So a brief of overview of Barce before I go into what we saw. In case you don't know, it is in the region of Catalunya. This region has its own language called Catalan. It is similar to Spanish in some ways but it is different enough to be distinguished as its own language. Luckily enough I never encountered anyone who only adamantly spoke Catalan so getting around wasn't bad. Most signs are in Catalan but with the knowledge of Spanish it was pretty easily to get by.
We stayed for four days because I knew it would be a large city and it would be hard to see everything. Here's a list of the things we saw:
La Sagrada Familia, a famous Cathedral that was designed by Barcelona's revered Antoni Gaudi. He's designs are truly wonders. It is a totally unique experience to see his designs. Although, I am not a fan of modernist art, his architecture is ingenious.
Despite how amazing it looks from inside, the view from the top is a million times better. The view is of the entire city. Since it was the first day in Barcelona, the view of the entire city was a pretty good overview of what we needed to see/do. We took an elevator up but to get down we had to walk down a million windy and narrow staircases. It was a great workout!
Font Magic, near the famous Barcelona Soccer Team Stadium and Plaza Espanya. At night there is fountain show where the fountain lights up and sprays water in crazy but cool ways. The show lasts for about 1 hour with music accompaniment. We found a free patch of grass, popped a squat and ate our dinner as we watched the light show.
Parc Guell, one of Gaudi's designs in the corner of Barcelona's city center. It was a hike to get up to the Park but definitely worth it because after you reach the top you see another wonderful view of the city. The park had two mini "homes" that functioned as the entrance and in the center of the entrance is a view of the large infrastructure of pure Gaudi design. Once you pass that you climb to the top and there is a hill of crosses where you can see the entire city.
Parc Ciutadella, the park in the city center. It had an awesome fountain in the corner of the park (shown below). There was a pond with mini rowboats as well. It was a pretty tranquil environment. That was probably why it attracted the huge crowd of Bohemian people lounging around on the grass. The center of the park was a walk way where stalls of ethnic food and nic nacs could be purchased.
Placa Espanya, like I mentioned in the Sevilla post everyone Spanish city has a Plaza de España. However, in Barcelona the Catalan version of it is spelled differently.
La Casa Gaudi, another amazing design of Gaudi's.
Arc de Triomp, like the "Triumph Arc" in Paris, this Arc is a must-see in Barcelona. We had a view of this often because our hostal was just a 5min walk away from this and it was on-route to the metro so every day we got to see this.
What I've learned about traveling is that most cities offer free walking tours. The trick is to find out exactly where the meet and when. It pays to do these tours because you get a great tour of the city and you also get to find out about the history of the city which makes it more interesting to see.
One day as we walked down to the Port Vell (the main Port of Barce) we saw a "teleferico" which was a sky line from the beach to Montjuic. The teleferico gave you the view of the Playa Barceloneta, Port Vell, La Rambla and a view of Montjuic. Here's just a preview:
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