Something no one really realizes when they are about to spend six weeks in Madrid is how landlocked the city is. Growing up in NYC and then moving to Orlando, I never considered either place to have ocean views everywhere you looked. But having the river in Manhattan and Lake Virginia in Winter Park was substantial exposure to some sort of breeze and relief from hot days. Well, when we reached week four and it was the peak of the heat wave, I was feeling how landlocked we truly were. I longed for any sort of body of water that could give me relief from the scorching heat.
Thankfully, we had arranged a weekend in Barcelona just as the heat was starting to get to us. The most exciting part upon our arrival to Barcelona was the sight of a hotel pool facing the ocean. The atmosphere was infinitely better because there was finally a breeze. Barcelona felt twenty degrees cooler than Madrid and it was nice to finally feel like I could breathe again.
In addition to the joys of fresh air, the sites of Barcelona blew me away. Barcelona definitely felt more like a tourist trap than Madrid but to finally see Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia in person felt so unreal. Finally going to Parc Guell fulfilled my childhood Cheetah Girls dream of singing Strut down the streets of Barcelona. What the movie doesn’t tell you is how far all of these sights are from each other. Luckily the Sagrada Familia was not too far away and exceeds all expectations I had. The outside feels even grander in real life with the incredible detailing. But the inside is incredible; highly recommend getting a guided tour though. There are so many interesting facts about Gaudí’s research that went into the actualization of his designs. Learning about these techniques while walking through the church was one of the most incredible artistic experiences I had in Spain.
