A visit to Barcelona

This past weekend, I visited Barcelona—the city that has undoubtedly made its way to the top of my list of favorites in just three quick days.

It’s a grand city on the eastern coast of Spain, and the largest in Spain’s Catalonia province. Barcelona is situated on the crystal-clear blue Mediterranean Sea, with an unbelievable mountain range backdrop. The architecture of the city is a really cool mix between new and modern (buildings like the arc-shaped W Hotel), surrounded by all sorts of old, Antoni Gaudí-like architecture.I took full advantage of the time I had to do as much site seeing as I could. The site of the 1992 Olympics, Montjuïc is a popular neighborhood among tourists. All of the Olympic facilities are still open, and walking around the compound makes me wish I was there 20 years ago. Since it’s atop a hill, it was also perfect for seeing the city from a bird’s-eye view, and what a beautiful city it is. I took a nice gondola ride across the bay where I also saw some of the most famous monuments in the city.

I conquered one major fear I anticipated I would face in the Spanish peninsula: Seafood. At a beachside restaurant, I opted against the chicken and went for the real thing: the seafood paella. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish, which consists of rice (usually curry flavored) topped with vegetables and a variety of seafood. I forced myself to try squid, prawns, and scampi (what looked like mini-lobsters). Surprisingly, I really liked the scampi, yet definitely didn’t appreciate the rubbery texture of the squid. The biggest taste test of all that day was the mussel. Mussels are supposed to be very tasty in Spain; unfortunately this one was a bit sandy and definitely not as tasty as I had hoped. Hey, at least I tried it.