Spain - Barcelona

Barcelona was different from every other city I have been to in Spain. It doesn't have all the touristy museums and palaces like all the other 5 cities. Instead, it has areas to see like the Barri Gotic (Gothic Neighborhood) and a famous street called La Rambla which has lots of stores and a market. Gaudi is the famous architect here who designed their cathedral in the Barri Gotic and the Sagrada Familia which is still being built. They expect this cathedral to be finished in 2026 but we'll see. It is ridiculous. So bizzare with lots of colors and latin words like "Sanctus" everywhere. Eventually, there will be 12 towers for the 12 apostales. I arrived on Sunday and because it was the Semana Santa (holy week) end and a sunday, everything was closed. I walked around the Barri Gotic and found the ancient sinagogue my aunt, Andi, had told me to visit. It was tiny but very freaking old! they gave a little tour of it and they told us there were only 5,000 Jews in Barcelona. however, not all of those are practicing. he said there still is a lot of anti-semitism and the media is very anti-israel/america: classic europeans. I walked around a bit more and got solicited for sex by a pretty attractive woman. She said, "let's F@#$!" to which I responded with a unbelievable look on my face. She then said, "habla espanol" (speak spanish?) so I said yes. then she said, "bueno, vamos a follar" which is the spanish version of the above. I told her I had to meet my friends so she said "so let's do it before you meet them." I said no thanks and she said you're welcome and I walked off. Very funny and first time that's happened to me. I heard Amsterdam is even worse so i guess it was just a warmup? then went back to my hostel where I met 4 girls who were from UNC in North Carolina doing a semester abroad in Madrid. they gave me some advice. then I met 2 more girls from Notre Dame. we went out for dinner and a drink after. The next day, I went to another free walking tour of the main areas. I learned a lot. For instance, a little plaza i wandered into looked like nothing so i left. the next day on the tour, i learned that in that same plaza, Gaudi's chapel that he liked to attend every sunday was there. In addition, Franco told Mussolini to bomb a school opposite the Chapel to get at the parents fighting against him in Barcelona. Finally, on the wall connecting the two, there were bullet holes from the firing sqauds during the Spanish Civil War. I then met up with the girls and a friend I ran into from Madrid and we went to see the Sagrada Familia. Afterwards, we went for a light dinner and had another drink and walked around. After seeing all the cities in Spain, I have to say that Madrid is my favorite, followed closely by Seville and then Granada. I liked them all but if i had to choose, that would be it. Now, after 5 trains and 13+ hours on them, I made it to Audrey in Chateauroux, a small town 2 hours south of Paris.