Last September I had the privilege of travelling to Barcelona, Spain. I always wanted to visit Spain because I have a lot of heritage that derives from Spain. I’m Puerto Rican and my ancestors are from Spain. My great-great grandparents were from there. I spent all my free time researching where I would visit, what I would eat, where we would stay, and how I would document my time there. It was a trip I had dreamed of taking for so many years that the realization of it actually happening was unreal!
When the day finally came, I was like a kid going to Disney for the first time. I even enjoyed the seven hour flight there. I used the flight to sleep since I knew I would be traveling forward 7 hours. So once we landed, I was wide awake and ready to explore the country. I travelled with my husband and best friend Giovanna and her husband and family. Like myself, Giovanna had dreamed of this trip since as far back as she could remember.
The moment we landed and walked through the airport we were all smiles and laughter and tears in Giovanna’s case. We arrived to our apartment without any issues and quickly showered and change and headed out the door. We didn’t know where we were going, which is what most of our trip consisted of, but we just started walking and enjoying the sights.
Some of the places we visited in Spain were Palau Guell, Casa Batllo, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, Iglesia Santa Maria de Mar, Las Ramblas, Picasso Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Parc de la Ciutadella, and many stores and restaurants. They were all more beautiful than I dreamed of and exceeded every one of my expectations. I can’t even pick a favorite place that I visited.
One thing that I was able to walk away that I never planned on making was friends. On our third day there, we decided to eat at the bar downstairs from our apartment and the owner began making conversation with us because he’d noticed we spoke English after observing us coming and leaving the building every day. What was supposed to just be a drink and dinner, turned into a long night of shots and they introduced us to their native “jamon iberico” (cured ham). From that day on, we ate there every day and ended the nights with drinks and laughter and stories. It was there that we also befriended other people, two of which were Americans from Philadelphia and we all even became Facebook friends.
Until this day, I still reminisce on my trip to Barcelona. I can’t think of anything that I didn’t enjoy. I love the people we met, the food, the scenery, the culture, and history. It was an amazing trip I’ll never forget and it definitely fueled my desire to keep travelling the world. Our next stop will be Italy!
joycefinalportfolio 