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Being a Tourist in my City for the Weekend

By Stefania Tutra

This past weekend, most of my study abroad friends were away (whether it be at Oktoberfest or a weekend getaway in Paris), but I stayed home in Barcelona. I knew I wanted to do and see as much as possible as this was my last weekend here for a little while (I am traveling for the next five weekends in a row). This became an easy task because one of my closest friends at GW, my sorority sister Elizabeth, flew into Barca for the weekend from Sevilla. Elizabeth arrived with her three other friends on Thursday evening. They were starving after their flight so we went to a tapas bar close to their AirBnB, which was located in one of my favorite neighborhoods, Gracia. We had the classic 10pm Spanish dinner filled with patatas bravas, croquettes, pan con tomato, and of course, sangria. We had an early night as we knew we were going to have an action-packed following day. On Friday, we went to the typical most popular Barcelona tourist destinations — Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia. As a friendly tip for anyone planning to visit, book your tickets in advance for these two as they WILL sell out. Also, if you are visiting on a weekend, be prepared to wait a good 20 minutes at Parc Guell if you want to get your perfect Instagram photo at the iconic multi-colored mosaic benches. After Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia, we walked along Passeig de Gracia to do some shopping, as well as walked by the iconic Gaudi-style houses Casa Batllo and Casa Mila.

On Elizabeth’s last full day here (Saturday), we got a bit of a late start in the day but spent most of it around the Gothic Quarter neighborhood. Elizabeth and her friends toured the inside of the Palace of Music (Palau de La Musica Catalana) which they said was incredible. I did not get the chance to go inside because I arrived late but it is beautiful on the outside and I definitely plan on touring it at some point in the next two months. Afterwards, we went inside of the ancient Barcelona Cathedral. This cathedral is one of my favorites as I think it is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Spain. I am always walking past this cathedral daily after class, so I was thrilled to finally get the chance to see it from inside. After the cathedral, I decided to take Elizabeth and her friends to explore the narrow streets of the Gothic quarter. We did some window shopping, and stopped at a hole-in-the-wall empanada restaurant called “La Fabrica.” Not going to lie, the four cheese empanada I ordered was probably the best empanada I’ve had in my lifetime. We then walked along Las Ramblas, purse in hand trying to not get pick-pocketed, and to the famous La Boqueria Market. It was my first time truly exploring La Boqueria and I was overwhelmed by the amount of amazing, endless food displayed. I wanted to try everything but I settled on some gelato and a fruit smoothie. After a long day of walking and exploring, it was siesta time. We ended our day with more tapas at a restaurant in the “El Born” neighborhood. Elizabeth and her friends loved Barcelona and said it was their favorite city they’ve visited in Spain thus far. It was an amazing weekend for all of us, and especially sweet to have a close friend visit and remind me of home.