BY SARA MITRAKOVIC / VN STAFF WRITER
I’m one of those people who spend free time searching for my next traveling destination.
In high school, I chose Spanish as my second foreign language and, lucky for me, my professor was so good I became fluent by the time I graduated from high school.
I went to Almeria, Spain, with my parents when I was three, but I barely remember it. I made a decision to go back to Spain when older.
Being a huge fan of the country and its language, I made a list of places in Spain that I wanted to visit.
In September 2015, I checked Barcelona off the list.
The trip lasted a week and was part of a graduation gift from my mom, so she was my travel buddy in this adventure.
We stayed at an Airbnb spot, which was a good idea, because we were never limited with time when it came to meals.
Barcelona is the kind of city that’s best discovered on foot.
Our normal itinerary started with a good breakfast at the apartment and continued with our wandering through a different part of the city every day.
The streets are vivid and the people are loud and on the move all the time.
It would be a shame to miss this experience if traveling by car or public transportation from one point to another.
On our first day, we wanted to explore the area around our apartment.
It was the first time I ever saw an escalator outdoors.
Not too far from us was also the Olympic Stadium Montjuic, which is the fifth largest stadium in Spain and the second largest in Catalunya, the region of Spain that includes Barcelona.
The stadium is now the home of local amateur FC Penger, but it was built back in 1927 and hosted the Summer Olympics in 1992.
The second day, we explored the most famous street in Barcelona: La Rambla. This street, stretching eight-tenths of a mile, is known as a landmark.
La Rambla ranges from La Placa Catalunya, probably the central transport hub in Barcelona, to the Barcelona Port.
The best thing about La Rambla are the street performers of all kinds, but the Barcelona Port has a 2000-year history and great contemporary commercial importance as one of Europe’s major ports in the Mediterranean.
Barcelona is also known for its grid-organized city plan and a special type of architecture.
Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) was, and remains, one of the most famous architects, known for his special style of free-flowing designs inspired by nature.
Gaudí designed a lot of places in Barcelona.
Particularly important is the Basilica Sagrada Familia.
The architect is buried in the underground level of this building so visitors can come see the tomb for themselves.
This large Roman Catholic basilica is one of the most extraordinary things I have seen.
Its construction started in March 1882 but it didn’t open until November 2010. The completion of the project is estimated for 2026.
Catalunya region is on the coast of northeastern Spain, which is why Barcelona also has its very own beach, Barceloneta. I call it “the Miami of Spain” because of its array of palm trees.
Despite the fact that I have always been a Real Madrid football fan, I couldn’t resist visiting Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona and star player Lionel Messi.
Even though the stadium was empty during the visit, it still gave me goosebumps just walking through those rooms that the football players use for practices, meetings, praying, etc.
One of my favorite attractions in Barcelona was The Magic Fountain Show.
This place was always packed with people who came to see numerous choreographies where light and water create magic to music.
While September was a perfect pick for a visit because of the weather, it was also during the time of the Merce Festival.
It was a great opportunity for us to hear some good music live, but we also got to try the famous Spanish and Portuguese beverage, sangria.
We also got to try the Spanish rice dish, paella.
I didn’t really like the one we tried in Barcelona, perhaps, because the original one comes from Valencia.
Barcelona really is a fun city with lots of kind people, totally worth visiting.
My mom and I even got to make some new friends that we still stay in touch with and hope to visit again.
