24 hours in barcelona, españa!

What a whirlwind trip, just for the weekend to Barcelona! I must say, this is probably the shortest time I ever stayed in a city. But my first time in Spain!

For 24 hours, we sure did cover a lot of areas. From walking around old town and on the street of Las Ramblas, we also managed to walk to La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guëll (as opposed to taking public transportation).

And yes, we had sangrias. Lots and lots of glorious sangrias. I also got to practice my high school spanish. The tapas were good, drinks were good, I could definitely come back another time. I booked a hostel close to old town so we never needed to take public transportation. From the Airport, we took a bus (10,20€ Round trip) to city center. From there, we were able to walk to the hostel. I figured I could use the walk anyways so that I could eat more food.

The Picasso Museum: Free with student card. This museum sent us on a epic walk through old town as it was, for some odd reason, hard to find. It is a small museum, but I enjoyed it. Although I have to admit the exhibition on Picasso at the Guggenheim museum in NYC that I went to in December 2012 was much more captivating.

beautiful architecture!

The walk around the old town was beautiful and I saw so many street musicians. For someone that has been trained in music, this is a little piece of heaven. I do see it in Lyon, but I've never seen so many in a day in one city. Like this picture below. In front of a church was an ensemble playing traditional music. 

While walking around, we stumbled into a huge outdoor market. 

SO MUCH PEPPER

WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE?!

So  many colors, smells, and sights to see. I really enjoyed walking around this market. You can see the fruits and vegetables just bursting with flavor. A visual food orgasm indeed. I had to tear myself away from the candy/chocolate section. Definitely couldn't justify spending 30 euros on a few chocolate (you pay per gram!). But otherwise, the food is pretty cheap, much cheaper than France.

Park Guëll: Fascinating place, but to see Gaudi's architecture up close, you'd have to pay 8 euros. My friend and I were pretty satisfied with seeing it from afar. 

One of exits of the park

Love this style!

Candyland, anyone?

And finally, La Sagrada Familia: Gaudi's unfinished work. Again, we couldn't justify spending 12 euros to get inside so we enjoyed it from outside. Gaudi's work seems like something that came out of Candyland.

Sidenote: I think I found my alter ego:

Apparently, it's perched on the top of a building...

So yes, this week, it's off to Estonia (and possibly Finland)! As much as I love traveling, after this small trip, I will definitely stay put in France for awhile. After all, Lyon is my home and my love. It's all about balance, right?

Happy Easter weekend, everyone!

PS. Did I mention that French students get two weeks of Easter vacation??