By Kelly Greacen a summer intern with Barcelona SAE
I spent most of my day yesterday walking aimlessly around the city with two of my friends, Nick and Nikki. I call them both Nick (or Nik), which is confusing, but is quite amusing for me. We had no plan; we just wanted to explore the city. Our direction-less walk actually turned out to be wonderful as we explored the narrow cobblestone streets of Gracia.
Passeig de Gracia
We started our day at my favorite breakfast café. It is on the corner of the same block that Barcelona International College is on. Last week I was looking to grab a bite to eat before my Spanish class, and decided to try out this café. I decided an omelet and toast would be a safe bet, but the man at the counter couldn’t understand my broken Spanish, so I went outside and pointed at the things I wanted to get on the sign with pictures. He came out a few minutes later not with a omelet, but with the best egg sandwich I’ve ever had, better than any in the U.S. I went here for breakfast every day this week. I’m going to have to force myself to try new places for breakfast.
After I ate my egg sandwich and my friends ate their breakfasts, we took the metro to Passeig de Gracia and decided to explore from there. I took my touristy pictures of Gaudi’s house, and some of the amazing architecture I saw, which seems to be all throughout the city. We poked into stores along the way. We went into a store called Bershka, and my friends eventually had to drag me out. It was the best clothing store I’ve been to since I arrived in Barcelona, and everything was miraculously in my price range. I’ve heard that there is a two-week long, Black Friday-esque sale beginning this week though, so I held off my shopping. Apparently, this sale is usually at the end of July, and when I first heard that I was so mad I was going to miss out, as my program ends this Saturday. Now, though, I’m hearing that the sale got moved up and is starting this week. I’m excited, but wary, too. This seems to good to be true!
Tonight, my friends and I are going to head down to the beach to see the Dia de San Juan festivities. During the holiday, people “cleanse their sins” by jumping over fires, or swimming in the ocean. I’m thinking that I’ll go the swimming route. I’ll write again tomorrow with details from the action!
