Can you see Jeff?
Before I get in to Jeff’s and my side quest adventure to Barcelona, I’d like to go over the last official day of the Westminster trip. In someways, the farewell dinner in Santiago actually felt like the official close to the trip. Once we got to back to Madrid, participation in group activities became a lot more optional for students, which seemed like an ideal wind down after a very intense month of togetherness :).
Day 26 / June 8 - Final Day in Madrid
Happy birthday, Zennon!!
Zennon, Amy, and Alivia in Barcelona in front of La Casa Battló.
Photo credit: Amy
Jeff, Deya, and I offered students the option to join us at El Prado in the morning. El Prado is arguably the second best art museum in Europe… Maybe the world? It was my first proper European art museum. Looking at art that was hundreds of years old was—of course—incredibly moving. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m not much of an art historian and know very little about various artistic movements. Much of the art in El Prado is based on early Christianity, and while the religious pieces didn’t especially speak to me, many of the works associated with Greek mythology, particularly The Metamorphosis, really brought out a lot of curiosity and emotion within me. I didn’t know much about Rubens or Goya (my sister is probably tsk tsking me right now) but I definitely was fascinated by many of their pieces. We spent several hours there easily, and someone could really spend a full day in El Prado if they were taking their time and reading every plaque associated with each work. Folks back in the day painted some next level carnage...
Saturno devorando a su hijo
Goya 1820-1823
Source: Wikipedia
Not saying I'd hang this on my wall, but it certainly solicited an emotional response from me
Diana and her Nymphs hunting
Rubens 1636 - 1637
Source: Wikipedia
Wall to wall people at El Mercado
I wish I would have taken better photos...
Phone eats first. Different spreads on pan
Empanadas
Daily cheese board is the primary reason I did not lose weight while walking 12-20 miles a day lolololol
We went back to the hotel for a little while so folks could nap before visiting La Reina Sofia museum. This museum was also free, and while I’m grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to visit it, I will say that the art didn’t speak to me nearly as much as the art in El Prado. I’ve learned that I’m not much one for Cubism or Vanguard art. I felt like a lot of the art was dark and brutal and colorless. Still sparked curiosity, but not the same type of wonder as the works in el Prado. Getting to see La Guernica in person was neat. It’s huge.
Photos were allowed in Reina Sofia but I felt weird about it so this was the only one I took.
I'm fascinated by propaganda art. And this was like...the most color in the entire museum.
I'm fascinated by propaganda art. And this was like...the most color in the entire museum.
Guernica
Picasso 1937
Source: Wikipedia
If you don't know the story of the piece, check it out here from La Reina Sofia website
Jeff, Deya, and I ventured out after the museum for some dinner. After some mold debate and a little walking, we ended up at this cool little restaurant whose name I can’t remember for the life of me—Jeff, help me out! Service was great. Atmosphere was great. Food was great. Would strongly recommend if you find yourself in Madrid. After dinner, we met up with the Salazar family for a nightcap, some goodbyes, and called it a night.
Delicious delicious tuna
The next morning, Jeff and I went to the train station to board a high-speed train to Barcelona. I had never had any high speed train experience prior to this trip, and I have discovered that I absolutely love trains. Might be the most superior form of public transportation.
We arrived in Barcelona around 1130, bought some tickets for the public metro system, and made our way to El Poble Sec, where our hotel was located. Our hotel is great! It’s located near the magic fountain, which is turned off due to a major drought, which is a huge disappointment, but I do like that we’re staying a little further off the beaten path where it doesn’t feel so overrun by tourists. I didn’t take any pictures, but much of the hotel art in the lobby is held up by clothespins, so it felt like life was sending us a sign that we needed to stay there.
We arrived in Barcelona around 1130, bought some tickets for the public metro system, and made our way to El Poble Sec, where our hotel was located. Our hotel is great! It’s located near the magic fountain, which is turned off due to a major drought, which is a huge disappointment, but I do like that we’re staying a little further off the beaten path where it doesn’t feel so overrun by tourists. I didn’t take any pictures, but much of the hotel art in the lobby is held up by clothespins, so it felt like life was sending us a sign that we needed to stay there.
A note on tourists in Barcelona: I fully recognize that I am one. That said, I have now been in Barcelona for about 24 hours, and to be honest, I’m a little underwhelmed. We haven’t gotten to see La Sagrada Familia or any of the Gaudi architecture, so I will withhold judgment, but right now, it just feels like a large city with a ton of people.
The first day was mostly getting our bearings and doing a lot of walking. Any time we net over 11 miles walking, we call it a "Camino." We got a camino. We talked to the beach, we walked around the port, we walked around some different neighborhoods, and most importantly, we walked up to a tent selling handmade party shirts out of recycled fabric and chatted with the designer who was super nice and we both ended up accidentally buying party shirts. Oops.
This photo does NOT do the shirt justice. It's so much more amazing.
The shirt just screams "I'm a professional. And I know how to party."
Barcelona does do gelato and ice cream pretty well
tacos de pollo at Taps Bacelona. This place was cool.
Churros y chocolate. Surprisingly only the second time I had churros the entire trip.
Also, the chocolate to churro ratio is always off, in my amateur opinion
La Playa de Barceloneta
Love a good old wooden sailing ship. This was at the pier.
Another daily cheese board and patatas bravas, which Barcelona is known for
Barcelona Day 2 (June 10)
Barcelona has redeemed itself a little. I still don’t think it’s my jam compared to places like Pamplona or Leon, but days 2 and 3 were better. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I started writing while we were beachfront on La Playa de Barceloneta. Jeff actually got fully in the water. I got my legs in but know myself enough to know that I’d be *bummed* if I was cold and wet the rest of the day, so I stayed within my limits.
Jeff and I decided to fully learn into our tourist identities and took a sky bucket / gondola from Barceloneta to Miramar. It was probably like a 5 minute ride, but it was totally worth it! What a cool way to get a full scope of how large and varied Barcelona is. There were only 2 standing spaces with open air windows in the little sardine can of a gondola, so naturally Jeff and I beelined it for those spots :)
Jeff and I decided to fully learn into our tourist identities and took a sky bucket / gondola from Barceloneta to Miramar. It was probably like a 5 minute ride, but it was totally worth it! What a cool way to get a full scope of how large and varied Barcelona is. There were only 2 standing spaces with open air windows in the little sardine can of a gondola, so naturally Jeff and I beelined it for those spots :)
Leaning into being tourists
It was a pretty killer view
Jeff and I had primo spots
View of the pier
Looking north
After the sky bucket ride, we split some patatas braves at the Miramar overlook cafe—we paid tourist prices but felt like the view and ambiance were worth it. We walked back toward the beach and pier after our snack, and since we had a ton of time and our restaurant-of-choice wasn’t open until 6, we figured we’d hoof it over to La Basilica de la Segrada Familia. En route, we ended up in a super cool neighborhood that reminded me more of the parts of Pamplona and Leon that I really liked, so naturally neither of us dropped a pin and despite efforts, we were never able to find that neighborhood again.
A terrible shot of the really cool neighborhood that Jeff and I walked through that we could never find again...
Another side note: Jeff and I are tourists. And we are TERRIBLE tourists. Apparently if you want to actually tour the Basilica, you should book your tour WEEKS in advance. We missed the general admission tickets by weeks, but then we hedged on whether to do one of the mildly-overpriced guided tours and missed those too! Total bummer. The exterior of the basilica is incredible, but I do feel like my personal sense of wonder and amazement was tempered by my lack of context.
Sagrada Família, Roman Catholic minor basilica in Barcelona, Spain, designed by Antoni Gaudí. Begun in 1882 and still unfinished in the first quarter of the 21st century, the Sagrada Família, notable for its tactile organic form, is one of Barcelona’s most famous landmarks. It is an unexpected sight in its urban setting, with its bold flying buttresses and twisted towers looming over the city.
The project, originally envisioned by Francisco de Paula del Villar, was funded by donations to encourage Christianity in Barcelona, which was becoming increasingly secular. In 1883 Gaudí took over as chief architect, and the project would occupy him throughout the rest of his career. In his drawings and models for the church, Gaudí equilibrated the original Neo-Gothic design into a structure designed to stand on its own without internal bracing or external buttressing. The result, modified beyond recognition, was a complexly symbolic forest of helicoidal piers, hyperboloid vaults and sidewalls, and a hyperbolic paraboloid roof. It was to be Gaudí’s Expressionist vision of a 20th-century cathedral, where he would use visual symbolism to express the many mysteries of the Christian faith. He became increasingly pious while working on the church; after 1910 he abandoned virtually all other work, and he eventually secluded himself on its site and resided in its workshop.
When Gaudí died in 1926, only the Nativity facade, one bell tower, the apse, and the crypt were finished; his disciple Domènec Sugranyes subsequently took over the project. Gaudí, whose tomb is beneath the cathedral, knew he would not live to see the completion of his vision, believing it would take 200 years—but, as he said, “The patron of this project is not in a hurry.” The works of Gaudí, including the Nativity facade and the crypt of the Sagrada Família, were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984. In 2010 the uncompleted church was consecrated for religious worship and designated as a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
Work on the project has continued since Gaudí’s death. The remaining three bell towers of the Nativity facade were completed in 1930. The Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s interrupted construction, and the subsequent loss of most of Gaudí’s designs and models greatly hampered efforts to continue. The present design, parts of which have been met with criticism, is based on surviving and reconstructed materials and a number of modern adaptations.
La Sagrada Familia -- get your tickets early, kids!
Lots of details
In a constant state of construction
After La Basilica, we walked back toward the beach on our way to La Plata, an especially well known tapas bar whose speciality is fried anchovies. The place is itty bitty tiny. It opened at 6. We showed up at 6:04 and had to wait for a table, but it was not a big deal because we could hang out by the bar while our boy Pepe, a server at La Plata for….50 years???…slung plates of fried anchovies and itty bitty glasses of wine poured from barrels. We also discovered that sweet vermouth is a thing in Spain. Who knew. Probably a lot of people. We didn’t. I will say that La Plata might have been my #1 favorite experience in Barcelona. I like food.
View from the bar looking into La Plata
Known for fried anchovies
We got the best table for people watching. I don't think we can see Pepe in this photo :(
Add the anchovies to the bread = perfection. Might be the best tapa of the entire trip
Sausages were good, but nothing compared to the anchovies!
After La Plata, Jeff and I walked back to our hotel and got distracted by party shirts and party shorts. We accidentally bought them. Oops. I don't have a picture of Jeff's new shirt, but it's excellent. A friend told me my shorts look like if a disposable Dixie cup was turned into a pair of shorts, these would be them. He's not wrong.
I am pretty sure these things will immediately disintegrate in wash
Party shorts confidence
The next day, we knew it would be dumping buckets so we tried to plan accordingly. We checked out of our hotel on a quest to see Gaudí architecture. A friend who had spent a fair amount of time in Barcelona gave us a route recommendation that would take us past la Casa Batllo and La Pedrera. On our way, we took a little side quest and checked out the University of Barcelona, which was very pretty!
Gardens at the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
La Casa Batllo was another highlight for me of Barcelona—I am a bright colors person and this house absolutely had them.
This post is already super mega long, so rather than posting context about Casa Batllo here, I'm going to direct you to this website. For what it's worth, I'd skip all the other ticketed attractions and prioritize this site the next time I'm in Barcelona. It looks super duper cool from the outside, so I can only imagine what it looks like in person from the inside. While at CB, we were approached by a group of Spanish 8th graders who asked if they could interview us for a school project on our existing knowledge of Barcelona/Spain. We happily consented. And boy, did we probably come off like idiots. At least they said we were the nicest tourists they'd talked to!
After CB, we continued north to La Pedrera. Some more background on La Casa Mila (La Pedrera) can be found here. Jeff and I enjoyed an overpriced zumo de naranja inside la Padrera’s cafe (which we referred to as the Gaudi tax) before continuing a few more miles—uphill—to Park Guell, where—surprise! It was sold out and neither Jeff nor I had even remotely considered that we might need to buy tickets to a park. So we got to walk 3 miles uphill to a closed park. But the limited amount of the park that what we could see from the outside looked super cool. Womp womp.
La Casa Mila (La Pedrera)
We licked our wounds, hopped a bus and a train, and went back to the beach. It was dumping buckets at this point so we enjoyed some snacks and bevvies while the rain poured. After a few hours of ocean-gazing and rain-listening, we decided to relocate a little closer to the train station, so we braved the weather and hopped aboard another train toward Bacelona-Sants and ended up at a fantastic Syrian restaurant (lololol our last meal in Spain was the one non-Spanish meal we had in a month) before boarding the train back to Madrid.
We stayed the night in a small but clean hostel in a different part of the city than we’d explored previously, called an uber the next morning, and boarded our MAD—> ATL flight without issue. And we’re here now. I’m writing this post from my upgraded Delta Comfort+ seat (first time ever!! I feel so bougie!!) while Jeff enjoys an entire row to himself.
Thanks for caring enough to follow along this journey. It’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know these *amazing* students and to work with Jeff and Deya. Deya is my queen, but I need to give an especially special shoutout to Jeff—he and I spent many, MANY hours together, often just the two of us—and I am so grateful for how our friendship has grown as a result of this experience. Thanks for everything.
La Casa Batllo
La Casa Batllo
One of the pages of the tourist quiz
One of the pages of the tourist quiz
La Casa Mila (La Pedrera)
La Pedrera
Overpriced but delicious zumo inside the Pedrera
Chairs designed by Gaudi
We licked our wounds, hopped a bus and a train, and went back to the beach. It was dumping buckets at this point so we enjoyed some snacks and bevvies while the rain poured. After a few hours of ocean-gazing and rain-listening, we decided to relocate a little closer to the train station, so we braved the weather and hopped aboard another train toward Bacelona-Sants and ended up at a fantastic Syrian restaurant (lololol our last meal in Spain was the one non-Spanish meal we had in a month) before boarding the train back to Madrid.
We stayed the night in a small but clean hostel in a different part of the city than we’d explored previously, called an uber the next morning, and boarded our MAD—> ATL flight without issue. And we’re here now. I’m writing this post from my upgraded Delta Comfort+ seat (first time ever!! I feel so bougie!!) while Jeff enjoys an entire row to himself.
Thanks for caring enough to follow along this journey. It’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know these *amazing* students and to work with Jeff and Deya. Deya is my queen, but I need to give an especially special shoutout to Jeff—he and I spent many, MANY hours together, often just the two of us—and I am so grateful for how our friendship has grown as a result of this experience. Thanks for everything.
Truly grateful for all of the experiences. All of the friendships. All of the memories. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks to Westminster for giving us all this opportunity.
I’m going to finish my posts on the Grand Canyon over the summer—it’s looking very likely that I will be back in Thailand for May 2025 (YAY!) with my good friend and professional troll, Han, and there’s a pretty good change I’ll get to return to el Camino in May 2026…until then, adios!
I’m going to finish my posts on the Grand Canyon over the summer—it’s looking very likely that I will be back in Thailand for May 2025 (YAY!) with my good friend and professional troll, Han, and there’s a pretty good change I’ll get to return to el Camino in May 2026…until then, adios!
Thank you, Dream Team! Ciao!
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