More Gaudi and Some Time At The Beach!
Posted by ScarlettMar 22nd, 2009 | No Comments
Because yesterday’s lack of planning and late start led to a very rushed visit to the Sagrada Familia before closing, we decided we would go out together again today, but with much more of a plan, especially since it was Jill and Micah’s last full day here before departing to London. 
Saturday in Barcelona – Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Posted by ScarlettMar 21st, 2009 | No Comments
This afternoon, with Jill and Micah who we befriended last night, we headed out to see the infamous Sagrada Familia – a massive Roman Catholic church designed by Spanish Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi that has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882 and will not be complete until 2026! We decided to walk to the Sagrada Familia via Passeig de Gràcia, a large street full of expensive stores and home to a couple of other famous Gaudi buildings, such as Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so that we could see the architecture this area is known for. Although we all were interested in seeing the Gaudi buildings, there were long line-ups to tour both Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so we took some pictures of the outside and kept going.
1st Day In Barcelona – Things Are Looking Up!
Posted by ScarlettMar 20th, 2009 | No CommentsAfter the way things turned out in Madrid (with the unhelpful people, the crappy hostel, and the pickpocketing), I wasn’t particularly optimistic about Barcelona. But after our first day here, it looks as though Spain might not be so bad after all!
1st High-Speed Train Ride
Posted by ScarlettMar 20th, 2009 | No Comments
After the worst possible night of sleep (the dorm room turned out to be on the side of the hostel where a tonne of bars are located and the whole night I heard singing, shouting and glass breaking until 6:30 am when a drunk guy wandered around searching for his friend Pedro by continuously shouting his name for an hour) we dragged ourselves up at 8 am this morning to head to the train station to get to Barcelona (editor’s note: This sounds just like my place here in Asia!).
A Crappy Paella To Add To My Crappy Day
Posted by ScarlettMar 19th, 2009 | 2 Comments
Tonight, Paul decided we should try a paella restaurant recommended on Chowhound, an online food critiquing website. The recommendations on this site had worked well for us in New York when we were searching for good, affordable food, so we were optimistic. As you can see by the title of this blog post, I was NOT impressed….
Paranoid and Feeling Unsafe in Madrid
Posted by ScarlettMar 19th, 2009 | 1 CommentBeing our last day in Madrid, we set out today to see the last major sight we haven’t visited - the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Our morning was off to a late start since we had to move to our new dorm room for this evening (which thankfully will be the last night we stay in this dreadful hostel) and we needed to find somewhere with Internet so that Paul could do some work since the guy at reception needed us to vacate the common areas so that he could do the “cleaning” (honestly I seem to see the exact same messes when we return in the afternoon so I don’t think they clean at all).
Yay! Found Some Good Tapas!
Posted by ScarlettMar 18th, 2009 | No Comments
Ok, finally, we’ve found some food that made us go wow!
Visit to Real Madrid’s Home Turf
Posted by ScarlettMar 18th, 2009 | No Comments
Since our schedule today probably won’t time out right for us to catch a football game (soccer in North America), we decided to do a tour of Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. It was either tour this stadium or the one for Manchester United, and the Santiago Bernabeau Stadium tour got better reviews online so we decided to just go for it.
Dinner Experience #1 in Madrid
Posted by ScarlettMar 17th, 2009 | 3 Comments
Tonight we tried to find some good tapas, but after wandering around 3 blocks, we decided we would give up trying to understand tapas menus/bars and just picked a place that had a “menu del dia” that was translated into English and looked pretty decent.
Spain Is Prettier Than Portugal But Not As Friendly…
Posted by ScarlettMar 17th, 2009 | No Comments
After a day of wandering around in Madrid, we’ve come to the conclusion that Madrid is definitely beautiful and a more well-kept city than Lisbon or Porto, but the people here seem cold, snobby, and completely unwilling to help if you don’t speak Spanish! Even the girl at the McDonald’s counter wouldn’t acknowledge my attempt to order a Quarter Pounder with cheese until I made a mangled attempt to pronounce it in Spanish (which FYI is Cuarto di Libra) and I ended up eating my McNuggets with BBQ sauce because I had no clue how to say Sweet-And-Sour in Spanish (editor’s note: Maybe she’s originally from France?) 
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