After getting back to my room with the girls in the early hours of the morning from the night before I found Tamara was passed out in my bed so I jumped into the single bed with Rachael and we snuggled all morning lol Rachael, Tamara and I were sooo tired that morning and we weren't feeling the best so we decided to skip breakfast and the Contiki drop off into Barcelona that morning and head in a little bit later. We slept in until about 9am and then decided to get up. With Tamara still vomiting in the hotel gardens and feeling seedy we caught a cab into the city. We looked at Mia's map and 'Things to do in Barcelona' sheet and chose to head straight to the one of the most famous sites in all of Spain The La Segrada Familia. The La Segrada Familia was Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece 100yrs in the making and the most popular site in Barcelona. Gaudi devised a temple 95m long, 60m wide and able to seat 16,000 people in the central tower 160m high!Although still a building site you are able to visit the completed sections and the museum also has guided tours. I was amazed at how high it was and I'd never seen anything like this before in my life!The queues were massive, as we had been told so rather than waste our time in the line we decided to have tapas at a Spanish restaurant across the road while we admired the amazing site.
We ordered lots of small dishes of tapas which were delicious and just what Rachael and I needed after not having dinner the night before or breakfast that morning. Tamara on the other hand was feeling rather green and was sitting at the table looking pale and sick lol Usually me on most mornings after a huge night out!All of a sudden she got up quickly and started spewing on the pavement all the way to the bin. Meanwhile the locals and the tourists walking by were all staring and we couldn't help but laugh. One lady even gave Tamara a tissue to wipe her mouth with lol After she had stopped spewing she said to us that she was going all the way back to the hotel to sleep....She loved the sites of Barcelona.....oh wait she missed them until that night baaahaa so funny!All of us girls had an over the top drunk messy night and this was hers....ha
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| Me and the amazing La Segrada Familia |
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| Tamara vomiting in the bin at the most famous site in Barcelona!baaahaa |
After eating our tapas Rach and I caught the Metro into another famous area of Barcelona called La Rambla. La Rumbla is said to be the crazy Spanish cousin of the Champs Elysees in Paris and is the most talked about boulevard of Barcelona and Spain in general. There was everything from human statues, street performers, musicians and outside restaurants. Tt was sooo hot and the weather was beautiful so Rachael and I grabbed a bite to eat and some Sangria at a small, outside restaurant. We sipped on Sangria and ate pizzas that came out on hot plates which was cool. I remember it was my beautiful sister Ashleigh's birthday and I had called her that morning at the hotel before leaving to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!I didn't get to talk for long as the hotel's phone went through all of my change so quickly but I got to talk to her while she was out for dinner with the family which was nice. I sat there and had a sangria with Rachael for you that day Ashleigh and even though I couldn't be there with you I was thinking of you mwaaah Love You!
After we finished eating we walked through the packed streets of tourists, street performers and Gypsy's blowing annoying whistles with their mouths towards the Mercat de La Boqueria food markets halfway down the La Rambla. The food market was huge!My uncle Heath is a fruiterer back home in Wellington and owns his own Fruit Shop called 'Roundman's Fruit and Veg'. I remember thinking to myself he would have loved the selection and displays of fruit, vegetables and many other things the markets had to offer. Mia told us to be very careful of pickpockets in this area as they are known for stealing peoples bags and wallets here. There were some intense smells going on in the markets and some really weird types of foods. We walked through the crowds of people and had some freshly squeezed juices which were so cold and refreshing!
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| Me drinking a freshly squeezed juice at the food markets |
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| So many juices to choose from! |
Rachael and I walked back through La Rambla and saw some super cool caricature artists with their artworks on display. We decided to get one as I had always wanted one of myself and they were quite cheap. We chose an artist that did them whilst using a quirky spin of what people actually looked like. She got us to sit down one at a time only taking about 20 minutes to do both Rachael and I. We loved the picture and it is now currently hanging in Rachael's new apartment in London :)
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| Me sitting down getting my caricature done on the famous La Rambla strip |
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| The end result of Rachael and I lol Funny! |
We then looked around at some shops and decided to head back an hour early to our pick up point which was near the Hard Rock Cafe. Rachael and I sat in the Placa De Cataluna sun baking, relaxing and people watching until it was time do meet up with the rest of the group to head to the Flamenco show. Tamara had managed to make it back to the pick up point to join the rest of us girl for some Spanish fun which was awesome.
Profirio picked us up and drove us along with Mia to a Spanish Flamenco show which was part of the optionals included with Contiki. We walked in and sat down in front of a stage where the performers would come out and dance for us. We were handed out more yummy tapas and jugs of Sangria. We watched lots of different types of Flamenco where they either danced to the beat of a guitar, castanets or hand percussion (capping) to make the music. It was interesting but I think I'd like to go watch Flamenco dancing again when I travel back through Spain in a more upbeat and vibrant setting. At the end the MC got people from our group to get up on stage and dance. I was freaking out because I wasn't that drunk and I didn't want to get up and even went out for a smoke when I thought I was going to be chosen lol To finish the guy taught us all some modern Latin dances and we all danced and had a good time.
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| Spanish Flamenco Dancer at the show we watched |
After diner we walked along the Marina in Barcelona and we could choose anywhere we liked to sit and eat. Our group along with Taylor, Mia and Profirio sat down and began to order. Tamara and I decided to order some tapas dishes of cuddle fish, chicken croquettes and deep fried shrimp wrapped in fried potato curls. Our food was so yummy and tasty. I think I could eat tapas all day and all night if I could! A few of the other girls had Paella which is a famous Spanish dish of cooked rice and mainly seafood.
Following dinner we had the choice to either party another night in Barcelona or head back to the hotel. A few people went out but not too many and I decided to stay on the bus and head home with the girls. I wanted to upload some of the photos I had taken and the girls wanted to do their washing as they were running out of clean clothes. That night it took me about 4 hours to upload my Paris photos!!!The computers were so annoying and slow!I also did abit of washing while everyone else slept while I was waiting and then headed off to bed.
Adios Amigo!Love the Tapas Eating Backpacker
x
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