I’m in love. It’s been 10 years since my last visit to Spain, and after arriving in Barcelona I found myself wondering why I haven’t returned sooner. I guess I am on a mission to see as many cities in as many countries as possible, so those have taken priority. But Spain is just so pretty, I really should come back more often…
I arrived at the airport around 10pm. Petra and her friend Xavi were there to meet me, and Xavi was gracious enough to give us a ride to Platja d’Aro, which is about an hour away, or 2 hours by bus. This is where Xavi has 2 apartments: one for himself and one that gets rented out. Petra rented the upper level one for the entire summer.
Since we weren’t tired, Xavi took us on a driving tour of the city. We went up to the hills that overlook Barcelona and the surrounding areas. In fact, the hill we went to was the one where the filmed part of the movie, The Machinist. It was absolutely breathtaking. And the weather that night was perfect, maybe 75-80 degrees with a slight breeze.
blurred picture of the city
a clearer one in case the first didn't get the point across 
Next, we headed even farther up a winding hill to a cathedral. Next to the cathedral was an amusement park complete with a ferris wheel and rollercoasters. Not your typical combination, but very nice to look at regardless.
ferris wheel!
After taking a bunch of pictures and stretching our legs for a while, we headed back down to the city. Xavi drove us by a few sites that he suggested we go back to. One was the Casa Batilo, which is where Gaudi lived. This place is crazy looking – it’s a tall building, about 7 levels high, and the pillars on the outside look like bones. There are also skulls. At the top of the building is the back of a giant dragon. Apparently this is supposed to represent the legend of St. George, the patron Saint of either Barcelona, or Spain as a whole. It’s crazy looking, and I can’t wait to go inside.
Update: Petra and I went inside and it’s amazing!!!
totally funky house
not a single straight line inside the place!
inside the building, definitely felt like i was swimming. i actually expected to see mermaids lol
inside looking out the front - you can see the bones!
on the roof - the back of the dragon
After going around a couple of other places, we headed back to Platja d’Aro. It seems like a cute little beach town, though it is kind of far out in the cuts of the Costa Brava. We’ll see what it looks like in the day time!
Update: Platja is BEAUTIFUL!!!
the beach
getting ready for the festival of st. john
just a 5 min walk from our apartment!
I’m very excited for this part of the journey and hope I get to freshen up on my Spanish while I’m here!
