Barcelona

From Paris, we flew to Barcelona on a quick hour-long flight.  Our flight was delayed by an hour and a  half because air traffic controllers were striking in France, which apparently is a common occurrence?  I wasn't too disappointed because it meant that I got another hour to sleep on the flight :)
After we checked into our hostel, which was a really cute place despite my worries from the pictures online, we decided to wander the streets of Barcelona.  You could instantly feel the difference in culture between France and Spain.  It was a much more relaxed, friendly atmosphere that was much needed as we were all stressed and tired from our first week in Europe.

We eventually made our way down to Port Vell.

Ryan and I passed out on the beach while the rest of the crew wandered the beach.  We eventually had pizza and clara beer while enjoying the sunshine port-side.

On our way back to town we stumbled upon this candy shop where I got the best ice cream that I have eaten on this trip yet.  It was really unique and creating desserts was like an artwork to them.  We'll see if gelato from Rome can top it!

With ice cream in hand, we made our way up the famous street La Ramblas to check out the unique shops and street artists.  This was my favorite performer,

This was another impressive street artist, posed as a human statue.  When you tipped her she let you  take a picture while she rode her bike before resuming her pose.

Near the end of La Ramblas was this wonderful market filled with produce, meats, and many other yummy treats.   We were so tempted by it that we ended up here the next day for lunch to get some paella.  Below are several pictures that I took inside the market; I was in awe over how alive it was with colors and culture.

Our next day was spent wandering the streets of Barcelona.  The entire city is constructed of small alleyways with specialized shops for candy, candels, trinkets, anything you can think of for that matter!  Below was my favorite, a music shop, that I couldn't help but take a picture of for Tessa :)

We then decided to find the famous buildings of Antoni Gaudi.  Featured above  is Casa Batllo.

Above and below are pictures of his famous cathedral, La Sagrada Familia.  It was definitely my favorite of the ones that we saw and left a really strong impression.  

With less than a day left in Barcelona, we decided to explore Park Guell.  This is the view from the park, you can see La Sagrada Familia in the distance!

We also spotted the famous lizard!

Ryan was excited because he did a high school Spanish project on it.