Barcelona, el primer día

This weekend Itraveled to Barcelona with my friend's Adam and Bret. We had an absolute blast and in two and half days were able to see a great deal. We took an 8 hour night bus from Bilbao to Barcelona on thursday night and arrived in Barcelona at about 6:30 in the morning. The sun wasnt up yet and the streets were empty. I wasnt the one who booked the hostal so I really didnt know where it was. Fortunately we knew what street it was on and we were able to ask some cops how to get there. We then walked a few blocks trying to find the street. We walked by Barcelona's version of the arc de triumph and then we started walking through some narrow streets. We were actually in the old town and didnt even realize it. On the way we ended up passing it, but we got to Gran Vía (Great Way) which is one of the main streets that crosses Barcelona. We stopped at Starbucks so that we could get a big coffee and asked for more directions and continued walking. the sun was starting to come up and people were starting appear on the streets. The hotel our street is on is the other main street that runs perpindicular to Gran Vía and its called Passeig de Gracia. This was a very wide boulevard and we were about 3 blocks up. We found our hostel and locked our stuff in a luggage room and had breakfast. Because it was 8 and we couldnt officially check in for 3 hours we decided to go and explore rather than be lazy and wait.
We walked up the street and walked by one of the famous modernisme houses. This one had several ceramic towers on its outside and was very unique looking. Further up there was a famous building from Gaudí called La Pedera and because it wasnt expensive, we went in a took a tour. The outside of this building is very unique in that the facade is rounded and seems to have rolls. It is very difficult to describe because I have never seen a similary designed building. I took tons of pictures. Inside was also very cool. Gaudí designed the building to harness natural light and there are internal courtyards to let it in. As we walked through we were informed that the buildings weight is supported by a few strng pillars on the outside and inside and that the internal walls could thus by arranged as desired by the tenet. The windows are very large so as to let in the natural light. It was very elegant. The roof however was another new experience for me. Guadí disguised the buildings pillars and chimneys with modernisme arcitecture. Again one would have to see pictures to understand it. from up top though we could see over much of Barcelona. We could see the Sagrada Familia, Gaudís famous and still incomplete cathedral so we dicided to walk there next.
Barcelona is divided into two main areas, El eixample and la ciutat vella/barrí gotíc. the latter is the old town and lacks a cohesive organizing principle and the former is the new town which is laid out in grids. Eixample since it was constructed later was built for walking! There are long wide avenues with lots of sidewalk space. The buildings here all have that elegant 19th century arqitecture and look really nice. We walked stopping at some shops to buy snacks. Then we got to the Sagrada Familia. It was amazing! The design is again something completely different traditional cathredals. You would have to see it to understand. This place was of course loaded with other tourists from all over. The cathredral is still under construction because its entirely funded by private donations and collections. Consequently there are several cranes and scaffoldings and lots construction equipment everywhere distorting the view of the cathredal. Nevertheless it was very cool.
Next we decided to see the famous Prac Guell, but because we were told it was very far away and up hill, we took the metro. Some friends of ours from USAC who were also in Barcelona were just leaving and we talked to them for a while. One of the girls actually opted to come with us because we were more serious about site seeing than the others were. The parc was very cool and also full of tourists. We had lunch there in the sun and then walked around. It was a very interested place and different from traditional parks. it went up the hill and there was less grass then one might expect. At the front there is a cool ceramic lizard and cavern like place full of columns. Above that there is a terrace that overlooks much of Barcelona. Needless to say we took a lot of pictures. After that it was started to get dark so we decided to walk back to our hostal and get organized for the evening. We had made plans to go meet our USAC friends at their hostal which was on la rambla a very famous and popular street. After checking into our own place and eating dinner we headed out.
La Rambla or Las Ramblas was down three blocks and across a big plaza called Placa de Catalunya. This is a pededtrian zone that was full of tourists and locals. There were tons of people and shops and restaurants everywhere. There were tons of street performers doing gymnastics tricks, breakdancing, art, and there were several people painted up in costumes. It was a very lively place with tons to do and see. We met our friends but they were finishing naps and still had to get ready. Their hostal was in a plaza just off la Rambla and since we didnt want to sit around and wait for an hour we went and explored the area. We ended up in a big plaza in front of the old Cathredral of Barcelona. We just hung out and eventually started talking to an Italian couple for a bit who were in town for Valentines day.
finally it was time to meet back up with our friends. thier hostal had tons of kids and you could tell it was a party hostal. We hung out and talked to all different kinds of people because we were waiting for the hostal organized trip to a club. We went out and explored la Rambla more and there was tons of young people out and about. Then we met the organizers and headed to the club, we said we were staying iwth our friends in the hostal and got in for free and partied until it was time to go home. Walking up la rambla late at night is much different because it is a bit seedier. Fortunately everyone was mindful of their things and no one had any problems.