Around mid-march, I left the snow covered Praha for some sun rays and blue Barcelona skies. We were greeted with warm weather all weekend long - something I will forever be grateful for once I am back in California. Our hostel was in the very center of the city, which made it extremely easy for us to hit all the main attractions, nightlife areas, and shopping streets. I instantly fell in love with the city, everything about it was warm, spontaneous, and absolutely amazing.
(Views from the balcony of our hostel in Barcelona, Spain)
(Upon arrival in Barca!)
The night we arrived, the Barcelona airport was swarming with study abroad students from all over Europe. It turned out that there was a weekend-long event called Abroad Fest at one of Barcelona's main beach clubs, Opium Mar. The event was geared specifically towards students overseas, (hence it's name), and well-known electronic DJs flew in from around Europe to spin all night long. So, of course the only logical thing to do was purchase our tickets about 3 hours before the event started so we could join in on the festivities like proper abroad students, after Sangria and tapas of course!
(Us girls enjoying Sangria before our first Tapa-filled meal!)
If you are ever in Barcelona, you have to try all the delicious tapas the cafes have to offer! Tapas are small, savory Spanish dishes that are usually served with drinks at cafes or bars. They are priced fairly cheaply so you can purchase multiple dishes to share with everyone! I recommend finding an outdoor cafe (they are everywhere), and getting a tapa-filled lunch with a pitcher of ice-cold Sangria with your group of friends. Spanish street musicians will come around from time-to-time to play for all the lunch-goers, and with the sun on your face, it's just absolutely perfect! 5 tapa dishes easily fed us 4 girls. I regret not stopping to take pictures of the all dishes before eating them, woops.
After dinner, we rushed to buy our tickets, and got ready for an unforgettable night on the beaches of Barcelona!
Abroad Fest was definitely a crazy experience, the night was filled with non-stop dancing on a jam-packed dance floor, over-priced drinks, an awesome outside outside terrace right on the beach, and some spontaneous night swimming. Although, I don't like electronic music as much, I had a great time. With the bass booming throughout my entire body, it was hard not to let the music take me over as I moved as one with the hundreds of people surrounding us on the dance floor.
(Rachel & I)
(Larissa)
(Puja)
The following day, we spent the afternoon exploring the city centre and Las Rambla - a famous shopping street filled with souvenir stands, little alleyways filled with various shops, food markets, and outdoor cafes.
We spent a good half hour stuck at a stand selling baby animal pets.
My favorite were the stacks of turtle babies.
:)
Enjoying our second tapa meal! This cafe was our favorite (I wish I had written down the name). We came across it while browsing through the local food market (La Boqueria), the tapas were much cheaper than the ones in the city centre. The outdoor cafe was tucked away in a small courtyard near the back of the market, and Spanish street musicians serenaded us with music the whole time.
That night, the ladies and I decided to check out a self-service bar I had read about called Taberna del Espit before hitting another beach club. The bar had a really awesome drink special where you paid 3.50 Euros for a tall glass, and you pick whatever alcohol you want in your drink (out of tequila, rum, vodka, gin, or whisky). And then the bartender gives you the bottle, and you get to pour however much you want into your glass. Finally, the bartender will top it off with whatever soda (or lemonade) you want. It was such a great concept, and a dangerous one, but we loved it! The bar also served free popcorn to their customers, which was awesome (and also made us that much more thirsty). If you ever find yourself in Barca, I highly recommend this bar, they have friendly bartenders, great drinks and music, and awesome atmosphere. It is a great place to stop by before going to the clubs, and it's also a nice place to meet fellow travelers!
One of Guadi's beautiful mosaic pieces.
After Parc Guell, we made yet another last minute, spontaneous decision and decided to head to the Camp Nou Stadium in search of futbol tickets for that night's game, because when in Barca...Why not watch a futbol game??
Finally, after searching the arena's streets, we got tickets to our first futbol game!
(Larissa, me, Rachel, Puja, and Army - who towers over us all.)
ANND BARCA WINS!! It was definitely a crazy experience being surrounded by screaming Spanish fans. Even though the actual game itself was pretty uneventful (Barcelona - 2, Deportivo - 0), it was still a blast and I am so glad we went!
Our favorite bartender, Gustavo!!
To end the night (and our trip), us girls decided to head back to Taberna del Espit since we loved it so much! Instead of doing the self-service drinks,we decided to try out the cocktail pitchers we saw everyone drinking. Basically for around 10-12 Euros, they would make any of their cocktail drinks as a pitcher for your group to share. We tried their "secret" drink cocktail first, which turned out to be delicious! After, that we ordered a Sex On the Beach (which is always a great drink), then the bartender remembered us from the last night, and gave us another pitcher for free! This bar has undoubtedly made it on my list of the best bars I've been to in Europe. It was a great way to end our insane weekend in Barcelona. :)
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