Barcelona!

Barcelona!

I refrained from visiting Barcelona during my fall break trip because my Berkeley friend and neighbor Garrett was coming in December. Garrett did research under a post doc for Berkeley, a project that was not only published, but also nominated out as the best paper of the Barcelona conference! So, Berkeley sent him and a handful of other Berkeley staff, graduate students and undergrads to Barcelona for the week to present at this conference. The timing worked perfectly.

It is impossible to do Barcelona in only a day. However 10 miles of walking later, Garrett and I were able to make the most of my time there. Right off the bat, we happened upon a beautiful park. This was the perfect way to start the day. Turns out Tuesday was Constitution Day in Barcelona, so everyone as out and about. The park was lively, with music and families, creating a very fun atmosphere. The park had this beautiful fountain, something which neither Garrett nor I discovered in our research on Barcelona.

After meandering through the park, we made our way to the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. There we were greeting with Christmas markets and beautiful looming architecture. We joked that we had to stop getting sidetracked, more than once a new exciting building or monument would drag us away from our intended destination.

Once we made it through the Gothic Quarter, we wandered up La Ramba street, the central hubbub of the city. There were so many vendors and street artists and markets lining the street. I ended up getting another painting, my fourth form Europe, of one of the squares.

I really enjoyed Barcelona. It is an absolutely beautiful city. Nothing quite solidified this than the La Sangrada Familia cathedral.

La Sangrada Familia is probably my favorite church of Europe. Words can not describe. Pictures can not capture either, but here they are. We went at sunset which was an added bonus, but wow. I loved it.

The day was not over yet! Garrett and I previously bought tickets to the Barcelona soccer game! We had some trouble calling a taxi, an incident which unfortunately cost us the first half of the game. However! We made it just in time for the second half, and saw Barcelona win the game!

It was such a cool experience. I am not really much of a soccer follower, but it is hard not to get caught up in the game. We got tickets in the 3rd row, technically “obstructed view” seats, but perfect for us! We were up close and personal with the field and players, it was so cool!

After the game we met up with other members of Garrett’s lab. It was cool to meet new Berkeley folk, especially all the way over in Barcelona! One of the lab members, Carlos, is from Barcelona and was the host of the evening. Somehow he dragged us all the a club in the heart of the city where we danced for over an hour.

Unfortunately I could not keep up with the jet-lagged, wide-awake students of Berkeley and had to call it an early night. And by early night I mean 4am. Spain goes hard.

After sleeping in, I said goodbye to Garrett and hopped on a bus to Lyon, France! See you soon Ben Khoo!