Barcelona, we meet again!

Though it's the 2nd largest city in Spain and the 4th most visited city in Europe after Paris, Rome, & London, it took two visits for me to fully appreciate the city.

I have to admit my first visit was a bit unfair - friends who had visited/studied there hyped it up so much, our 1-day visit during orientation (on the day of a nationwide strike in Spain) was nowhere near enough time to get a proper feel for the city. The second time around I had more time, got to see a long-time friend, and had a completely different experience.

Hi Pukar!

First was the obligatory tour through the gothic quarter, catching sight of a few landmarks we hadn't seen on my last trip.

Monument for Catalunya's independence

The day was beautiful so we had to visit the beach afterwards (don't have pictures of this, sorry), and a swanky spot for dinner where we got free champagne and delicious wine.

The next day, I got a closer look at several of Antoni Gaudi's works around the city (not including La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell, which I saw last time).

Güell Palace

Casa Batlló

Casa Milà

Spent the afternoon in a cute park out by the Arc of Trionf and tried to rest up before heading out for a night on the town.

The evening was then spent accidentally ordering enough tapas to feed a small army (maybe I can steal pictures from the others as photographic evidence of how much food it turned out to be) and meeting up with another friend to check out a bar and a club. A few drinks, some good laughs, and a couple taxi rides later, our last night in Barcelona had come to an end. More than anything, I'm glad that a few more people got a glimpse of (and loved!) the wonderful country I have called home for the past few months <3