Barcelona Pt. 1

On October 25th, we left Madrid for Barcelona by train where we were planning on spending the weekend. When we got to Barcelona we all immediately fell in love with the city. Maybe it was because our overall experience in Madrid wasn't great and we were just happy to finally be in a sunny place because it rained the whole time in Madrid, or maybe it was because Barcelona just gave off a great first impression, regardless we were pumped to be there. All Friday night we just walked down the main strip to the beach and the massive dock (pictured to the right) and hung out there for most of the night. Later we would figure out the exact distance we walked multiple times from the hostel to the beach was around 2.5 miles but we didn't care because it felt great there. A few of us woke up and decided we wanted to do the Fat Tire Bike Tour in Barcelona because we felt like it was the best way to see the city and figured it was worth the money. We biked around seventeen kilometers total and saw the main historic sites of the city. We learned that the beaches sand isn't actually natural sand, and how it's imported every few years from the Sahara desert. One of my favorite sites was the old bull fighting arena purely because that sport fascinates me. Unfortunately the sport has been outlawed, at least in Barcelona, but the arena was still cool to see. It was also interesting seeing the differences in the culture from Madrid to Barcelona. First off, they have their own version if Spanish called Catalan. Also, Barcelona is pushing for independence from Spain and it is a very rare thing to see a Spanish flag flying in the Barcelona. Instead everywhere you look you see Catalonian flags (which I like better honestly.) It is still up in the air whether or not they will actually gain independence, but they are for sure pushing for it and are very proud people when it comes to their roots. After the bike tour I set off for a big soccer match, which is where I will end this post. Until next time. 

By the way, I'm finally back in Bath, so my best pictures are getting put up!