There are very few times in life when I will not accept any sort of argument; everyone needing to visit Barcelona is one of them. I was lucky enough to get to visit Barcelona, Spain in the summer of 2019, and I have not stopped thinking about it since I left. There are endless opportunities in this city and certainly lots of fun to be had. With the gothic architecture all throughout, you could spend a week just staring at the buildings and never get bored. Antoni Gaudí was undoubtedly the most prolific architect for Catalan Modernism, producing some of Barcelona’s most impressive works of art. The church of La Sagrada Familia is located in the center of Barcelona and is within walking distance of some of Gaudi’s other impressive works: Park Güell (see background image for reference), Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, and Gaudí House Museum. These locations are necessary for receiving the ‘full’ experience while overseas.
Old Architecture may not be everyone’s cup of tea, which is fine, however, the flavorful, delicious, dining options are unavoidable on your trip. The authentic tapas, paella, and croquetas truly make the flight across the Atlantic worth it. I am admittedly a picky eater so my whole family- including myself- was pleasantly surprised when I devoured the authentic Spanish meals.
During our trip, we participated in many bike tours of the cities; I now recommend these to everyone. You get the opportunity to cover so much ground in such a short time, maximizing your sightseeing abilities while minimizing costs and overall energy exerted. These bike tours are the best environmentally friendly option for sightseeing, which is another added benefit of this. Barcelona also has many beaches located directly on the Mediterranean Sea. Who could possibly resist the crystal clear waters and white sand beaches?
In sum, Barcelona is diverse. It has a beautiful cityscape with plenty to see and do and also has the opportunity for a beach vacation. I can truly go on and on about traveling to Barcelona and how necessary this is. However, it is important to focus on the implications of traveling to this city. Traveling overseas, it is generally environmentally forgiving in the sense that these large planes are responsible for transporting hundreds of people. Obviously, these planes are still contributing to global warming and overall pollution, however, in the grand scheme of how many individuals can fit, it certainly could be worse. I elected to emphasize worse there because regardless of the amount of air pollution these large jets produce is unacceptable, however, this is not the main focus here. Tourists contribute to littering and other sanitary issues across the city, but when one weighs these problems with the overall benefits the Spanish economy has from the populous tourist destinations in Barcelona, it can be overlooked. In conclusion, Barcelona is still a destination on my bucket list of travel destinations (even though I have already been) and I plan to study abroad here at the earliest date.
When opening up your passion blog, besides the insightful and great material start to finish after reading, I was glad to be greeted with the creative outline of the blog which I thought was very ingenuitive as most just get right to the blog. I think its so awesome you have a passion for traveling and that Barcelona is one of them. Your excerpt of the bike tours reminded me of my family trip to Hawaii, in which we did the exact same thing! It truly does maximize your sightseeing abilities and I can imagine with your adoration of Barcelona in many aspects that it made it much of an experience. In conclusion, I admire your attention to detail in old architecture, as well as the names of those who constructed the impressive pieces and structures. I do not blame you in that you could spend a week staring at them and not get bored!