Well here we are, in our LAST country. Technically we're headed back into France when we hit up Paris, but its not a new country. The train ride to Barcelona was expected (rightfully) to be exceptionally long, so we split it up with a stop in Avignon. What a cool little city! Avignon is home to the largest Gothic Palace in the world - Palais de Papas. We also munched on some delicious crepes, and fooled around with a carousel.
When we finally made it to Barcelona, we discovered our intense gratefulness for our experiences in London. We would never have figured out the Barcelona underground without learning the London one first. Thank you London!! Since we arrived in the evening, we chose to eat and chill out instead of wandering an unfamiliar city in the dark. (See Mom, we're being safe!)
The next morning we embarked on a walking tour of the gothic quarter of Barcelona, saw the ancient Roman walls, and learned quite a bit about Barcelona's history. For example, Spanish is actually not the primary language of Barcelona. It is actually Catalyan - although it is very similar to Spanish. Another interesting fact, is Plazza Reial. This plazza was put in place by the government in an effort to appease the people. Barcelona had previously been a very dark and crowded city, and this opened the area up to the community. The space had been the location of a monastery, until a riot burned it down. The plazza later became a location of prostitution and drug rings, and the government chose to contain it in the plazza instead of chasing it out into unknown quarters of the city. This all changed when the Olympics came to Barcelona. At this point the city had a total makeover. The druggies were chased out of Plazza Reial (and ended up in what is now known as Plazza Trippy). Also, palm trees were imported into the city from Hawaii on a 12 year contract. Technically Barcelona does not even own its own palm trees! Sand was also imported from Egypt to cover the beaches.
After the walking tour (hosted by a fabulous Aussie named Max), we signed up for some fun activities for the next two nights. That night we attended a Spanish cooking class, hoping to learn some traditional dishes and meet some people. However, it turned out that we were the only two that signed up, and we didn't actually do any of the cooking ourselves. Even still, the food was fabulous, and we enjoyed ourselves. We learned how to make Tapas, which is basically an appetizer or a small portion of a meal; Sangria, which is a drink made of fruit, wine, and brandy (quite tasty actually); and Paella, which is a traditional rice and seafood dish - so good! Another interesting fact about Barcelona is the acceptance of nudity. You are totally free to walk around in your birthday suit (as long as you wear shoes), and there are some that take advantage of this. (Oh my innocent eyes...) One of these people is known as Elephant Man. I'll let you fill in the details yourself.
The next day we had planned to spend on the beach again. Unfortunately it was windy and overcast, and we ended up coming back to the hostel to freshen up and head out on the town instead. During this time, we saw alot of festivities along the street. This included traditional dances (in the form of a parade) and a group of men firing guns (more like mini cannons) into the air as they walked down the street. They were so loud you could feel the reverberations in your chest if you got too close. A few times we were even lucky enough to witness a group of guys performing Capoeira on the streets. Capoeira is a traditional dance that formed when fighting was banned in the ancient tribes. So the men got sneaky and hid their fighting in dance. These are physically demanding choreographed routines. If you've seen So You Think You Can Dance, I think they showed it on there once.
Later on we headed out to a Tapas and Flamenco night. We chowed down on some more tapas and sangria, met some people (it wasn't just us this time), and watched a flamenco show. We had expected a show with girls in big poofy dresses, and sometimes that is the case, but this time it was a small band (singers and a guitarist) and a male tap dancer (flamenco I guess). He was very talented and we enjoyed the show all the same.
Well here we are, in our LAST country. Technically we're headed back into France when we hit up Paris, but its not a new country. The train ride to Barcelona was expected (rightfully) to be exceptionally long, so we split it up with a stop in Avignon. What a cool little city! Avignon is home to the largest Gothic Palace in the world - Palais de Papas. We also munched on some delicious crepes, and fooled around with a carousel.
When we finally made it to Barcelona, we discovered our intense gratefulness for our experiences in London. We would never have figured out the Barcelona underground without learning the London one first. Thank you London!! Since we arrived in the evening, we chose to eat and chill out instead of wandering an unfamiliar city in the dark. (See Mom, we're being safe!)
The next morning we embarked on a walking tour of the gothic quarter of Barcelona, saw the ancient Roman walls, and learned quite a bit about Barcelona's history. For example, Spanish is actually not the primary language of Barcelona. It is actually Catalyan - although it is very similar to Spanish. Another interesting fact, is Plazza Reial. This plazza was put in place by the government in an effort to appease the people. Barcelona had previously been a very dark and crowded city, and this opened the area up to the community. The space had been the location of a monastery, until a riot burned it down. The plazza later became a location of prostitution and drug rings, and the government chose to contain it in the plazza instead of chasing it out into unknown quarters of the city. This all changed when the Olympics came to Barcelona. At this point the city had a total makeover. The druggies were chased out of Plazza Reial (and ended up in what is now known as Plazza Trippy). Also, palm trees were imported into the city from Hawaii on a 12 year contract. Technically Barcelona does not even own its own palm trees! Sand was also imported from Egypt to cover the beaches.
After the walking tour (hosted by a fabulous Aussie named Max), we signed up for some fun activities for the next two nights. That night we attended a Spanish cooking class, hoping to learn some traditional dishes and meet some people. However, it turned out that we were the only two that signed up, and we didn't actually do any of the cooking ourselves. Even still, the food was fabulous, and we enjoyed ourselves. We learned how to make Tapas, which is basically an appetizer or a small portion of a meal; Sangria, which is a drink made of fruit, wine, and brandy (quite tasty actually); and Paella, which is a traditional rice and seafood dish - so good! Another interesting fact about Barcelona is the acceptance of nudity. You are totally free to walk around in your birthday suit (as long as you wear shoes), and there are some that take advantage of this. (Oh my innocent eyes...) One of these people is known as Elephant Man. I'll let you fill in the details yourself.
The next day we had planned to spend on the beach again. Unfortunately it was windy and overcast, and we ended up coming back to the hostel to freshen up and head out on the town instead. During this time, we saw alot of festivities along the street. This included traditional dances (in the form of a parade) and a group of men firing guns (more like mini cannons) into the air as they walked down the street. They were so loud you could feel the reverberations in your chest if you got too close. A few times we were even lucky enough to witness a group of guys performing Capoeira on the streets. Capoeira is a traditional dance that formed when fighting was banned in the ancient tribes. So the men got sneaky and hid their fighting in dance. These are physically demanding choreographed routines. If you've seen So You Think You Can Dance, I think they showed it on there once. 
Later on we headed out to a Tapas and Flamenco night. We chowed down on some more tapas and sangria, met some people (it wasn't just us this time), and watched a flamenco show. We had expected a show with girls in big poofy dresses, and sometimes that is the case, but this time it was a small band (singers and a guitarist) and a male tap dancer (flamenco I guess). He was very talented and we enjoyed the show all the same.
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