What an interesting place. I'm pretty positive that approximately 97.63% of the population there were tourists, and we all agreed that it was kinda refreshing to hear some English and to see some confused faces that weren't our own. It was a bit more stressful to travel in a group of 14 than it was with our original 8, but once we finally got everyone checked in to the albergue it was pretty smooth sailing from there on out.
I was lucky enough to get to spend some time outside of the group for a day and wander around the city with a dear friend from back home. It was lucky that Will and I were both scheduled to be in Barcelona the same weekend, and it was just to perfect not to hang out for a little while. Don't get me wrong--I adore our group, but every once in a while a personal day is necessary for everyone.
Saturday we visited La Sagada Familia (!!!) and then a flamenco exhibition. I couldn't actually believe that construction on the basilica had begun over 100 years ago. It looks so modern and advanced. Guadí's architectural style is breathtaking and clever and inspired and we spent a solid 2 hours there (it would've been more, but we had the flamenco show to attend). Flamenco was lively and enjoyable, but I was spoiled by the Sara Baras performance I got to see with my family in Madrid. The couple that performed however were very nice people and during the show they brought people up to dance with them. So I got to make a fool out of myself with Sammi and Rachel. And that's always a good time!
After flamenco, we decided that it would be a grand idea to try and fit all 14 of us into a little hole in the wall restaurant. We actually filled the place, and definitely overwhelmed the kitchen...about 3 hours later we had all finally gotten our food. Fortunately we had each other's good company and sporting attitudes. I was about done with the day after that, so I walked around a little with Will and then heading back to my hostel and called it. I was the earliest to bed at around 1:00 and everyone else filtered in from 2:00 until 5:00. Needless to say there were few of us that wanted to be out and about the next morning very early.
I wasn't feeling the beach so much in Barcelona (San Sebastían had it beat by mile in my opinion), but we wandered around just to see what it was like and to see the Copper Fish and whatever else we could from the Olympic Games.
Our real destination was Barcelona's La Cuitadella (Catalán was way more prominent than I was expecting in Barcelona...almost all the street signs and labels were in Catalán only). Our small group was so super happy that we decided to make the trek! Pamplona's Cuidadella is impressive and has it's own character, but Barcelona's was ten times more impressive. It was a full on park with fountains and statues and paddle-boats on a lake and picnic spots and gardens and it was HUGE.
Lunch was our next priority, and we found a wonderful little restaurant down a side road in the old city away from the tourist traps with a fantastic menú del día and a wonderful serving lady. It was an authentic little place with a special character about it. My favorite thing about it was that it was truly a locals' spot: we were definitely the only people in there that spoke English, and I heard a lot of what sounded like Catalán at the surrounding tables. I was rather pleased with the find and the food was pretty spectacular as well.
We spent quite a bit of time walking Sunday--but it was all worth it. After doing a pass through the gothic area and meandering in the old town some more, we heading back toward the main tourist area for another dose of Gaudí. His Casa Batlló was just as impressive a beautiful as Sagrada Familia. We had a guided audio tour through all five levels all the way up to the roof that provided lots of entertainment: some of the claims that they made about his choices were just too funny, and they were made in a british accent so it was even better.
When we had listened to the full tour (I've never before done that in any museum but it was too good to pass up) we decided to head back to our lodging and meet up with the rest of the group that had been on the beach all day. They apparently didn't have sunscreen with them...so they were all pretty miserable. We rested and chatted for a little while and watched the consolation game of the Confederations Cup between Italy and Uruguay before heading out for dinner again. This time we decided that groups were the way to go, and so off we went with the plan of being back at 12:00 to watch the final on the big screen between Spain and Brazil (what a heartbreaking game).
My group dined again a little off the beaten path (it's just more fun), and then headed to Plaza Espanya for the magical fountain show. It was colorful and fun and whatnot, but it's got nothing on the dancing fountains of the Bellagio.
Everyone slept hard on the way back to Pamplona. I think we could all agree that it was our favorite weekend trip. I guess third time's a charm. I hope someday I'll get to go back there and finish out a tour of the city. It's a big place and I'd like to do it justice. Week 2 of Engineering has begun now with a focus on wind power. Our first professor is awesome, and I've already been shocked by the prices associated with the wind turbine generators (WTGs): 1 million euro for 1 MW energy production. And that is only the purchase of the WTG. It doesn't include transportation or installation!! Wow.
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