Barcelona: 1st footstep on European soil
Day 1
Pretty excited to finally land my first footstep on European soil. Today embarks my first of 29 days of my European trip (grad trip as well). The temperature isn't cold even though we are already in the middle of fall. I may regret saying this when I travel further up north to UK/Netherlands.
In Barcelona, we stayed at an apartment in Saint Andreu, around 30 minutes subway away from city centre. Interesting to find that our first day of this trip is already luxurious. For my first "hostel" experience, I didn't expect the conditions and amenities that we were provided with. This was not booked through AirBNB. Neat eh?
We wasted no time and immediately took the subway to find the famous church - Sagrada Familia. With no surprise, the closest subway stop to this church is called "Sagrada Familia". Easy to find!
We took the escalator up and we found this beautiful Art Deco architecture style church. This church is designed by Antoni Gaudi, which I later discovered that he pretty much designed the whole city Barcelona. This church looks like a massive cake with six candles standing straight on top.
You may be surprised by how long construction took (and still in construction). Construction began in 1882 and it is scheduled to be complete by 2026.
The facade is carefully carved out with many (hundreds probably) of human statues, gargoyles and turtles
The interior is just as impressive. The design is inspired by forest tree trunks. The pillars mimick the setting of a forest.
Later, we visited La Pedrera which again, has an interesting design.
At night, we explored the old town at Placa de Saint Jaume and Santa Maria del Mar.
In Barcelona, we were treated with the sight of macaroon/gelato. I wouldn't be surprised if I have better gelato once I'm in Italy.
At the end, to cap off an adventurous night, we checked out this hidden gem of Barcelona - Espit Chupitos! A very famous bar in Barcelona that supplies more than 150 different shots. We tried some shots called Boy Scout and Harry Potter. The bartender basically lit the counter on fire and have us drink the shots with a straw while the shot glass was on fire. Pretty cool!
That's what I'm takling about.
