July 28 - Vamos a La Playa

I don’t think I realized how exhausted I was until I had the opportunity to sleep in as late as I wanted to. My classmates and I did not have to meet until 11 which meant that I slept in until well past 9. When I did finally get out of bed, I went out with a friend for some much needed coffee and a little pastry. Fortunately, there is a place right by our hotel with an amazing selection of pastries and a delicious café con leche all for less than 5 Euros each. We sat and enjoyed a breakfast typical of many Spaniards before going out to grab a few things for our daily plans. We stopped by a nearby supermarket and grabbed sunscreen, towels, and umbrellas for a planned beach day. We picked up our items and then went out to grab some beach snacks, of course grabbing extras for those who like to mooch off of us.

We headed back to the hotel, left our items in our room, and then headed back to the lobby to meet up with the rest of our classmates for our next adventure. We left our hotel and headed towards a market in the nearby neighborhood. Our professor gave us time to explore, shop, and take it all in. The markets in Barcelona are unique since every neighborhood has one and each stall in a market specializes in something unique. We could see a stall filled with severed fish heads right next to a stall advertising eggs from around the country. I grabbed a fresh fruit juice but nothing else since I knew our next stop would fill me up.

After touring the market, we walked towards the grand shopping center, Arenas de Barcelona, for a group lunch. It isn’t as common as I would have thought to see reservations in large restaurants here. That being said, our professor had reserved a large section of the restaurant so all of us could enjoy lunch. This restaurant called Tapas Tapas of course specializes in their tapas. These small plates are best enjoyed in small portions since they are meant to be shared. We all sat in groups of four or five and each table member picked out their own plate to share. For our first round of plates, my tablemates and I order the following: tortilla Española, shrimp, patates braves, and cheese croquettes. The four of us shared the plates and of course devoured everything we ordered. We asked our other classmates what they ordered and got a second round of tapas, this time with pork skewers and chicken wings. As if this wasn’t enough food already, our professor ordered two large pots of vegetable paella and two large pots of seafood paella. Up to this point, I had yet to try seafood paella so I was excited. I served myself a portion with mussels and prawns and eagerly awaited what was to come. I watched my other classmates peel apart the seafood and started to dig in. It was quite delicious and definitely something I will try again. We all ate so much food and had so much Fanta but it was well worth it and a great thing to share with my friends while we’re here.

Once our time in the restaurant was over, we went next door into the shopping mall. This large building once served as a bull fighting arena before Barcelona outlawed the practice. Now, it houses bikini shops and quick service restaurants. The cool thing about it though is that the rooftop is accessible and provides a 360 degree view of the whole city. We made our way to the rooftop and viewed all sorts of landmarks from the top. It was a breathtaking sight and gave me a nice appetizer for what is to come in the next days here. I took in the view for a few moments before going back in the building to enjoy the shopping aspect of it all. I hung out with some friends as they looked through the shops and bought things to take home with them. We enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while and then went back to the hotel to prep for our beach adventure.

Before this, I had not been to a beach since 2019. I eagerly awaited the cool water and warm sand and got everything prepped. A large group of friends and I all planned to head out together to grab a good spot near the water. When you have nearly 20 college kids all struggling to navigate a crowded city, some people are bound to break off from the group. This time, it was unfortunately me who went off. I was trying to rush to the bus stop ahead of everyone else only for them to get on a different route a block over. Luckily, another classmate had stuck by my side so I was not completely alone. We were only a few minutes behind the rest of the group so we hoped to meet them at the stop near the beach and walk over together. This of course did not happen.

Once my classmate Connor and I finally made our way to the Barceloneta beach stop, we tried to contact the rest of the group to no avail. The cell service was spotty and the communication we did get was a bit unclear. We walked up and down the beach for nearly an hour before finding our group. This may have been a challenge for some but I enjoyed talking to my classmate and seeing all the things on a Spanish beach that are different from beaches in the United States. We finally found our classmates at the exact opposite end from where we started. We sat down our towels, took off our coverups, and immediately hopped into the water.

The Barceloneta beach is incredible. Close to the waves, the area is rocky and filled with gorgeous pieces of sea glass and polished stones. The sea itself is warm and with a salt content so high that it is easy to float on the waves. The water was clear and so blue that it seemed unreal. During my time at the beach, I spent probably two hours in the water in between rock collecting, snacking, playing in the sand, and soaking in the sun. I would just go into the water with different friends and swim out into the waves until they pushed me back to shore. Being in the water was exhilarating and I truly felt relaxed. We played in the water for a few hours until the sun began to set. This was our cue to head elsewhere and grab some dinner.

For dinner, we settled on a nearby Italian restaurant that could accommodate the large group. We all ordered various pastas and pastries and spent our time talking about the beach and our weekend plans. It was a lovely evening spent with good food and great conversation. After our pasta dinner, we all boarded the bus and rode back towards the hotel. Once at the hotel, we all made our way to our rooms to wash off the salt water and get in bed. I loved my time at the beach and I am sure that I will spend as many days possible in the water. I know that I will savor my time here and make the most of it.

♡ Katie