Landing in Barcelona was a different story. At this point the strikes were in full effect and there were no buses running from the airport to the city center. What did this mean for us? Get ripped off by a taxi.
We got in a cab that took us “close” to our hostel. He charged us €40 which is not that bad considering the circumstances.
We had  walking directions to get to the hostel we were staying in. Following them did not lead to where we needed to be. Eventually (somehow) we found our way. Our hostel was situated RIGHT on the beach in Barcelona. We were thrilled by this. It seemed like a dream come true.
We were tired from wearing ourselves out in Seville so when we saw how amazing and relaxing the beach looked, Jess said this was like “the vacation from our vacation.”
We didn’t spend too much idle time on the beach, however. While in Barcelona we saw the Cathedral, walked to for over an hour then toured the Sagrada Familia, walked through Gaudi’s Parc Güell and toured Gaudi’s house, saw the major fountain show in Monjüic, and even went salsa dancing.
One of my favorite things about Barcelona was that my sister and I figured out the metro system. It felt so cool to be able to figure out and get where you need to go. This is something I would have never thought we would be able to do, but we did it. And we did it well!
One of the most annoying things about Barcelona is the constant selling of things up and down the beach. Women walking around offering massages non stop. Men waking around selling “agua, beer, coca cola, water, cerveza…” amoung other things like mojitos, blankets… Really anything you can think of. I’ll never forget this. Jess and I were thinking “Whatever happened to the ice cream man on the beach?!” We prefer that much more.
Eventually, it was time to leave Barcelona. But before we said goodbye, we stopped for a huge and delicious lunch at the Hard Rock Café compliments of our grandmother (thanks gmom!). The Hard Rock brought back memories from home both because of times we had went before (Annie!) and because of the delicious American food.
Off to another airport. Onto another plane. Off to our next destination!!!!

Location: Barcelona, España