Traveling to the same city with new eyes ten years later
I've been to Barcelona ten years ago. At that time I was only 23 years old, was doing my master's degree, and have no worries about the future. For some reason, I was just living life in Europe and traveling a lot. I remember that I loved the city, walking in the streets, going to a soccer game in Camp Nou, screaming GOOOOLLLL!! For 7 times every time my team, FC Barcelona marks a gol. I was younger and have a little different interest.
I always said that I have to come back, and I did. Now with another friend who I just meet a few months ago, I went to Barcelona knowing that the experience would be different and worrying that now, ten years later the city would be worst… I was wrong. Even though a lot of people told me that there were too many tourists, that their pickpockets are everywhere and that city is uglier because of the number of people that usually visit it, I fell in love again.
We took the train from Madrid to Barcelona. Almost three hours traveling, while I read a book or listen to music. When we arrived we took the metro to the hotel that was just in the middle of the center. We walk through Las Ramblas with our backpacks and register at the reception. The person that received us was a Spanish man who know a lot about the Dominican Republic and was asking me about the country when I pass my passport for registration. After that, we took the stairs and go to our room to refresh a little and leave our stuff. The weather was nice, so I took out my hoodie and only walk with my coat. When we were outside again, the receptionist told us about a good place near the hotel where they had a menu for lunch. So we walk to this place and ask for a table to eat.
The place was nice and the food was good. We had a first dish, a second, and a dessert with the drink. Stay a little big without rushing, and then after finishing our food start walking to the Lego Store. That first day we walk a lot. In the begging it was true, there were a lot of people around, especially in the center. But, although sometimes I felt a little nervous or anxious because of the number of people around, I still could walk freely. And to be true, I was amazed by the buildings in the city. The architecture, the feeling of lay back, the good mood around…
We visit some of the tourist places without entering anywhere. We saw some of the Gaudi architecture and took pictures of the Catedral. We walk in some neighborhoods, bought Turron, eat something sweet and end in the Moco Museum, where we pay the entrance, even though my companion didn't want to spend money on that. I was amazed by the art in the museum, mostly with the pictures of Banksy and the interactive room they have with lights and sounds. After that, we walk to the beach and when we feel tired of walking, we lookout for someplace to eat and ended in a place of burgers. It was really good, I still think of that burger. After that, we took the bus and came back to the hotel to rest.
Something that you should probably know, is although you can walk to every corner of the principal attractions, to save time and energy I recommend buying the ten journeys card T-casual. If you go with more people probably could be better the T-familiar. This card allows you to use the metro and buses, saving time and energy. We bought one each, because the T-casual is individual, and spend almost all of our trips.
The second day we took breakfast at the hotel and then start our day by taking the bus to the beach. Here we spent some time taking the sun, laying down in that sand listening to the waves of the sea. It was sunny and the sand was a little heavy, but I felt relaxed. After some time we took the bus to the Sagrada Familia, one of the principal attractions, and spend almost two hours around this building taking photos. While on the beach there weren't a lot of people —actually when we decided to go people were coming, so I recommended you to go early—, in the Sagrada Familia there was a lot of people. I feel like without breathing, first because the building is enormous and with a lot of details, second because of the number of people. But then, after some time they were coming and going so, I can breathe again.
We search for someplace to eat and ask for another menu. After that, we bought some tickets to Park Güell online and then walk to take the bus to the park. This was a little stressful because we have to walk a lot to take the bus for some street maintenance and we had like 20 minutes to get there before our reservation expired. Other thing was, that the bus was full. Like we get one sitting for the both of us and there were many many people entering in every stop before we arrived at the park.
After going like sardines in a can, we arrived in the park that was on a hill outside the city. The waiter where we had lunch told us that this place was big and you spend almost a day walking through. But we noticed that we only need around an hour. We walk the hills, go to the principal monuments —that are one beside the other— and then sit a little big in the green area taking some breath and people watching. Then we walk the park all over again but at a slow pace and then took the bus back to the center.
We went to the hotel, took a bath, and clean on ourselves because in the Sagrada Familia there was a lot of sand and dust, as well as on the roads of the park. My black boots were almost white with the dust. After taking a bath and relaxing a little, we find a place to eat paella near the hotel. The place was crowded but they had a table for two at the end of the salon. The two people that serve us were really nice and friendly and we eat a really good paella. Also, the Sangria was on point. After that, we bought some ice cream near Las Ramblas and then come back to the hotel. That was our last night in the city and we have to come back next morning.
When we were on the bus on our way to the park I remember thinking that this city was too pretty. Like it is true that there were a lot of tourists, but we were tourists too and we enjoy a lot walking to the street, finding good places to eat and enjoying the life of Barcelona.
