Let's Be Free in Barcelona

So two weekends ago I took a trip to Barcelona with some friends from my study abroad program, and before you ask, yes I did spend the whole trip annoying my friends and singing Barcelona by Ed Sheeran under my breath. And yes, the city was just as beautiful and fun as Ed promised it would be.

Barcelona reminded me that summer is an actual possibility, not just a distant dream. It was so beautiful, especially on Friday when the sun was shining and my friends and I took a hike up to a high point in the city. My favorite part of the trip was all the food I ate while there, which is high praise coming from me. But seriously, the tapas, the paella, the dessert, the drinks. Everything. Was. Amazing. Navigating the city without knowing Spanish or Catalan was a little scary, but everything went off without a hitch! And this trip has really inspired me to hopefully see more of Spain in the future.

Now here are some pictures and thoughts about my time in this wonderful warm city!  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click through the photo album to see the pictures full-sized.

Sagrada Familia, the most famous church in Barcelona, which was really close to our Airbnb! After being in Paris for a few months and becoming accustomed to the very classic and stately French style, the architecture of this church was nothing short of shocking to me. 

Our Friday was spent climbing to the top of a huge hill overlooking the city and then visiting Park Guell. The landscape was so beautiful, we had to stop and take some pictures.

A prime example of the architecture in Park Guell with mosaic tiles everywhere you look. I love this building; it looks like a life-sized gingerbread house.

A blend of plant life and architecture in Park Guell.

I can't get enough of taking pictures of random flowers.

A church as seen from Park Guell. The colors and style of all these buildings are honestly something out of a dream.

Following my friends through the park as the sun sets on a beautiful Friday evening. Just appreciating the little things in life.

The majority of Saturday was spent wandering and eating our way through Barcelona. After hearing about tapas from my friend that's studying abroad in Spain, my friends decided to share a bunch of these little dishes. The local meats platter was by far my favorite.

Some stunning(!!!) street art... I'm seriously speechless.

For lunch on Saturday we perused the stalls of La Boqueria food market. This mango strawberry juice was so good! I also had a calzone and another fried treat made with potato dough. It was so hard not to try everything!

A quaint little side street strung up with fairy lights. Spain, how are you so aesthetically pleasing all the time???

The Barcelona boardwalk... I love the ocean so much.

Best buds and the beach. What could be better?

If you go to Spain and don't try paella, what are you even doing? Seriously, it's life changing.

And to round off the trip we visited Parc de la Ciutadella, which was a beautiful in every way possible. Paris doesn't have much green space at all so this was a breath of fresh air (literally) for all of us.