well

On the way back to the hostel

We caught the second-last bus home for 10:00, and set out in search for restaurants still serving food at 10:45 at night. There were surprisingly few for a city of such reputation, but we managed to find a place serving Tapas at a reasonable price and sat down for a delicious Spanish dinner.

After dinner, we went to two bars in a quickly-dying part of town. At 1:30, we met a trio of French Canadians who were looking for a more lively area. We asked a few locals and a few cab drivers, and after walking (at first in the wrong direction to a bar that we couldn't find) for well over an hour we ended up on the other side of the city near the Olympic Village.

Joelle just before jumping onto a boat with crew onboard. Didn't go down well

As we learned after, the clubs in this area are supposedly famous. However, 15 euros to go into some unknown club at 3:30 in the morning didn't appeal to any of us, so we walked the 15 steps to the beach instead. We bought beers from some illegal vendors and sat down by the water. We were joined by Indians, Brits, and a lively Kiwi as the night went on, and at 5:30 it was time to start the trek home.

We bought a snack on La Rambla as shops opened at 6:30, and reached the hostel at 7 a.m. Getting a cab didn't once cross our minds. Thinking about it now, it might have been a good idea.

Friday consisted of a lot of sleep, but we did get off our sorry asses and walked to the market. We grabbed ingredients for our afternoon breakfast:

The egg stand at the market

Somehow it doesn't have the same ring to it

Emu eggs vs chicken eggs

Eggs, toast, chorizo sausage, tomato and overripe mango

We eventually got our act together and went out for a free dinner with some 'mericans staying at the hostel. Oddly enough, the restaurant/bar didn't have any left when we got there. Weird. Instead, we bought some burning food and kalimotxo (red wine and coke) to kick off what we hoped would be a more Barcelona-y night.

Tabletop chef action

We found a few places with regrettably cheap drinks and fun atmospheres. We barhopped around, talking to tons of random people and trying to figure out where to go next. When nothing amazing transpired, we went home at a much more reasonable hour than the night before.

Saturday went just as planned - a hangover day where we trekked around the city for hours on end.

The castle overlooking Barcelona

Harbour views

Angle is everything

Looking is banned, but falling is permitted.

An orange

The coolest radio tower I've seen

Olympic stadium was closed. Damn Bruce Springsteen

No idea why I'm including this.

Caught a tiny bit of evening sun

Ciao Barcelona

Exhausted, we said goodbye that night - I had a 8:20 flight to catch on Sunday.

I didn't feel like making the long journey without seeing somewhere different on the way home, so I checked out the city I flew from, Basel: