Barcelona: Day 1

This week I'll be uploading one blog post a day because I'm in Barcelona for the entire week, and only having one post for 7 days would be entirely too overwhelming.

Those keeping up with me outside of the blog might have already found out by now that my mom is not here with me, which was the plan originally. So, I'll be spending my spring break solo! Not only will these daily posts prevent hundreds of photos from building up in my camera roll, but they will also serve to let everyone know I'm safe and sound. Don't worry, so far I've been attentive and vigilant.

One of the things I was most looking forward to before coming here was the weather because in Pamplona it rains almost everyday. Of course it rained all day today in Barcelona too. Since I'll be here the whole week, I didn't stress about trying walk around to see a bunch of stuff, especially in the downpour--my shoes were soaked after 30 minutes of leaving my Airbnb. So I bought a ticket for a double-decker tour bus and took note of what I wanted to see more in-depth while I'm here. Because of the weather, everyone was sitting in the downstairs of the bus. I tried to stick it out on top for a little while, but the wind drove me back downstairs. Here's a video I posted on my Instagram story earlier today.

I didn't take many pictures during the ride, partly because the raindrops on the windows ruined the view, but also because since I'm going back to these sites later, I figured I'd wait until the sun comes out. This is an old bull fighting stadium that's been converted into a shopping outlet. During the renovation, the original structure was lifted 3 meters off of the ground (if you look where the gray border starts above the stores, that was originally the ground for the historic structure).

The ticket granted access for three different bus lines at any time of the day, so in between routes I ate lunch at Casa Guinart in La Boqueria. I actually was looking for El Quim de la Boqueria which is in el Mercado de la Boqueria, but I didn't realize I was at a different restaurant until halfway through my meal. I'm planning on going to the real deal later this week! Here's a video of the restaurant and my lunch (fried squid and sangria).

After the tour I walked back to my Airbnb, and the bottom four inches of my jeans got soaked from how wet the ground was. I also don't know how my hair got wet because I had my hood on and umbrella up the whole walk. My nose was red from the chilliness and when I took my shoes off, my feet looked like I just got out of a bathtub. This is me once I got inside (it's okay to laugh--I did).

Luckily, it's supposed to be sunny and in the 60s starting on Monday. That's all for today! However, tomorrow I'll be streaming live on my Instagram at 5 p.m. EST (which is east coast time in the US!). I'm going to give a tour of my Airbnb, and afterwards answer questions and chat with anyone who tunes in! My Instagram is @ibrookyyy, so make sure you set a reminder.

Fun fact: Barcelona has two official languages, Spanish and Catalan.

Another fun fact: On the way home today, my phone died at 8% while I was looking at Google Maps for directions. Fortunately I had gotten to a point where I recognized the area from the way out this morning, but when I got to a fork I went inside a pizza place and asked for directions. The pizza guy told me that the street I was looking for was actually behind the restaurant. So, I'd like to think that I made it home pretty much by myself!