After further consideration the decision was to made to take the train ride over to Spain where the next logical stop was Barcelona. We arrived and we immediately felt the heat. It was early October and we had to turn on the air conditioning in our room. The hostel had some great facilities and we even had some girls from Vancouver as roommates.
We started our first full day in Barcelona by taking a walk down La Rambla. La Rambla is basically a 1.2 kilometer long tree lined pedestrian mall in the Barri Gòtic or Gothic Quarter. It connects Plaça Catalunya in the center with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell. For the most part it was full of street theatre, cafés and market stalls. After walking La Rambla we ventured into the Barri Gòtic which was basically the old town that had narrow alleys filled with mostly shops, bars and restaurants.
As we entered the main square we noted some loud noises and quite the police presence. The square was filled with what we believed to be firemen protesting about something. This protest mostly consisted of smoke bombs, fire works and loud gunpowder cannons going off. As well there where banners and what not. Not quite like the protests at home. Although the police where in full riot gear with lots of backup we figured the potential for a police firefighter riot was fairly low, so we left the square and found a nice place where we had our first taste of piallar.
Piallar is a rice dish filled with seasoning and various meats. That night we hung out at the hostel where we met some more Canadians that where in Europe riding their BMX bikes.
When we woke up the next day it was pouring rain so we put in some needed internet time and did some laundry. That night we had planned to go on a pub crawl with the Canadians we met the night before and their German roommate. As it turned out we arrived at the meeting point to late, so we went to an Irish pub that we had seen the day before instead. The night was still young after the pub so we decided to find a club. As it turned out we stumbled upon a rather large club that was playing some good music. We ended up leaving there around 430. Remember this is Spain.
The next day we visited Sagrada Família. This building is basically a huge temple designed by Gaudi. Claimed to be the most visited construction site in the world, even in its current sate it is very impressive. So far on the trip we have visited a fair number of cathedrals but this one takes the cake. It has numerous spires with a facade covered in intricate carvings of various religious images.
Later that day we visited a large park with a huge zoo that ended up closing soon after we arrived, so we decided to just enjoy the warm weather by a large fountain.
From the park we checked out the harbour.
That evening we went to a bar where we actually found some American Football being played on t.v.
As we entered the main square we noted some loud noises and quite the police presence. The square was filled with what we believed to be firemen protesting about something. This protest mostly consisted of smoke bombs, fire works and loud gunpowder cannons going off. As well there where banners and what not. Not quite like the protests at home. Although the police where in full riot gear with lots of backup we figured the potential for a police firefighter riot was fairly low, so we left the square and found a nice place where we had our first taste of piallar.
Piallar is a rice dish filled with seasoning and various meats. That night we hung out at the hostel where we met some more Canadians that where in Europe riding their BMX bikes.When we woke up the next day it was pouring rain so we put in some needed internet time and did some laundry. That night we had planned to go on a pub crawl with the Canadians we met the night before and their German roommate. As it turned out we arrived at the meeting point to late, so we went to an Irish pub that we had seen the day before instead. The night was still young after the pub so we decided to find a club. As it turned out we stumbled upon a rather large club that was playing some good music. We ended up leaving there around 430. Remember this is Spain.
The next day we visited Sagrada Família. This building is basically a huge temple designed by Gaudi. Claimed to be the most visited construction site in the world, even in its current sate it is very impressive. So far on the trip we have visited a fair number of cathedrals but this one takes the cake. It has numerous spires with a facade covered in intricate carvings of various religious images.
Later that day we visited a large park with a huge zoo that ended up closing soon after we arrived, so we decided to just enjoy the warm weather by a large fountain.
From the park we checked out the harbour.
That evening we went to a bar where we actually found some American Football being played on t.v.
After the tower we walked over to the Champs-Élysées and figured it would be a good time to get a quality french meal on the Champs out of the way. It was delicious. Later that afternoon we had to switch hostels because we where unable to book a single hostel for the entire stay in Paris. As it turned out this was a good thing. The second hostel was located in a much more typically Parisian Neighbourhood. There where Bakeries and Pasty shops all over and many cafès as well. In addition, the guy from Washington that worked the front desk put us in a private room for the same price as the 6 person we booked. Sweet. Plus there was a TV in the room so we could watch the economy nose dive live.
That night we went to the Louvre and saw among other famous paintings the Mona Lisa. 
While at the festival we decided that the trip was going good but we had had enough of the cool weather. So instead of going to Brussels Monday we would go to Paris for the Auto show and the many other sites and then head south to Greece. 
