Barcelona: Gaudi and Night Life

In the middle of our large break after having visited Paris and before London we visited the incredible city of Barcelona. Coming from Paris and expecting fall weather my cohorts and I dressed in our warmer clothes: jeans, jackets, etc. Little did we know, Barcelona late in the month of October is actually more akin to Siena during August! We got off the plane greeted by beautiful balmy 80 degree weather, and promptly changed to better fit the hot Catalonian sun. After taking the bus into the city and finding the hostel, Nora, Sara, Phil, Lauren, and I went out to explore the city. We stopped at a small tapas place, a specialty of Barcelona, and got our first taste of the much talked about sangria of Spain, a wine and fruit mixture which you could almost swear was just fruit juice. After a little recuperation, we met up that night with Nora’s friend in Barcelona Michaela, who took us to another delicious tapas bar and then on to Apolo’s a nightclub famous for its “Nasty Mondays”. We arrived at the club around one and we danced until around five, when the metro opened and headed back to our waiting beds. After our big first night, we slowly gathered ourselves the next afternoon to go and see the sites of Barcelona. First on the list was the Sagrada Familia church, a giant Catholic church in the heart of the city designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Stepping inside the church was like entering another world composed of twirling spirals and vibrant colors all vaulting upward taking ones breathe away. After seeing one Gaudi masterpiece we decided to trek across the city to visit another of his masterpieces the Park Güell. Park Güell was Gaudi’s attempt at creating a residential park for Barcelona’s more affluent citizens but was a commercial failure. What remains are a handful of the houses that he did complete and the beautiful public walkways, sculptures, and terraces all done in his unique style. After trekking once more across the city back to our hostel we prepared for our second night in the crazy town. We started out the night, after dinner, with a visit to a local bar which had a special on sangria. A couple hours later, we left the bar to journey to a club near the center of the city where we found ourselves dancing again. That next morning we decided to head to the beach for a bit of relaxation. We laid out on the beach for hours, I personally got a massage from an older Asian woman and found my dip in the water both rejuvenating and surreal for the last days of October! Going into our final night of Barcelona, with Sara leaving early the next morning and Phil and Lauren opting for much needed rest, Nora and I decided to go out for one last hurrah. We did as we had for the previous two nights and generally had a good time. As we all left the next day at differing times, we reflected on the great times we had in this party city while looking forward to the next city we would visit… London.

Mike Babineau, UVA