First Day of Sight-Seeing in Barcelona

Today was our first full day spent in Barcelona, and this city is absolutely amazing!  The weather is gorgeous, but not as warm as I had thought.  Today was nice and sunny, and hovered around 70 degrees.  The sun is a welcome change, though, as the weather in Germany was gloomy and cold.

We started the day with a group bus and walking tour through various important points throughout the city, with the first stop being Montjuic.  We saw a beautiful panoramic view of the city, and our guide was able to point to the various locations we will be exploring later in the tour from this birds-eye view of Barcelona.

Also located on Montjuic are a couple of botanical gardens, which look amazing, the Joan Miro museum, and some of the swimming pools built for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.  This is certainly a great location to take a stroll!  There happens to be a gathering for Harley Davidson enthusiasts called Harley Days in Barcelona, and over 10,000 Harley's took to the streets today.  We saw bikes at most of the locations we explored today.

Afterwards, we went into the more main part of the city, where we were introduced to various important points within the city.  One of these points was the Olympic Village, the area that housed all of the 1992 Olympians, now a bustling part of town, right on the water.  Prominently displayed in this area is a fish sculpture by Frank Gehry, the man who designed "the bean" in Chicago.  There is also a beautiful marina near the Olympic Village.

We went to a lot of the architecturally significant places, old and new.  Barcelona and Chicago have in common great architecture, and since our guide specializes in architecture, he is able to make a lot of references to Chicago architecture, which I appreciate.

On one of our stops in front of an old Gothic church, we were able to enjoy some live music and see a traditional Catalan dance called the Sardana. This was truly a unique and enjoyable cultural experience!

After our tour, students were able to do some exploring with their friends and eat lunch.  I ate the most amazing paella I have ever had in my life!

 After our free-time, we met back at the hostel to freshen up and get ready for dinner.  We then headed as a group down the main strip called La Rambla, which has many artisans selling jewelry, art, crafts, caricatures, souvenirs, etc.  

Everything we have experienced thus far on the tour has been absolutely incredible.  The students have been amazing so far, which has made the tour very enjoyable for the chaperones, as well.  What a great group of students to travel with!