Nos encanta Barcelona!

(We love Barcelona!) At least I think that's what is says. No hablo Espanol. I got really good at that one while in Spain. Anyway...

Day 3 of Zerizef's Epic Eurotrip 2012: After a couple days visiting great friends in Benicassim, Nabil and I hopped the train once again and backtracked a few hours north to Barthelona (see that I'm just like a local).

We were pretty exhausted once we finally found our hostel.  Nabil and I were troopers though(because we were in Spain!) and walked around the area before drinking chugging some beer and sangria in Les Rambles. Side note: I found the hostel we stayed at with the recommendation of a friend. It was a good price and we had our own room and shower. Plus, you can't really beat the location. Easy walk to pretty much anything downtown.

This is Nabil in front of Arc de Triomf (more on that later) when I told him to "look happy because we are in Spain". Ugh, husbands.

This is a little better. Here we are, just chilling in front of the Arc in Barcelona, Spain. NBD. 

Onto dinner and sangria. Those glasses were huge! ...and delicious to boot. The photo on the right was part of a Titanic exhibition at Barcelona Cultura. Clearly, that was taken after the photo on the left.

This is a small side street of La Rambla Blvd. I loved that the whole street is for pedestrians.

The next day, Nabil and I decided to rent some bikes so we could cover more ground. I have to say, this was probably one of the most fun days of the trip. We couldn't stop laughing, or rather, giggling for about the first hour that we were on the bikes. Neither of us had ridden a bike for an entire day since we were about 10 years old. Needless to say, we were both a little rusty at first. I'm sure the rental guy thought we were going to bring both bikes back in pieces, and frankly, I'm a little surprised we didn't. It all came back to us after a while though. No major injuries.

After we got all our middle school giggles out, we stopped for breakfast in Parc de la Ciutadella not too far from our hotel. And yes, why wouldn't there be an amazing monument in the middle of the park? Nabil and I completely nerded out about the history of each building that we visited. The whole concept of seeing arcitecture that is more than a couple hundred years old is so new and mind-boggling to us. We kept expecting there to be fences blocking it off. The mind-set of an American I suppose.

The Arc de Triomf was on our was on our way of riding farther into the city, so ofcourse I stopped for another photo op. Can't you just feel Nabil's eyes rolling already?

Sagrada Familia was next. When talking to people who had been to Barcelona before we left on our trip, every single person said we HAD to check this place out. They were right.

The church was designed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. He died mid-way through construction, so the church is still not complete. It's a pretty hot botton issue among the locals. Some don't want the church to be finished because the the materials that will be used are not the same quality that Gaudi was using. In a sense, it cheapens his genius. The alternative, is to leave it unfinished. Look at me, I'm like your own personal tour guide. Nerd alert!

When we get back to Barcelona, we will get to Sagrada Familia early in the am so that the line to get in the building isn't stretched all the way accross the block. We had so much we wanted to see in one day, we decided not to wait in line. Just another reason to go back I suppose...

Keeping with the Gaudi theme, Nabil and I made the very steep treck to Parc Guell. For me, this was the highlight of the day. We stopped at a grocery to grab some cheese, bread and meat for a picnic in the park. This was pretty much our diet the entire trip. When in Rome Barcelona...

See that sweat all over our faces, that was from pushing our bikes up the steep incline on the way to the park. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

The differnt styles of architechture in one place was amazing and was the most fun for me. You can walk the entire way through the park, and never see the same thing. Each piece was build into the side of the hill and in a way became part of the hill. Really, there are no words to describe it, but it is definitely a must see.

Next thing we checked out was the old bullfighting arena. Bullfighting is illegal in Barcelona now, so they turned the arena into a mall. A mall? Really!? That would not have been my first choice, but I guess the city already has a bunch of historical museums and the like. What about a soccer stadium? That would have been way better. Why don't they ask me about major decisions like that? I mean look how awesome the outside is!

I will say though that it was pretty cool to check out the food court in the mall. Why yes, those are pig legs that you can buy whole! Once again, my mind was blown.

Next and last stop on our biking trek was Olympic Park. the 1992 summer Olympics were in Barcelona. It's not a big tourist destination, so this was one of the only places we went in the city that wasn't swarmed with hundreds of other people. The area also had some great hiking and biking trails.

Looking back at the city:

Those are all the biking highlights. Here is the map of everywhere we went. The whole trip took us about 10 hours and we would highly recommend it if you are now planning your trip to Barcelona!

for the actual google maps link, click here.

...okay, I just had to include this one. Nabil really wanted to see Barcelona's soccer football stadium, Camp Nou before we left. I think he had high hopes of running into Lionel Messi. Unfortunately, this was the closest he got:

That Lionel. He's so funny!

So, that was Barcelona. Next adventure is driving through France. Adios Espania, bonjour France!

Until next time...

Hola Espania!

This summer Nabil and I were able to take the trip of a lifetime. I mean really, the trip of a lifetime. I may have mentioned a time or two, that Nabil's brother Yacine currently lives in a little town called Jolly Ol' London. You may also know that there was a little event there this summer called... the OLYMPICS! Yes we got to go to London 2012! It was absolutely incredible, but more on that later.

We figured that since we were making the trip all the way across the pond, we might as well hit up a few other countries while we were there. I mean, it's so easy to get around, we couldn't really say no. Enter, Espania!

We first stopped in to stay with a friend for a few days. They live in a little town called Benicassim. I don't think this town could be any cuter. It was right on the beach and every morning, our good friends Laura and Raul would make us an amazing breakfast. We would eat on their balcony, and yeah, check out that view!

The food was so good! One of my favorite parts of eating out was that most of the outdoor seating was on the street inbetween the restaurants and houses. Laura and Raul would make fun of me because I kept saying "This is SO European". But seriously, it was! Like in a movie. You don't really see that in the states. It was pretty awesome. And just look at that handsome hubby. So cute.

And there he is again, just chillin' by the Benicassim sign.

Pretty sweet huh? The second day we were there, Laura and Raul took us on a little jaunt to Vilafames, Spain. It's about half and hour inland from Benicassim. This town is the definition charming. If I ever become a multi-millionnaire, I am going to buy a little house in this town and stay there every spring or summer. The town was so amazing, I don't even know where to start.

Look at those cute little Spanish, soon to be parents. Such great hosts.

There was a tiny shop in the town where we bought jam, honey, olive oil, and wine. Check out the wine. Apparently, in Spain each vineyard has a quota that they are not allowed to sell over. If they make over that amount, they leave them unlabled, give them to small vendors (usually friends) who sell them for like $3 a bottle. It's like a fun, wine, grab bag. A surprise in every bottle.

The other great thing about this town, is that it is thousands of years old. Many of the houses were built into the side of red rock, which is the primary foundation of the whole town. One of the stores we went into had the red rock as the back wall. No drywall or finishes, just red rock. Pretty sweet.

We kept walking up and down the streets, and guess what we saw?! I real CASTLE!! That's right. Those things us Americans only learn about from text books, and battle movies.

Okay, it's a run down castle. But, for something built in the 16th century, it looks pretty good. Spectacular view too.

This is inside the main tower.

Since the castle was mainly used as a fortress, there are windows that surround all of the exterior walls. They are wider on the inside and narrow on the outside to allow archers room to shoot out, but narrow to keep the arrows from entering. See, history can be fun!

Those are the highlights. Up next, Barcelona! (Update: check out our trip through Barcelona here)

Until next time...