A Building near Plaça de Catalunya:
Today was
our last day in Italy and our first in Spain. We slept in late in Como and
spent the first part of our day taking in the scenery one last time. I really
will miss this country, as it is so laid back and the food is sooooooo incredibly
good! I will definitely be back here with friends and family in the
not-so-distant future, perhaps with a few other destinations in-mind.
Max chose
to relax a little more while I went to check out Como Cathedral. I can see why
it is nicknamed the Como Duomo, as it looks like a miniature version of its
namesake in Florence. The inside is covered in many different colors of marble
and the walls are filled with beautiful stained glass. I particularly liked
some of the extremely old and delicate tapestries depicting famous Christian
events that hung along the sides of the nave. The church is also complete with
a massive dome, although there is no famous fresco of the Last Judgment on the
inside of this one.
Como Cathedral:
After
spending the good part of the day in Como still, we finally headed to the train
station (lugging our bags uphill the whole way) and hopped on the train. We
were soon at the bustling major city of Milan where we got on a plane and
headed to Barcelona. Ciao Italia! Now onto a place where I can speak the
language… ¡Hola España!
We arrived
in Barcelona at dusk, and found our way from the airport to our hostel by taxi.
In Barcelona we are staying at a new hostel called Hostel One Barcelona Centro
right near the famed Plaça de Catalunya. I said before that I know how to speak
the language, which is only partially true. Barcelona is in Spain, where
Spanish is spoken, however it is in the region of Spain known as Catalonia,
where they speak Catalan. Catalan is some sort of weird combination of French
and Spanish, and the locals do sometimes get upset if you assume they speak
Spanish. They have a very vibrant and fun culture, however, and they compose a
massive and important part of Spain’s economy. This is probably why they are
fighting for independence.
The Casa Batlló (Gaudí):
We decided
that we were really tired and wanted to rest up for the coming few days of
partying and clubbing in the city famed for it, but we did walk around the city
a bit. The city is absolutely massive and built on a grand-scale with Parisian
promenades and huge intersections. We ate dinner near our hostel at a place
called Cervezaria Napoleon where we had some Steak Bomb Tapas, some Cider
Sausage and Sweet/Spicy Sausage Tapas, and Seafood Paella. It was all
delicious, and we washed it down with some Estrella beer.
For the
rest of the evening we just wandered around. We did make our way to the famous
street known as Las Ramblas built for the Summer Olympic games of 1992. This is
the place all of my friends had warned me about regarding pickpockets, so I
held my wallet and phone very, very close. It is definitely the center of city
life, as street sellers are everywhere trying to get you to buy their goods,
toys, or foods. It is incredible how prevalent drugs are in this area too. As
you walk down the street, literally people will walk behind you and whisper “Marijuana?
Hashish? Cocaine? Ecstasy?” in your ear. Unbelievable that this goes on daily
unchecked, but whatever. We walked down Las Ramblas and made it to the harbor
with all of our belongings intact and still on-person. We hung out enjoying the
beautiful night at the harborside park for a while before taking a taxi back to
our hostel for the night. Rest up, Collins arrives tomorrow.
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