Yes, I left Toronto again. This time I took a trip to Spain.
I was able to visit both Barcelona and Madrid and both cities were overwhelming.
When I arrived at Barcelona, I couldn’t wait to visit all the beautiful Gaudi-designed buildings and check out the livelihood of this city. The food was great from Paella to Gazpachos at the local McDonalds, I’m surprised I didn’t come back looking like a fat cow.
For anyone who plans on going to Barcelona, I do suggest you stay on the strip (Plaza Catalunya). My friend recommended it to me and I would do the same. It’s incredibly central and you can really walk to everywhere or if not, the different Metro lines can take you to your final destination. One of my greatest highlights was Parc Guell. It was a serious trek from the Metro station 1.4km uphill. I swear I had at least 2 ice cream bars to cool me down on the way up. Antonio Gaudi’s house/museum was nearby so at least it was worth it.
The Picasso museum was great too! From his early sketches to his famous blue period I got to see the experimentation with Surrealism / Cubism. The Guernica Painting was actually at the Prado in Madrid. The Prado was absolutely magnificent!! There were so many rooms with so many paintings I had recognized from my Art History books. Some of the significant paintings were over 10ft high and 8ft wide. INCREDIBLE!
I visited the Reina Sofia and saw Le Coubosier’s exhibit -chairs and architecture. Madrid was a little bit of a blur with a quieter hustle than Barcelona. Chueca was a pretty cool area to hang around, with winding roads and funky shopping spots. There’s a major street for shopping but when I visited a Gucci store, they started becoming repetitive all around the cities, same inventory unless there’s something specific I was looking for.
All in all, it was a great time to be there, the end of summer always marks sales – Saldi/Solde/Soldi. You can find wicked deals and one of a kind products too, that no one in ur home city is likely to have. Spain was colourful – can’t wait to check out the rest of the cities one day!
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