Lucy's European Adventure: October 2009

After Barcelona, it was on to San Sebastion for 4 nights. When we arrived, we could not find any accommodation. After over 1 hour of searching with 20kg packs on our back, we finally found a room but it was a bit out of the central area. We stayed at'Pension Fany' for 2 nights before finding a backpackers in the old quarter of San Sebastian (this cost 25 euro/night/person, the most expensive accommodation of our trip!) In San Sebastian we ate pinxoa, the Basque version of tapas, which was quite nice. You pick what you want from the plates on the bar, then the bar staff prepare each item for you and serve them on separate plates.
On our first full day in San Sebastian we caught a bus to Bilbao, a city quite close. Bilbao is the home of the famous Guggenheim by Frank O'Gehry. It was amazing, the entire building is clad in 0.5mm thick titanium panels, except for the areas of glass. There are no straight lines in the building either, it is made up of organic shapes and curves! The actual city of Bilbao wasn't that impressive, it is very industrial.
The next day we explored San Sebastian. We visited the churches, the summer palace of Spanish royals, the wind combs on the cliff and the fortress in the centre of the city. The next two days were lazy days. On my last day in San Sebastian I was by myself because Pat and Erin had caught the train to Valencia whereas I was catching an overnight bus. It turned out that this day had the best weather and I spent the day lying on the beach! My bus left at 9:00pm on Saturday 22 August and I arrived in Valencia at 5:00am the next morning.

San Sebastian Cathedral

The Bilbao Guggenheim-titanium panels

The Bilbao Guggenheim

The view of San Sebastian from the fort in the centre of the old quarter

The wind combs

Spanish royal's summer Palace

After a 22 hour flight, 11 hours waiting in Heathrow and another 2 hour flight, Pat and I finally arrived at Barcelona airport at 7:00pm on 11/08/09. It was about 35 degrees outside, a lovely change after coming from Victorian winter. Leish and Jess met us at the airport and took us and our year's supply of luggage to an appartment close to La Rambla, a very central location in Barcelona. In the apartment were also Jim and Cam, 2 guys from uni also studying overseas. The 6 of us went out for paella and sangria at 10:30pm, which in Barcelona, is apparently quite normal!!
Our first full day in Spain we did a lot of sight seeing (and walking). We saw Antoni Gaudi's amazing architecture achievements: Casa Batilo, Casa Mila, Segrada Familia and Park Guell. Segrada Familia is like nothing I have ever seen and photos do not do it justice. It is the only Cathedral/temple being built at the present and still has about 30 years until completion (there is still a lot of work to do!) It is unlike any other religious cathedral, all its elements represent nature so the design is very dynamic with undulating curves and odd shapes replacing the normal straight lines and geometric shapes. For lunch I had my first European baguette (something I will never tire of!) That night we ate tapas, Spanish food is amazing!
The next day Leish, Jess and Cam left for uni so Pat, Jim and I moved to a hostel. Erin, Pat's sister joined us a couple of days later. During our stay we also visited the Olympic stdium, the beach, the Gothic quarter, where we saw the Cathedral and the Picaso museum. We also saw Mies Van Der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion, a building that Pat and I have studied. It was so interesting; just walking into it, you felt more peaceful and relaxed despite still being in the centre of Barcelona.
During our stay, I also caught up with Dani, a friend of Tim's who lives in Barcelona. He took Pat, Ez and I to the Gracia festival. It was spectacular-all the streets in the area were closed and all the people that lived there had created large street displays. There were paper mache mythical creatures, the universe's creation made from straws and foam, a street that had been turned into a tram, the list goes on. There were also performances including human pyramids and dancing. The effort was amazing.
We stayed in Barcelona for 7 nights. It is an amazing city!