Week 8: Busy Being Touristy in Barcelona and London

This was probably the most packed week I have had yet! My family was in Barcelona the entire week which was such a blast. It gave me an excuse to do all of the touristy things that I hadn’t done yet and try new restaurants. I also finished the week strong by visiting London and Eastbourne!

Before we made it back to Barcelona though, we had to drive back from Valencia! During the drive, we decided to stop in Peñíscola for lunch. I fell in love with Peñíscola. It looks like Mikonos in some parts with the white buildings and blue details but it also had a lot of character to make it its own special place. We ate at a restaurant with a beautiful water view and shopped around a bit too. The shopping was nice because all of the stores were unique. I bought two beautiful dresses/cover-ups that I definitely will never find anything like. For some pictures of Peñíscola, check out my blog post from last week here.

On Tuesday I had class all day but my family made it to the Picasso Museum which I still have yet to do. I am jealous of them but I know I’ll get it done eventually. At night I got to show my family a restaurant, La Pepita, near my apartment that is always so crowded. I had to make a reservation over a week in advance. I had gotten drinks there before but never tapas and I was very happy with the way that the tapas turned out. The burrata salad was by far my favorite and I will be going there to get it again. I tried to show my family the Plaça de Gracia after, but everything was closed so they didn’t get to see it in all of its glory. 

The next day, Sam and I went to the Sagrada Familia. Insane is the first word that comes to my mind when thinking of how to describe the Sagrada Familia. For one thing, from the outside it is humongous. I had seen it from the distance but up close it is just crazy how tall it is. My absolute favorite part of the church is the stained glass. In the morning, the sun shines through so that the green, blue, and purple reflect into the church, and in the afternoon red, orange, and yellow reflect into the church. The details on the outside and the inside as well are unbelievable. Every little thing is thought out so much it blows my mind. I’m so happy that I was able to finally tour the Sagrada Familia. At night, my brother, friends, and I went to see Illenium at Razzmatazz. It was a really fun experience! They ended pretty early so we went to the bar Ovella Negra to grab some last drinks and patatas bravas. I’m happy I could show my brother the best patatas bravas in the world, but I think we may have ordered too many and overdid it a bit. Hopefully, I didn’t brava him out. 

Thursday was a nice and relaxing day that we spent on a sailboat. It was so stunning seeing Barcelona from the water. We could see practically the entire city. It was also fun trying to guess what certain buildings were and learn about new ones that we hadn’t noticed before. We also jumped in the ocean! It wasn’t too cold but the open ocean scared me a little bit so I didn’t stay in long. 

Friday was the last day that I had with my family. We visited Park Güell which was another thing that I’m happy I can cross off the list of things to do. This is a park designed by Gaudi but funded by Mr. Güell. It was supposed to be a development for the wealthy but the project failed. There are only three houses there. One was Gaudi’s, one belonged to Mr. Güell but is a public school now, and one is still owned by the family that built it. Learning about the history was probably my favorite part of this spot, but the architecture was fantastic as well. I mean, what else could I expect from Gaudi? After, we went over to the Gothic Quarter to grab a snack and drinks and then shop around. After a bit, we headed over to a flamenco show! I was blown away by how fast the dancers could move their feet. It brought me back to my tap dancing days. I kept imagining if they brought someone on stage from the crowd, I would whip out my moves and surprise everyone. My family and I had our last supper together at Palo Cortao which was super tasty! My dad and brother got the paella and said it was the best one they had during their trip.

On Saturday my family left for home and I left for London. Somehow, our flights were at the exact same time so I was able to catch a ride with them to the airport where we said our final goodbyes. Once I got to London I met my friend, Acadia, and we headed out to walk around the city! I saw the London Bridge, the London Tower Bridge, and an amphitheater-type place where everyone was watching the Rugby World Cup. After, we went out to dinner at The 411! The food was super yummy and the drinks were even yummier. We went to the club XOYO after and had a very fun night! The whole day I kept thinking that it was nice not having a language barrier for the first time in two months. However, sometimes the accent barrier takes its toll too. 

The next day Acadia and I ended up having quite the excursion. We made plans to visit my friend Isla who lives in Eastbourne. We went to Gatwick airport to meet her as she was getting home from Croatia and then drove back to Eastbourne with her and her sister. We had a lovely pub lunch where we got the traditional Sunday lunch food of a turkey roast. The plate reminded me a lot of Thanksgiving with turkey, cranberry sauce, vegetables, stuffing, gravy, and potatoes. This was also a special lunch for me because I had been to this pub before when my family and I came to England to visit Isla’s family about six years ago. On the first day of our trip, we went for a long walk along the coast and, at least as I remember it, this cozy pub showed up in the middle of nothing. It felt like a movie in some ways to me at the time. After our lunch, we were rushed back to get home because the train from Eastbourne to London was down. Because of this, Acadia and I took a bus to Lewes, a train to Brighton, a train to Gatwick, and then finally one last train to London. Overall, we probably spent more time traveling than we did with Isla but the journey was worth it. Once we got back we went straight to dinner with another friend I hadn’t seen in a while, Isabella! It was so nice catching up with her and learning about her study abroad program. We ate at Mr. White’s and all of us got gnocchi. It was a super tasty dinner but for some reason, they were kicking everyone out pretty early in the night. 

This busy week was one to remember. Seeing my family and friends from home was interesting because in a way it made me feel homesick but in others it made me feel comfortable. Also, having my brother in my apartment for a week set my routine off a little bit. With the swing of all of these emotions and changes, I just try to remind myself that finding the comfortable within the uncomfortable is a big part of what this journey is.