Europe – Page 164

I spent this past weekend exploring the capitalof Catalonia, and one of the most famous cities in Spain. Barcelona was very large with an abundance of famous art, beautiful architecture, and delicious food. To me, Barcelona felt similar to other big cities that we have in America with the exception of high rise towers.

I found that almost every individual that I encountered spoke English quite well, which was important because a surprising number of citizens in Barcelona do not speak Spanish. They all seemed to speak Catalan, a language similar to Spanish but spoken mostly in Catalonia.

I spent the majority of my time exploring the numerous architectural phonemes around the city that were created by the famous Antoni Gaudí. As seen in the featured image of this article, we first went to the Sagrada Familia. It began construction in 1882 and will not be finished until the year 2026. It was truly the most magnificent cathedral I have ever laid eyes on.

Unlike many cathedrals in Europe, the outside of the Familia is astonishingly intricate, compiled of beautiful works of art and sculptures. The inside, however, is quite simple. It is simple but beautiful. It is said to resemble an enchanted forest due to the long columns and colorful glass.

I then spent my time roaming Park Güell, which is a 45 acre park that was also designed by Gaudí. The park was full of beautiful architectural works that are quite famous around the world. There were many basic works such as pillars and benches, and more intricate areas where there are colorful sculptures made out of recycled tiles.

There are many things to do and see in Barcelona, it is a huge city. I did not limit myself to the works of Gaudí during my weekend, but his works were definitely the most interesting things to see. I would love to return and do more in this city, but I really enjoyed the short amount of time that I was there.

This past weekend, the day after returning from the Camino de Santiago, I boarded a plane and flew 3 hours to the city of Dublin, Ireland, and met up with some of my friends from the University of Denver. Coming from Alicante, a warm city along the coast, it was a wonderful change of pace to experience some cold weather.

Dublin is a large, spread out city with a wide variety of interesting experiences and a lot of intriguing graffiti murals. On the first day of our Dublin trip, my friends and I walked around and went to some art galleries and shops before taking a tour of the Guinness factory; which has a rich history that is very important to the country of Ireland. We got to see how the famous beer is brewed and everything that goes into the brewing process. On top of the Guinness factory, there is a circular room made out of glass panels that offer a beautiful 360° view of Dublin.

The following day, one of my friends and I awoke at 6:00am for a bus tour that we had scheduled. The bus would leave from the center of the city at 7:45 and take us to the magnificent Cliffs of Moher. Dublin is located on the very East coast of Ireland, and the Cliffs are located on the very West coast of Ireland. Interestingly, it only took three and a half hours on a bus to travel across the entire country of Ireland. That is less time than it would take me to get from Kansas City to St. Louis.

After a very sleepy three and a half hour bus ride, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, and they were even bigger than we had expected. The cliffs stand at 700 feet tall, and had a somewhat eerie feel to them due to dark storm clouds and stories we had heard about individuals falling off due to large gusts of wind. That being said, they are one of the more beautiful spectacles I have ever witnessed in person. Viewing the white-capped waves crashing into the rigid, mossy cliffs from 700 feet above was truly aw-inspiring. We explored the cliffs for a little less than two hours before boarding our bus to return to civilization.

On our way home from the cliffs, we stopped in a small town called Doolin to try some local food and experience a rural farm town in Ireland. There, we learned that sheep outnumber humans four to one in the country of Ireland. It was really nice to travel from East to South coast by bus, because we got to see a lot of Ireland and what it looks like in the center.

Sadly, on day three, right before touring the Jameson factory, our trip was cut short due to hurricane Ophelia. Many of my friends flights got cancelled, so we had to go back to our Airbnb and book new flights. Mine happened to be in 2 hours from when we found out about the hurricane, so I raced to the airport and made it to my plane with 2 minutes to spare. Although our trip was cut short by a day, I am very happy I visited Ireland and hope to return someday.