Beaches and Burns

Au Revoir Paris and Hola Barcelona!



We arrived in Barcelona after a 12 hour train ride, but we got nice beds so we were able to sleep this time on our ride. The day we left Paris, we got kicked out of our hotel at noon and then we were basically homeless in a park for 8 hours until our train left at 8 in the evening. Luckily, our train station was nice to a famous park, Jardin des Plantes. It was beautiful and large. It even had a zoo! Scott and Jara wanted to rest, so I decided to explore a little more of Paris.

I went and explore Shakespeare and Company in the Latin Quarter and more of the island that Notre Dame is on.

Our last meal in Paris was McDonalds. Yes...McDonalds. But I was actually impressed. I ordered a Daim (a type of toffee candy) McFlurry. But check out what the McFlurry says...

Flurrr it yourself...so you have to mix it.

Oh and the bathrooms had a passcode and the receipt had the code on it...I thought that was creative!
So when we arrived in Barcelona at 8 am this morning, our first stop was the laundrymat! Our dirty clothes were stinking up the rest of our clean clothes, so we need an intervention. Then we checked into our lovely hotel! We love our hotel! It is on the famous street, La Rambla. The street is full of street performers, shops, and restaurants. And we have A/C and a free breakfast! Whoo Hoo!

The view of La Rambla from our hotel balcony

Then it was off to the beach! We are just a short walk from the beautiful beaches of Barceloneta (the area of Barcelona). The beaches were packed, because it was such a beautiful day! We swam in the ocean and laid out for the afternoon. We came back lobsters...burnt to a crisp. We changed and went back to the beach for dinner.

Port Vell

The Beach at Barceloneta

Where we ate dinner


My goal in Barcelona, since I know more Spanish (so I know what I'm ordering...finally), is to order something that I couldn't necessarily get in America and that is special to Spain. So I ordered Gazpacho and a tapa called Chicken Croquete. Both were very good! The picture below beside my gazpacho is a picture of Scott's hamburger with ham and a fried egg. He wanted me to share this because he said it was in the "Top 3 Hamburgers he has ever had."

Then I was tempted by the ice cream shop next door. I'm so glad I gave into the temptation! It was worth it! And the scoops are so much bigger than Paris!

Then we all did some shopping and then walked the infamous La Rambla to see the sights!
Barcelona is full of random artwork. I love it! And I thought Barcelona would still be a bit crazy for just winning the world cup but I was wrong. We haven't seen much besides soccer balls and jerseys.

Random artwork...try to find my sunburn...it's not hard!

Three Things I Learned Today:

1. People (young and old) like to sunbathe topless on the beaches of Barcelona.

2. The Barcelona sand is SOO hot that it literally burns your feet.

3. Gazpacho is cold.

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